The Spirit of Oaxaca

Families in rural Oaxaca, Mexico, depend on the production of mezcal, but it’s a tough business.

Russell Powell for Heifer International

This content was written by Heifer International, and paid for by Heifer International; it was not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mother Jones' editorial staff. See our advertising guidelines to learn more.


In the dusty hills of Oaxaca, Mexico, not much grows well besides the prickly agave plant. For generations, families in isolated towns like Santa Ana del Rio have transformed the plant into a local specialty: mezcal. But despite a mastery of the craft, it’s been hard for mezcaleros to make ends meet. Heifer Mexico is partnering with wine and spirit company Pernod Ricard to provide families in Santa Ana with the connections and resources they need to be successful. 

In Mexico’s state of Oaxaca there’s a saying : “Para todo mal, mezcal—y para todo bien, también.” For everything bad, mezcal—and for everything good, too. It’s recited theatrically with a wry smile and pregnant pauses before the last words of each phrase.

The saying encapsulates how far-reaching mezcal is in the region. It’s Oaxaca’s spirit of choice, and it’s almost mandatory that when you enjoy it, you share it with a friend, family member,  or maybe just the person in closest proximity. But mezcal’s not only for drinking; it’s also used in folk remedies, ranging from breaking fevers to treating arthritis pain.

Mezcal is the lone economic anchor for villages like Santa Ana del Rio, located in the arid foothills of Oaxaca’s Sierra Juárez. Mezcal-producing communities often struggle with high levels of poverty and emigration because opportunities are limited, and profiting from the sale of mezcal can be challenging. Heifer Mexico, in partnership with wine and spirit giant Pernod Ricard, is working to change the situation in Santa Ana and soon in other villages.

“It’s a hot, dry area,” said Ciro Rodriguez Cruz, a lifelong resident of Santa Ana. “In times when there is an abundance of water, we can harvest corn, beans. But when it doesn’t rain much, it’s lost.”

Agave farmers brave the steep countryside to survey their plants.

Russell Powell for Heifer International

One of the few things that grows exceptionally well in Santa Ana’s climate is the agave plant. Mezcal, like its more famous relative tequila, is distilled from agave. Nearly all of the 100 or so families in Santa Ana depend on mezcal, and therefore agave.

But producing mezcal didn’t guarantee a living wage in Santa Ana. “We would look for someone to buy the mezcal,” said Eliazar Rodriguez Luis, the son of Ciro Rodriguez. Mezcaleros in the community traveled, samples in hand, to coyotes — middlemen — who offered low prices. Not knowing the exact value of the mezcal, the Rodriguezes and other producers usually agreed.

In 2017, Pernod Ricard scouted the area, looking for a community of mezcal producers to supplement their highly touted Del Maguey brand. Santa Ana del Rio seemed like a good fit, and residents agreed to the partnership. But the bottom line wasn’t the company’s only motivation for working there.

“Because mezcal is made mainly in isolated rural villages, they live in very vulnerable conditions,” said Diego Cantu Luengas, Pernod Ricard liaison manager. “These conditions are something we can do something about.”

Pernod Ricard formed a partnership with Heifer to not only improve incomes for mezcal producing families but also the nutrition of children and issues of gender disparity. The hope is to use the experience as a launching point to replicate the project in other communities.

Although the pilot project is still new, results are positive. The Rodriguezes used to sell 400 liters of mezcal annually. In the last year, they have sold closer to 1,000. Prices have also doubled, partially because mezcal’s popularity skyrocketed in Mexico and the United States in recent years. But Santa Ana mezcaleros also now know how much their mezcal is worth, which types sell the best and how to negotiate prices.

“Before, we looked for someone to buy the mezcal,” Eliazar Rodriguez said. “Now they look for us.”

A Spirited Tradition

Ciro Rodriguez (left) and Carlos Rodriquez Luis load a horse with agave in Santa Ana del Rio, Mexico.

Russell Powell for Heifer International

Ciro Rodriguez spends the morning with two of his three sons, harvesting agave under the fierce Oaxacan sun. It’s backbreaking work to uproot a plant that can weigh upward of 200 pounds, and the agave’s spiny teeth are unforgiving. But the Rodriguezes are no novices. After taking a machete to the rigid leaves, they split the agave hearts, or piñas, and load them in the bed of a pickup truck.

Via the one lonely road that crosses through Santa Ana, the Rodriguezes deposit the piñas in an earthen pit lined with large stones atop the smokiest of smoldering fires. This is the first step of the mezcal-making process at the open-air palenque, or distillery. The pit will be covered with a natural tarp and dirt, then the heated stones will cook the piña pieces for about eight days.

After the pit is uncovered, a donkey pulls a tauna, a thick stone as tall as a toddler, over the cooked agave to aid the fermentation process. After a week or two of fermentation, the mezcal is distilled twice before it’s ready to drink.

This process remains largely unchanged from hundreds of years ago, in contrast to tequila, which industrialized quickly as it became popular. “Everything from the mezcal comes naturally,” Ciro Rodriguez said.

Each part of the process, starting with how the agave grew and what variety was harvested, changes the flavor of the mezcal, which gives the beverage a complex flavor. Luckily, generations of knowledge passed down from family to family leaves mezcaleros with the ability to navigate the drink’s sensitivities with ease.

All three of Ciro Rodriguez’s sons know how to make a good mezcal because of their father, but only two of them practice the art. Before the project in Santa Ana, mezcal production simply wasn’t lucrative enough to keep families afloat. One of Ciro Rodriguez’s sons left for the United States years ago and works in a restaurant in Colorado.

“Before, there was not a lot of work here,” Ciro Rodriguez said. “Well, there was work. But the salary didn’t provide. It wasn’t enough.”

It’s a familiar refrain in Santa Ana, a community marked by high emigration rates. Heifer Mexico is working to change that by ensuring families earn a living wage and thus have the opportunity to stay together.

“He wants to come back. This year, he wants to come back. ‘It’s not like being with family,’ he says. It’s not the same.”

Tough Mothers

The life of a mezcalero is marked by long hours, strained muscles and agave-induced wounds. “It’s hard,” said Alexandro Gil Molina. “Not every person can do it.” Sitting next to him, wife Yolanda Hernandez gives him the side eye. “Maybe,” she said dubiously. It’s a subtle sign that things are changing in Santa Ana.

Traditionally in rural Oaxaca, mezcal production is thought of as a man’s job, an occupation too grueling for women. But that misconception is being corrected.

Ciro Rodriguez pours mezcal into bottles while his daughter, Roa Rodriguez, looks on.

Russell Powell for Heifer International

As part of the project, women in Santa Ana visited parts of Oaxaca where women do produce mezcal. They learned how to make agave syrup and marmalades from mezcal byproducts. The syrup in particular earns more per liter than some varieties of mezcal.

Heifer Mexico also gave women seeds and tools to grow agave seedlings. “No women planted [agave] before,” said Hernandez. “Now? The majority of women maybe.”

In years past, there weren’t enough agave plants to sow every year, which is a big deal when it takes 5 to 7 years, minimum, to harvest. Farmers would buy plants from outside the community to fill the void, but in addition to costing money, the plants often came with unwanted pests. Homegrown agaves are more economical and healthier.

“This is the first step,” said Rosario Lopez, Heifer Mexico project manager. “The second step is to install a…demonstration palenque so they can learn the process of distillation and make mezcal themselves. It would be the first time in the community that women are making the spirit.”

Read more about Heifer’s work with small-scale farmers.