Agave Spirits: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals Hardcover – Illustrated, May 16, 2023

Absolutely fantastic book. Very informative. David never disappointed me with any of his tequila products or projects.

The most comprehensive and thoughtful agave sprits book I have come across so far! This is a critical material for anyone who is an agave enthusiast or hospitality professional that wants to learn more about tequila, mezcal, and other agave distillates. The book covers wide ranging subjects from the biology and distribution of agaves to fermentation, distillation, and their cultural significance to the people who make them. 10/10

If you love mezcal and agave spirits — I mean really love them — you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It’s not some light-hearted book of stories you can rip through in an afternoon on the beach. For a true aficionado, the authors take a more scientific/ecological approach to the ancient origins of agave and discuss the pressures faced by mezcaleros (and the industry) and what we can all do about it. For this reason, it’s a more academic read at times. But for that reason, I absolutely loved reading it. And I hate reading! This book has deepened my love for mezcal and moved me to action to get more involved in the sustainability of the farmers, producers and ecosystem of living things that contribute to the beauty of agave spirits.

I'm in the tequila industry and I've learned a ton. Very detailed and a lot of passion in the writing. Great read for an immersion into the agave culture, the mexican culture and the good and bad of the explosion in the tequila and mezcal industry

I should first say that this book is not really what I expected so perhaps my appreciation was foregone. I was looking for more of a reference guide that compared the different varietals of agave used to make Mezcal. This book is not that. Instead, it is a history of Mezcal and explanation of production. All of that is quite interesting and enjoyable. But my god is this repetitious and cliche! The first few pages basically set the theme that Mezcal is a magical product unlike anything else but that its production is in grave danger because of greedy commercial actors who prefer to increase output and make flavors more appealing to the world masses rather than to support artisanal practices, history and culture. That may be true but the authors repeat this argument on virtually every page unfortunately. And they seem to suggest that this is a unique situation because Mezcal is so artisanal. Well I have news for them: all artisinal industries are threatened by big business. Nuff said.

Good read on the mezcal/tequila industry from both environmental conservation and social sciences perspectives.

As a Mezcal producer, I have now purchased four of these books for my team members. The information is current and complete. This should be considered the new standard reading material for all in the agave industry.

Very good read, highly recommended. I won't need any other book on mezcal or Mexican agaves.