Viva Agave! Meet Niki Nakazawa of Neta Mezcal

Welcome back to the second installment of our interview series in the run up to 2nd Viva Agave festival (20 – 25 March, 2019). In celebration of this interesting and informative initiative, I’m getting know some of the people behind the brands and the bars involved in spreading the agave love throughout France with a series of short interviews. This week, meet….

Niki Nakazawa of Neta Mezcal

Describe your role in the world of agave?

My partners and I work with families of farmers and small producers in a few communities in Miahuatlan, Oaxaca. We buy and promote the mezcal they produce and are working to make it available for people to enjoy outside of Mexico.

What is your favorite agave spirit?

Mezcal Miahuateco

What’s the one thing you think everyone should know about your favorite agave spirit?

I think everyone should know that mezcal is made from many different kinds of agave that grow in different places, at different altitudes, in different soils, with different sugar contents, and different phenotypes. At its best, mezcal is a distillation of the incredible biocultural diversity we find in Mexico.

Where is your favorite place to drink it?

I love drinking mezcal at the palenque with the people who made it.

What is your favorite cocktail with it?

Neat, always. Toasted pumpkin seeds on the side.

Thanks, Niki! See you at Viva Agave! Like what you’re reading? Then check out our other interviews in this series as well. If you want to read more about agave, I wrote a series of agave related articles in the runup to the first agave first festival, so you can take a deeper dive into tequila, mezcal and more.

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