TEQUILA’S COUNTRY COUSIN

Mezcal tiptoes into Canada

When someone pushes a dish of something called “worm salt” at you, it’s exactly what you fear: a gritty powder of ground-up worm, crushed chilies and salt.

The “worm” (gusano in Spanish) is really a moth caterpillar, of a species that eats the agave plant. You take a slow sip of mezcal, then bite an orange slice dipped in the spicy salt. This is how the three partners in Fortuna Mezcal, Walter Meyenberg, Michael Martin and Ignacio Martínez, introduced me to their product at Toronto’s Weslodge last month. Mercifully, there are other ways to drink mezcal. For years, New Yorkers have consumed barrels of the stuff in cocktails.

Canadians know little about mezcal because hardly any of it has reached our chilly climes — yet. Mezcal has been called tequila’s country cousin. Both spirits are made from agave, but mezcal is distilled over a wider swath of Mexico, usually in smaller batches and employing quainter methods. Those methods typically involve heating kettles with actual fire, and many mezcals sport a beguiling whiff of smoke.

Fortuna plans to conquer Canada by tackling the restaurants and bars of Toronto first, and go from there. It’s a clever game plan: You woo bartenders (and drinks writers) with introductory events, then they spread the word on your behalf. (See last week’s column about Tromba tequila for an example of this strategy working well.) Martin, who hails from Edinburgh, said the partners are impressed at Canadians’ openness to new flavours. “Canada, worldwide … is kind of the No. 1 place — maybe next to New York — for food, dining and amazing cocktail culture. When we came [to Toronto] in September, we were blown away,” he said. Flattery might get his mezcal everywhere.

Fortunately for us, Fortuna is a mezcal with a tasty flavour profile, suitable for people who aren’t necessarily gruff-gulleted liquor swillers. On the nose it carries the honey-like sweetness of agave, citrus, a hint of carrot cake and some of the rubbery burnt sugar smell of a fine rum. It’s smooth with white pepper in the mouth, and finishes warm with a bit of a prickle. Alas, Fortuna’s availability is pretty much limited to Toronto establishments for now, although the company has plans to expand.

I also tried two of the other mezcals available in parts of Canada. Light-bodied Jaral de Berrio ($37 in Ontario; $55 in B.C.) is dominated by vegetal, jalapeno/bell pepper flavours; I’d use it in a marinade or citrus cocktail, if at all. Leyenda Tlacuache ($50 in Ontario) is organic, and oily and smoky like an Islay Scotch. It’s a mezcal for lovers of intense spirits, a blast of salty sea air, black grape and blacker pepper. Whatever brands may be available near you, more mezcals are coming. Expect to be peer-pressured into tasting some ground-up worm eventually. At least the liquor will be worth the ordeal.