Episode 30 of Season 3 - Cocijo Mezcal

Mezcal can taste like smoke, sweetness, and a place you have never been, and it can also taste like someone’s childhood. Karen Mac Nair sits with Jaime Vargas from Cosijo Mezcal, a brand rooted in more than 82 years of family tradition in Oaxaca, and we get into what happens when heritage meets the real grind of building a spirits business in California. If you love craft spirits, agave, tequila comparisons, and learning how to taste with more confidence, this one is for you.

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Transcript

Event Preview And Where To Go

John Villa Announcer 0:04

Welcome to Tasting Arcadia, the official podcast of Taste of Arcadia. Taste of Arcadia is an inclusive event featuring food and drinks from the San Gabriel Valley restaurants, all for one price. Come and sample food, wine, beer, and spirits, check out our brand new cars, visit our business showcase booths, smile at our photos, and take it on the dance floor with me, Johnny Via from Dance Syndicate DJ Entertainment. Taste of Arcadia is September 19th at Santa Anita Park. The fun goes from 2 to 6 p.m. with a special VIP entrance at 1 p.m. Don't forget, this is a 21 and over event. Get your tickets today at Tasteofarcadia.com. Now let's hear for our host, Karen McNair.

Meet The Chamber And Cosijo

Karen Mac Nair 0:45

Thanks, John. Thanks for the great intro and all the interesting information about Taste of Arcadia. Welcome to the podcast. I am Karen McNair, the CEO of the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce. We are in our second episode of season three of Tasting Arcadia. Now, what we love about Taste of Arcadia is we have wonderful food and drink vendors, and we get to meet our first drink vendor today. I'm so excited. Um now this is Jaime. He is here with Cocijo. Okay, help me. We were talking about perfection and how great our podcast is. See? Leaving that in. Got it. Okay, love it. Um, we have some wonderful tastings, but first, Jaime, I want to get to know you a little better and the

82 Years Of Family Mezcal

Karen Mac Nair 1:37

business. So tell me, how did you get in this business?

Jaime Vargas 1:40

My family has been making Mescal more than 82 years in Oaxaca.

Karen Mac Nair 1:44

Oh, wow.

Jaime Vargas 1:45

So as kids, our parents every summer, and we didn't want to go. We used to fight, like, we don't want to go, and like, no, no, you're going. You're gonna go see your grandfather, your grandmother, your cousins, your uncles. So every summer we always, the shit is out there to go see them. And we actually were there when they used to distill the mezcal. It's so funny that now, like, when I open up a bottle, it takes me back to that place when I was a kid, smelling it, you know, and even though every summer we go see our my family and and they were producing it, it reminds me of those times just from the smell of the McGay. Oh wow.

Karen Mac Nair 2:25

I love that because you're just painting this beautiful picture of family. Was it who was the original? Your grandfather?

Jaime Vargas 2:32

My uncle. Your uncle, okay. Rest in peace. But he was the first one in 1944. He started producing mezcal in Oaxaca.

Karen Mac Nair 2:40

Wow. And what what brought that on?

Jaime Vargas 2:43

Just times needed to you know what back then they used to make mezcal for for special um uh events uh for the community only. They really wouldn't like distribute or sell it outside of the community, right? They will sell it within the community. Uh-huh. And then uh as time moved on, mezcal started getting a little better and better. I remember as a teenager while my uncle used to have all these tour buses. I mean like three to four tour buses, and all from different countries. The maj majority were from the United States and uh Mexico City and Europeans.

Karen Mac Nair 3:23

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 3:24

So we used to help them since we spoke English and Spanish, and my uncle and and my cousins didn't, uh-huh. We were able to help them out sell the mezcal to the Americans. Oh wow. Yeah, and that was a good little uh so would they come like for a tasting in the buses, and then you would just sell them out and then go into my uncle's Palenque and and and uh uh have them taste the mezcal.

Karen Mac Nair 3:46

Oh, that is amazing. Okay, so how are you still working with family and how did it get to I'm still working with family?

