Escuela de Agave-Based Spirits at Las Perlas with Raul Yrastorza, L.A.'s Mezcal Advocate

We love whiskey, we enjoy gin, bourbon is bodacious. But something has been slightly overlooked in the flourishing craft cocktail scene in Los Angeles … something from very special regions of our southern neighbor, Mexico. What do you know about agave-based spirits? A conversation with Las Perlas General Manager and resident tequila and mezcal expert Raul Yrastorza reveals a story that every educated drinker should know.

First Comes History

“All Tequila is Mezcal, but not all Mezcal is Tequila,” Raul explained. Mezcal and Tequila are both made from agave plant nectar. The sturdy, long-leaved agave plant grows in different regions of Mexico and each region has its own special terroir. Mezcal describes an agave spirit distilled from the agave plant, mostly ones from the state of Oaxaca. Tequila is a more potent form of mezcal made only from the blue agave plant’s nectar found around Tequila, Mexico. The town sits 3,000 meters above sea level on an extinct volcano which provides the unique, rich volcanic soil where the blue agave plant grows. How blue is it? See for yourself on Google Maps.

Agave spirits have been produced in these regions since the 16th century. The Aztecs would consume agave nectar as a ceremonial beverage and offer it to their gods and deities, believing it was the blood of Mayahuel. In the 16th century, conquistadors found high priests in the Aztec capital city of Tenochitlan drinking a fermented drink called “pulque.” They produced the drink by extracting fermented juices from the roasted bulb of the agave plant.

By the 18th century, after years of on and off again prohibition and regulations on smaller mezcal wine taverns, the father of Jose Guadalupe Cuervo registered the first legal Mexican distillery to produce and sell mezcal wine. By the late 19th century, Cenobia Sauza exported eight barrels of tequila to the U.S., forever changing the beverage industry in the states and in Mexico.

Yes, it’s the same Jose Cuervo we’re talking about here. There are many small families that have distilled their own tequila and mezcal for generations, and when you enjoy their label at a place like Las Perlas, your dollar can actually get back to that family. “What a lot of people don’t realize is how poor and beautiful the Oaxacan region is,” Raul elaborated. “We’ve got mezcal here from places where 1,500 to 3,500 bottles are produced a year. There are certain mezcals we are proud to carry … That money goes back to help build a school, build a clinic, make [that village] bigger.”

Then There’s His Story

As an avid food and beverage hound Raul took advantage of his time living in San Diego, frequenting nearby colonial towns in Mexico. Once in school in Los Angeles, he worked at Small’s K.O., a historical divey bar on Melrose frequented by all kinds of colorful characters. Since the owner knew of Raul’s appreciation for Mexico and tequila, he employed his help to open a new tequila bar called El Carmen in the ’90s. Having heard about the new bar in the works, a man walked in one day and offered Raul a taste of mezcal from tiny clay pots. In Raul’s words, “I tasted this and my world was changed.”

Soon enough he got to know Venice Beach artist Ron Cooper (a.k.a. the “godfather of mezcal in Los Angeles”), and found like company in Copa d’Oro’s Vincenzo Marianella, and the one and only Julian Cox. These people understood better beverages needed to be made and people needed to learn to ask for them. “They get that we don’t have to — as the creators of these programs — that we don’t have to carry your product,” Raul enthusiastically asserted. “There is no default bourbon, default gin, default tequila. We don’t have to carry that and we don’t. That’s the type of tequila for ‘Oh, I don’t know what to get.’. There is no default.” So you best be opening your mind and mouth when you walk into his mezcal haven!

Stop Mezzing Around

Raul has created a cocktail program at Las Perlas that’s a compendium of all his adventures in food, beverage and in Mexico. “My responsibilty is to take all that infomation, enjoy that, take it where it transports me, and try to pass it on to you,” he shared. The Las Perlas mezcal and tequila list is extensive, but if you don’t know where to start, we’ve got you coverered:

Newbies: Start with a mixed drink as a “vessel” for the hard stuff. The popular Spicy Margarita is made with fresh juiced jalapenos, cilantro, and cucumber with a rim of chili moritas, chili arbol and salt.

Sophomores: Move on to a mixed mezcal drink, like Raul’s beloved Juquila. Inspired by his trips to Oaxaca, it’s the first drink Raul created for Las Perlas. “The smell and the flavor and the way that it looks it reminds me of the open-air market. If you we’re to walk through the market — you’re smelling the barbacoa cooking on the barbecue, the raw meat everywhere, the eggs, the produce, the chili spices, the cooking of consomme — it’s just everywhere you walk, this onslaught of these flavors in your face and mouth and nose.” The drink is made with balsamic vinegar syrup, rhubarb bitters, strawberries, chili arbol, lime and mezcal.

Semipros: Since you’re warmed up ask the bartender to advise you on some 1/2 oz. samples of mezcal or tequila from different regions of Mexico. They come in tiny terra cotta tasters and are $5 a pop. If you want to go all in, Raul put it best when he said the following:

For $12, I can give you a good mezcal.
For $18, I can give you something that will blow your mind.
For $20, I can give you mezcal that will change your life.
For more than that, there aren’t even words to describe it.

Take Action, Mi Amigo

Cinco de Mayo offers a good excuse to get out and splurge on some new spirits, but if you really want to get in-depth information on agave-based spirits at Las Perlas you can sign up for their Mezcal Collective Tastings & Spirit Education (see their bottom right sidebar).