This batch of Tepextate comes from semi-cultivated plants grown on chalky hillsides surrounding the Cortes home. Felipe and his son Ageo are 3rd and 4th generations of Cortes to product Mezcal.

The Tepextate (Agave Marmorata) is cooked in a 9 tonne pit over an 8-10 day period with heat fuelled by a mix of Encino, Yagareche, Mesquite and Palo de Aguila wood. Once cooked the agave is immediately milled by tahona. It does not rest post cooking. Once crushed it is then fermented for 3-8 days in Sabino timber tanks (Taxodium Mucronatum). Well water is added and then double distilled in copper pots stills with refrescaderas* and adjusted with Puntas and Colas**

*Water in the refrescadera is changed only once per distillation and the montera does not include any plates.
**The tail end of the second distillation, is commonly known as ‘colas’ or tails but in this part of the Miahuatlan district it is referred to locally as ‘Shishe’. ‘Shishe’ in other parts of Oaxaca can also be referred to as the first distillation, the Puntas, the heads or ‘Ordinario’ and that at times is usually discarded.