From Studio Bankruptcy To Importing

Karen Mac Nair 3:53

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 3:53

Um, wow, before all this I used to do music. And uh in 09, 010 when the economy went down, um I went bankrupt. Um I had shut shut my studio down, everything, and and and I was just wondering, wow, what am I gonna do next? And I have a friend of mine, Roger Graft. I took him to Oaxaca.

Karen Mac Nair 4:15

Uh-huh.

Jaime Vargas 4:15

Uh, he has a good taste palette, he loves alcohol. And and he tried it for the first time and he was in awe. He was like, wow, this stuff is great. And he's like, Let's bring it into the United States. This mind you, this is 2010. Okay. Right? So I'm with you. So I was like, no, I'm like, I don't know nothing about how to sell the mezcal, how to bring it in after.

Karen Mac Nair 4:38

You're my heart in the music business. Yeah, yeah.

Jaime Vargas 4:40

I was doing music, you know. I I don't I don't understand. I don't know how to do it. So he nagged he nagged me for a whole year. Like a whole year. We I go see him, we smoke cigars, and then he kept nagging me, nagging me, and at the end I was like, you know what? All right, let's do it. It took a whole year. 2011. I was like, all right, we're gonna do this. Uh-huh. You know, I had a um, we did our license to import and to uh distribute in the state of California. And uh it took, yeah, that it took me uh it took actually nine years for me to do the whole thing from trials and errors and and how to become a Mexican citizen uh-huh to get my uh business going over there to have a contract with my family that they're gonna be the producers to uh register to the government that does uh CRM, the mezcal. It was just like it took a long time, but once it was here, January 17, 2020 was my first shipment in. Oh no. March 2020 shutdown. No, that was it. Yeah, that was it. I couldn't solicit, go out there, try to sell it. Whatever alcohol, this uh the spirits was already there, the distributors were selling to the businesses. That was it. I couldn't go in and solicit. So we were shipping up for about a year and a half.

Karen Mac Nair 5:59

No, oh my goodness. Oh, okay. I love that story. So your family is still the the creators, they're still the growers, the creators of it, and then now you're here as a sales distribution, getting it into the hands of people. Yes, okay, yes, great. So is it in restaurants? Is it in liquor stores?

Jaime Vargas 6:19

I'm scattered. I'm I'm in in so many places and uh restaurants and and stores. It's just harder for me to get in because I self-distribute. So the majority of the of the restaurants and uh stores, they want a distributor already in place. They want to deal with their distributor, right? You know, they just want to get everything in at one time, you know, and it's easier for them because they're busy doing other stuff. So where I can get it in, I'll get it in, and and and when the especially the pres at the presentation. Once they give me that five minutes and they taste it, they're like, wow, this is great. And and not to be uh well, how would I say it? Uh not well to brag you about biased or you know, you know, I tell them, yeah, my family's been doing this for 82 years. I won double gold gold awards at the San Francisco Whispers Competition, which is the biggest in the United States. It's prestige. Everybody wants to get in. Uh-huh. Out of 40, 50 uh mezcaleros that put in their uh mezcal into the event, nobody really gets an award, you know, unless it truly meant for that award, which my mezcal has. We've won a lot of awards through them. So I tell them if my mezcal is the best thing you have out there, and they try it, they're like, Wow, you're right. This stuff, I this stuff is great. So, you know, so like I say, when they give me the time, I'd make a little bit of presentation, I haven't tried out, and then and then they're like, You're right. I'm like, I know,

Selling Without A Distributor

Jaime Vargas 7:52

I told you.

Karen Mac Nair 7:52

That's so good. Now I'm glad you're connected with the Arcadia Chamber because we're all about doing businesses with business businesses, yeah, and being at taste, people can taste it then, go to their local restaurants and say they want Kocijo and then get the mascell there.

