The Mezcal Rush

Explorations in Agave Country

By: Granville Greene

Narrated by: Kevin Free

Mezcal. In recent years, the oldest spirit in the Americas has been reinvented as a pricy positional good popular among booze connoisseurs and the mixologists who use it as a cocktail ingredient. Unlike most high-end distillates, most small-batch mezcal is typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, often under challenging conditions. As Granville Greene spends time with maestros mezcaleros, who distill their drinks using local agaves and production techniques honed through generations, mezcal becomes a spirit of contradictions - both a liquid language celebrating village identity and craftsmanship, and a luxury export undergoing a gold-rush-style surge. The Mezcal Rush explores the complications that can arise when an artisanal product makes its way across borders.

©2017 Granville Greene (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A rich, inclusive portrait of one of the world's great drinks." ( Kirkus Reviews)

incredibly educational

This book peels back the curtain and looks behind brand names into the distillation, cultivation, and injustices of Mezcaleros.

Educational exploration of the mezcal world

I learned a lot about how mezcal is made and distributed. It’s amazing how much love and hard work the small scale mezcal makers put into their art. Oaxaca is not an easy state for traveling, so I’m grateful for the author to have done the hard work for us. Good story. Recommended.

Wow! Just Wow!

I purchased the audible book AND the hardcover book. I learned so much and want to learn more. BUY THIS BOOK NOW! The author seems very sincere and shares so much worthy of further research and reflection. My hardcover book is now covered with notes as well as reminders of material I want to further research. The voice selected for reading the book is wonderful as well.

Granville, I hope one day I get to meet you!

Thank you so much for writing this important book!

The author expresses unnecessary political views

Author used the female pronoun for the gender neutral. In English, the male pronoun is the gender neutral. The story needlessly mentions “ejaculating penises”. No kidding. Author uses divisive language and is obsessed with race, “indigenous this”. “Indigenous that”. It’s just a bunch of liberal claptrap centered around mezcal. All the politics are too annoying and I couldn’t focus on the mediocre story. I want my credit back and will see if I can get it back.