There are more than 14,000 species of bats in the world, and 140 of them are endemic to Mexico. During the day, they seek refuge in places like La Cueva de la Boca in Nuevo León or La Cueva de los Murciélagos in Metztitlán, Hidalgo; they fly at night, observe, and communicate through sound waves. Gilded with pollen, they create a nocturnal spectacle that brings life to the elixir of life: mezcal.
Myths have been created around bats, labeling them as demons, from Dracula to being blamed for the coronavirus. In the conversation between our Director of the Mezcal Area, Cecilia Alcántara, and Dr. Rodrigo Medellín, the Mexican Batman, which you can find on our IGTV (click here to watch), we learned a lot about pollinating bats and the issues surrounding these animals. That's why we believe it's necessary to raise awareness of all the benefits this animal provides us daily, to avoid falling into the ignorance that these myths entail.
Thanks to bats, we have products like corn, rice, chili, tomatoes, and many other economically and ecologically valuable crops. Due to their diet, which consists almost entirely of fruits and insects, they are natural pest controllers and manage all kinds of pests. They also serve as seed dispersers for chicozapote, figs, capulines, and other fruits, which is essential for the regeneration of Mexican jungles. Lastly, these magnificent creatures are pollinators of agaves, as well as columnar cacti, pitayas, ceibas, and others. The biologist and illustrator Juan Carlos Martinez, who you can find on Instagram under the pseudonym @ocelotlz_studio, kindly shared his illustration of the lesser long-nosed bat Leptonycteris yerbabuenae with us. It's named after being first described in the village of Yerbabuena in Guerrero in the forties.
Agaves have had a direct relationship with bats for 12 million years. One of the main reasons is that these bats feed on the nectar produced by agaves. The agaves, somewhat cunning, provide them with nectar that contains slightly less than the required amount, so the bats have to return multiple times, creating a large network of pollination. Agaves are semelparous plants, meaning they reproduce only once in their lifetime, which is why it's important for bats to return many times. This unique moment of reproduction lasts for about a month until they die – another moment in nature that confirms its poetic nature.
Magueyes accumulate sugar from 4 to over 30 years, depending on the species. One of the skills of master mezcaleros is knowing when the piña (agave heart) has the highest sugar concentration, and before it releases the quiote (flower stalk), they cut it to maximize the alcohol content. What happens with the industrial giants dominating the tequila and mezcal business is that they don't allow any agave to grow its quiote, seeing it as a waste, as if they were the owners of the natural cycle of life and as if nature were a slave to human economy. This causes a loss of genetic diversity in agave species, making them much more vulnerable to pests and climate changes. In Mexico, we have 180 species of agave out of the 200 worldwide, approximately 54 are used for mezcal production, and we have pushed 20 species to the brink of extinction. That's why it's important to realize the loving relationship between the bat and the agave.
In diversity lies the pleasure! If you love mezcal, we urge you not to limit yourself to just one type. For example, if you love Tepeztate and only drink Tepeztate, that will contribute to the scarcity and destruction of the Marmota agave. That's why at Dos Cuerpos, you'll see that we change the mezcals we offer depending on which agaves are not being exploited, so we don't contribute to the corruption of agave diversity and the Mexican ecosystem. This way, you can also experience the great variety of mezcals that exist in our country.
The value of mezcal is enormous, both culturally and ecologically. It's beautiful that each artisanal mezcal you taste will not be the same as the next due to genetic diversity and the recipes of each mezcal-producing family. For all these reasons, we must warn all our acquaintances that cheap or heavily promoted mezcals like Mezcal Unión and 400 Conejos will ultimately cost us more. We are in an era where it's our obligation to be aware of our impact on the world, take joint responsibility, face the consequences with our heads held high, try to reverse them, and with the help of the forces of nature, we will achieve it.
At Dos Cuerpos, we specialize in tastings and the distribution of agave and Mexican wine distillates. Tasting is the reflection of the alcohol to be sampled, and in that sense, these texts seek to keep that reflection constant. Let us know if you enjoyed this text, if it helped you in any way, and if you find any discrepancies, please inform us.
Further Reading:
The Tequila Interchange Project, which along with Dr. Rodrigo Medellín, Tequila Ocho, Carlos Camarena, Rosales from Tequila Cascahuín, Tequila Siete Leguas, have made an effort to leave five percent of their agaves to grow the quiote to enhance genetic diversity. You can find all this information on the website www.batfriendly.com.
Watch the BBC documentary "El Batman Mexicano" about Dr. Rodrigo Medellín and his NGO that also provides tools to educate students: http://bioconciencia.org.mx/index.php/sample-page/
Use the Tequila Matchmaker app, an application that explains how some tequilas were made, how they were harvested, cooked, matured, etc.
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