Jaime Vargas 8:08

Yeah. Right? That's really about cocktails out of it. Uh, I make a great uh hibiscus jamaica with uh my hoven mezcal. And and I when I make when I do it, when I do all these events, especially when it's a hot day, wow, I have a line for it. It really is refreshing. Everyone tells me, wow, this is refreshing, or they call it dangerous. Oh, it goes down, and then eventually, if you do too much, I'm sure it's a good one.

Karen Mac Nair 8:36

Yeah, you're tipsy.

Jaime Vargas 8:38

Yeah.

Karen Mac Nair 8:39

That's great. Okay, um, so we just talked about the best way to support your business is just to talk to local restaurants. Is there anywhere local that you know? I know it's it's distributed in anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley.

Jaime Vargas 8:52

You can always get it online.

Karen Mac Nair 8:53

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 8:54

You can always get online at cocicomescal.com.

Karen Mac Nair 8:57

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 8:57

Um, but I'm uh around here, around Arcadia. No, I have it in Glendale at the Remedy uh uh liquor store. Um but around here I I'm not like I said, it's just me and my wife doing this. Yeah, you um she you know it it's harder to to get it in because I can probably do either three to four stores in one day, if that, yeah, because of traffic, and or the owners are not there, or they'll be in here next week, or you gotta be you gotta come before noon. Right. It's just it's just me and her, that's it. She tells me where to go and I go. Right. And try to get it in.

Karen Mac Nair 9:38

That yeah, that's tough, but you're doing a great job.

Jaime Vargas 9:40

Yeah.

Karen Mac Nair 9:41

So you shared a little bit about the awards. Is that the thing you're most proud of? Or what would be the thing you would say you're most proud of?

Jaime Vargas 9:48

That'll be one of the things I'm most proud of, but the thing is that, like I said, my my family's been doing this wow, more than 82 years. Like, they perfected it. A lot of older gentlemen when I do events are like, oh no, they remember their mascot. No, no, they don't want to try it. Okay. And I tell them, look, here's an orange. Just in case it is still too much for you, do the orange, and it kills that smoky flavor.

Karen Mac Nair 10:10

Right.

Jaime Vargas 10:10

And once they try it, they're like, Wow, I never tasted mascot

Orange And Salt Worm Ritual

Jaime Vargas 10:15

like this before.

Karen Mac Nair 10:15

Okay, so let's rewind. Let's share with everyone why an orange? What is what is in it to make the orange complement each other?

Jaime Vargas 10:22

So if you ever go to Oaxaca and you order mezcal, they're always going to give you sal de gusano, which is called saltworm, an orange, and a shot.

Karen Mac Nair 10:32

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 10:33

So the orange is there just in case, or you even if the sal de gusano is not there, but the sal de gusano really really brings out intense, that smoky flavor.

Karen Mac Nair 10:44

Okay, that's what we're looking for, is the smoky flavor. Yeah, okay.

Jaime Vargas 10:47

And some people, for some people, it might be too much. So the sal de gusano really brings it out, and that's what the orange is there for. Okay. If it's too much for you, you do the orange and it kills that smoky flavor right away. Your palate cleanses. Or, or if the mezcales for some people just straight, the mezcala might be too smoky for them, anyways. Do the orange and it cleanses the palate.

Karen Mac Nair 11:07

So let's circle back to the salt worm. What is a salt worm?

Jaime Vargas 11:10

Salt worm is it's uh the worm that used to be inside the bottles.

Karen Mac Nair 11:14

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 11:14

What they do now is what they crush it with salt and chili flakes. It's roasted, the worm's roasted, crushed all together with salt and chili flakes. And that's the salt worm, sal de gusano. And that's the worm that eats the armage, the gave plant.

Karen Mac Nair 11:27

Okay, so I noticed on one of your bottles there is saltworm and salt. Is that on all of them? Or is that okay?

Jaime Vargas 11:34

Just the hoven.

Karen Mac Nair 11:34

Just the hoven.

Jaime Vargas 11:35

Just the hoven.

Karen Mac Nair 11:36

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 11:36

Um, all these other ones, the expression says they're aged longer.

