Mexican spirits to try at St. Louis bars right now

You’ve done tequila and mezcal – now try sotol, charanda and bacanora

Mexico’s food and drink scene is one of the most dynamic in the world right now, with restaurateurs, chefs, bartenders and producers blending centuries of heritage with technical prowess and creativity. In this year’s edition of the “50 Best” list of North America’s best bars, four of the top 10 are in Mexico City, with the capital’s Handshake Speakeasy in the No. 1 spot. “Mexico City has very much found its voice over the past four or five years,” said Michael Fricker, owner of Monstera: Mezcaleria & Natural Wines, formerly known as Grand Spirits Bottle Co.,z on South Grand Boulevard. “Wild flavor combinations, highly technical approaches, and philosophically it’s just so unique from anywhere else in the world.”

Of course, like anyone else, Mexico’s bartenders use the best spirits from around the world, but they also have a wealth of unique domestic spirits to choose from. Bartenders at places like Tlecan in Mexico City are creating drinking experiences that are infused with an understanding of the country’s cultural and agricultural heritage, using distilled spirits that are the result of proud, regionally diverse traditions going back many generations.

 

 

“If I’m using this specific agave from this region, then I’m going to use flora from that region to match – or I’m going to use flora from a different region to contrast,” Fricker said. “Cultural heritage is rooted so incredibly deeply within the cocktail movement right now.”

Increasingly, St. Louis is getting a taste for the fuller spectrum of Mexican spirits. And we’re not just talking tequila or mezcal, although the past few years have certainly seen explosive growth in sales of those leading agave-based spirits. According to data from the Distilled Spirits Council, tequila outsold American whiskey in 2023, and some analysts are predicting that this year could see tequila overtake vodka for the first time as the top-selling spirit in the United States.

Consumers have more to choose from than ever before, with a broader range of Mexican spirits coming onto the local market. For one thing, Mexican rums produced in southern states like Oaxaca and Michoacan are gaining a foothold in the local market. Charanda, a (typically) white rum made exclusively in Michoacan under denomination of origin rules, is just one example. Monstera stocks several products by Uruapan Charanda, which has been producing charanda for over a century.

At Lazy Tiger and Yellowbelly, Tim Wiggins has been effusive about Mexican rums for several years. On the current Lazy Tiger menu, the Railroad Man cocktail uses charanda anejo with rye whiskey, 12-year-old Thai rum, local peach and toasted avocado leaf. The Mango Tango at Yellowbelly includes Uruapan Charanda with overproof Jamaican rum, mango puree, peach and lime. “People in St. Louis are drinking it and loving it,” Wiggins said. “They do an aged expression that’s amazing, there’s no sugar added, no color added, it’s very pure. Whiskey drinkers love it. The clear one is very tequila-esque, so tequila drinkers love it.”

 

 

Additionally, look out for spirits from the north of Mexico. “Northern Mexico has some of my favorite distilled spirits in the world,” Fricker said. After mezcal’s explosion in popularity, sotol was tipped as the next big thing for Mexican spirits in the United States. Known for its usually smoky and grassy flavors, sotol is made from the dasylirion plant. Also known as “desert spoon," this shrub grows all over Mexico, but denomination of origin protection means sotol can only be produced in the arid northern Mexican desert states of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila. Sotol may not have quite reached that tipping point in terms of consumer awareness yet, but look at cocktail menus and you’ll see bartenders are using it all the time. It’s one of the bases for the Running Wild (sotol, Bruto Americano, spiced pear and lime demarara) at Kenny’s Upstairs, and we’ve seen Fionna Gemzon at None of the Above use it to great effect in cocktails like the Desert Flower.

Northern Mexico doesn’t stop at sotol, however. There’s also bacanora, a type of mezcal specific to the state of Sonora. For another regional variation of mezcal, go down to Jalisco on the west coast and you’ll find raicilla. You can find several types of bacanora and raicilla, as well as many other mezcals, sotols and much more, amid the large selection of Mexican spirits at Mezcaleria las Chupacabras in Richmond Heights.

While Mexico’s distilled spirits heritage is worthy of respect and appreciation, don’t overlook the creative new products coming out of the country. At Planter’s House, co-owner Ted Kilgore said he’s enjoying Xila, an aperitif created by an all-female team of distillers. Produced in Mexico City using a mezcal base with flavor from roasted pineapple, ancho chile, cinnamon, pepper, clove, hibiscus and lavender, Xila stars in the Be All End All at Planter’s House alongside St. George green chile vodka, Faccia Bruto, raspberry shrub, lemon and egg white. “It’s a really cool brand, the distiller started distilling when she was a teenager,” Kilgore said.

Fricker is currently working on opening a bar, Malcriado, in Oaxaca, and his regular travels between there and St. Louis over the past few years have had a notable influence on the direction of Monstera’s cocktail program. All of the bar’s house cocktails, from the Hola Amigo to the Beach Umbrella, now feature at least one Mexican spirit. There’s also an “agave classics” section that includes a margarita and a paloma, with a twist on the Naked and Famous adding sotol to the traditional mezcalbased recipe.

Consumers are also becoming more discerning in their purchasing. “You’re seeing a lot more people get off of the Teremanas and the Casamigos and the bullshit, high-produced, high-flavored agave spirits,” Fricker said, identifying a shift instead toward more artisanal, small-scale producers. Fricker said mezcal education classes at Monstera typically sell out within 12 hours, and he said the people who attend those classes come with questions that scratch beneath the surface of the subject. “I don’t hold back from going super in-depth, scientific and nerdy,” he said.