Karen Mac Nair 11:40

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 11:41

It's it's limitless. Like it, it's too good. It it's being aged, so it's a whole different flavor. So you only do cocktails and the salgusano with an orange. But it's really up to you.

Karen Mac Nair 11:54

It's about you. Yes, correct.

Jaime Vargas 11:57

How you want to drink it, or how you, you know, you want to try with other my other ones. But uh majority times is just the Hoven.

Karen Mac Nair 12:04

Okay.

How To Sip The Joven

Karen Mac Nair 12:05

So just telling everyone, get your tickets today at tasteofarcadia.com so you can test all of these, but I get to the privilege to test them today. Woo! And I'm sitting, not driving, just clapping that I get to have these one. And I have an orange in front of me, some orange peels. So, Haime, take me away. Tell me what we're doing first.

Jaime Vargas 12:28

Well, we're gonna start with the Hovind. Okay, we're gonna start with the start with the Hoven.

Karen Mac Nair 12:31

Okay. Now, color-wise, it looks like this is the purest form.

Jaime Vargas 12:36

Okay. This is just straight uh distilled, bottled, and shipped out.

Karen Mac Nair 12:41

Okay. The bottles are beautiful, by the way.

Jaime Vargas 12:44

So there's no hangover.

Karen Mac Nair 12:45

Okay. Okay.

Jaime Vargas 12:50

The way it's cooked, you take all the impurities out. So you don't get no hangovers from the purest form, though.

Karen Mac Nair 12:56

So there it's you're telling me it's healthy?

Jaime Vargas 12:59

You know what? I don't want to make that statement. But we have two uh friends of ours that are diabetic. And both of them used to drink uh tequila. Okay, but the sugar levels always went high. And then when I made the presentation with my mascot, and they start going to stores and buying it, and they're like, they're like, Jaime, your mascot, when I drink it, my sugar levels go down. Really? Yes.

Karen Mac Nair 13:26

Consult your local doctors and we'll take a test. But that's amazing. Oh my goodness. Even the fact of no hangover is.

Jaime Vargas 13:33

And like I said, it's like charcoal activate. The way it's cooked, you take all the impurities out. So that's why it's no additives are added on. It's all from the Mar Magueya Gabe plant.

Karen Mac Nair 13:42

Okay. So I'm looking at it, it's uh a clear, looks like a clear liquid.

Jaime Vargas 13:47

Yes, and we call it in Oaxaca, you say dale besitos. Give it kisses. Don't shoot it, just sip it.

Karen Mac Nair 13:54

Okay, and the smell, I'm gonna start with that. It it's not a harsh smell at all. It's almost a sweet. How do we even describe it? Yeah, okay. We talked about smoky.

Jaime Vargas 14:09

Yeah, I can smell the sweetness and I smell the magic, the agave plant.

Karen Mac Nair 14:13

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 14:15

A little bit of vanilla. I had uh a gentleman say he smells graham crackers in it.

Karen Mac Nair 14:20

Really? I don't smell it, but I smelled sweet in the beginning, but I can smell a little smoky.

Jaime Vargas 14:28

Yes.

Karen Mac Nair 14:28

Like a little campfire-y.

Jaime Vargas 14:31

Yes.

Karen Mac Nair 14:32

So if you're watching us on YouTube, we're just sticking our nose in these little shot glasses. If you're only listening, I'll try to smell louder. Okay, I'm gonna start. So this I just sip.

Jaime Vargas 14:43

Yeah, you sip on it. Do it. Like a little kid. Yeah, yeah.

Karen Mac Nair 14:49

Okay, delicious, smoky flavor, but is smooth, not a burn that you get from other spirits. Correct, yes.

Jaime Vargas 15:00

And that's a lot of people were like surprised. Yeah. Like, wow, this is not as smoky as the other ones they've had.

Karen Mac Nair 15:07

Because, like you mentioned a tequila or any of the other spirits, sometimes you feel like you need to right away have a lime or have something to cut it. I don't taste that in this. It just it's smooth on the tongue.

Jaime Vargas 15:20

Okay. Yeah. But you have, like I said, you have some of those. I always tell everybody, even though it's like, oh no, I love mascara. You know, if it's too much, do the orange.

Karen Mac Nair 15:29

Okay, so then I'm gonna take another another sip and then do an orange on its own. Yeah. Okay, have a sip, now an orange. I'm chewing. Okay. It does cut it.

Jaime Vargas 15:46

Yeah.

Karen Mac Nair 15:47

And adds, it almost brings out the sweetness a little bit more for me. Yeah, that's good. I would have never thought that. I never would thought have an orange. When you first walked in and you're like, we start talking about oranges, I was surprised. That would not be something I'd be like.

Jaime Vargas 16:05

Like I said, you're going to Oaxaca, that's how the way the presentation is Sal de Gusano, the orange, and the shot. Wow.

Karen Mac Nair 16:11

Okay, so which one's next?

Aging Changes Flavor And Smoke

Jaime Vargas 16:13

Let's do our uh our reposado. The reposado is age eight months. Okay. And American Oak Barrels. And in 2022. Our Hoven in 2023 I won gold at the San Francisco Worcester competition. In 2022, I won gold on my repo age eight months.

Karen Mac Nair 16:31

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 16:32

And as you go down the line, it gets less smoky, smoother, and sweeter. Okay. Oh. Yeah, just saying. That was a big kiss. Yes, it was.

Karen Mac Nair 16:45

We're talking about the poor, ladies and gentlemen. We're talking about the poor. Okay. Ooh. Sorry about the long pause, everyone. I was uh swallowing the wow, that is delicious. Okay, I can see the smooth out the it's definitely smoother. Really good. And this one won the gold also.

Jaime Vargas 17:11

That one won gold in that one won gold in 2023. No, I'm sorry, 2022.

Karen Mac Nair 17:16

2022, okay. Wow. And do who judges that?

Jaime Vargas 17:23

Uh the San Francisco World Press competition have their own. Oh, judges?

Karen Mac Nair 17:26

Yes, okay.

Jaime Vargas 17:27

And it's the most prestigious event out there in the United States. Wow. It's the biggest United States.

Karen Mac Nair 17:34

Okay, this is good. I'm gonna take another sip. Similar flavors. I'd feel like I still can taste the smoky a little bit similar, but the smoothness of it, it is interesting. The color too is a little hint of gold.

Jaime Vargas 17:54

Yeah.

Karen Mac Nair 17:55

Um, it's not as clear, but I feel like is that what adds the richness?

Jaime Vargas 18:00

That's yeah, yes, it does. That's that's from the barrel impact.

Karen Mac Nair 18:04

Oh, the whiskey barrels.

Jaime Vargas 18:06

Eight months, correct.

Karen Mac Nair 18:07

Okay, love it. What's the next one?

Jaime Vargas 18:09

Our next one is uh our nevo.

Karen Mac Nair 18:12

We don't recommend this at home to drink them this fast.

Jaime Vargas 18:15

This says H two years in American oak barrels. And this one I want double gold.

Karen Mac Nair 18:22

So do you ship the oak barrels there?

Jaime Vargas 18:25

The first time we did these, yes. Okay, but my latest one, we actually uh my family found a company there that had they didn't use them and they were brand new uh chart American oak barrels.

Karen Mac Nair 18:43

Wow.

Jaime Vargas 18:44

Yeah, and that's why so much darker compared to this one.

Karen Mac Nair 18:48

Okay, you definitely see you definitely see the color begin to change.

Jaime Vargas 18:53

Wow. Correct.

Karen Mac Nair 18:54

Okay, because yep, this is the golden color is there a little bit darker than the previous. Ooh, that is good. Not as smoky. No. This is definitely as smooth, flavorful, but I don't taste the smokiest as strong as I did on the other.

Jaime Vargas 19:18

Yeah. Like I said, once you go down the line, the longer ages, the less smoky and sweeter and smoother it gets.

Karen Mac Nair 19:24

Yes. The sweetness definitely does pop out in this one. Wow, that's good. I'm gonna take another sip. Even the smell is smoother. I don't know, that's the only way I know how to describe it. It doesn't have that smoky smell is not there, so it's a sweet. What else is there? I really need to get better at my descriptive words.

Jaime Vargas 19:59

Yeah, it's used less smoky.

Karen Mac Nair 20:01

Yeah. It just smells and tastes just smooth.

Jaime Vargas 20:08

What I love about them is that you can still smell the magate plant. The the uh the when they cook it.

Karen Mac Nair 20:15

So for you, do you feel like that is the childhood memories? Like the smell just really you had mentioned that before, really takes you back to the process of it all.

Jaime Vargas 20:24

When you open up the bottles, you have that smell. I remember distinctly when when my family used to make it and distill it in the process, I was you can smell it's all over the whole room.

Karen Mac Nair 20:36

Is it in your clothes then too? Like it's like barbecuing. No. Where you're like, do I smell like the barbecue?

Jaime Vargas 20:42

No. But I'm sure in your in your your breath that you want to smell that it's smoky.

Karen Mac Nair 20:48

That is true. Okay, which one's next?

Jaime Vargas 20:50

So I don't know if you want to try my latest two-year. This one, I didn't have time to uh take it into the San Francisco Worst Press competition. Uh-huh. So I have this one, as you can see, it's much starker.

Karen Mac Nair 21:01

Yeah, I'll try it. It's not a gold winner yet.

Jaime Vargas 21:05

Yes, correct.

Karen Mac Nair 21:06

Yet. But um, so I'd love to try to.

Jaime Vargas 21:08

But you'll see you'll see the difference between this one.

Karen Mac Nair 21:11

I'd love to try it before it wins its gold so I could announce, hey, I tasted that. And you guys can too. Everyone out there, it tastes of arcadia.

Jaime Vargas 21:18

Yes, you can.

Karen Mac Nair 21:19

It can be there. Okay, the the color is richer. It's it's a darker color in the yellow palette. Ooh, that's good.

Jaime Vargas 21:35

You get more flavor. Yes. Yes. And a little bit more of a kick.

Karen Mac Nair 21:40

You do, you do.

Jaime Vargas 21:41

But you get more flavor out of it.

Karen Mac Nair 21:43

But even with all of them, none of them have that harshness that again, other spirits that you taste, that bite in the back of your throat where you're like, Oh no, I'm gonna that's a lot. I don't feel it with any of them. It's impressive. And you're like, I've been telling you that. I've been telling that for 20 minutes.

Jaime Vargas 22:02

You know, it's harder for me just to say it than you know what? Let the mezcal uh you know do the talking it's that part's amazing.

Karen Mac Nair 22:12

Another taste. Yeah. So I feel like that might be my favorite. Is that okay? That's okay. Okay.

Jaime Vargas 22:21

That's okay.

Karen Mac Nair 22:22

Yeah. Because I feel like the it's so flavorful and rich, but there is no bite. Yeah, it just smooth.

Jaime Vargas 22:30

Yeah, and richer. It has more flavor.

Karen Mac Nair 22:32

Yeah. Okay. That is really good. Do you I dare to ask, I know these are your babies and the family babies. Are there favorites? Are there certain that people really love?

Jaime Vargas 22:43

Usually mascara, you do not age. Okay. It's straight in the uh natural format, the hoven.

Karen Mac Nair 22:49

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 22:50

The majority of mascadas is like that.

Karen Mac Nair 22:52

And do you have a favorite of any of them?

Jaime Vargas 22:55

I I I only drink two of them. Okay. It's gonna be the anejo when I smoke cigars.

Karen Mac Nair 23:01

Okay. Oh, that's a good addition.

Jaime Vargas 23:03

Or the hoven. The hoven uh just neat.

Karen Mac Nair 23:06

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 23:07

Yeah. First time I ever had uh manejo was in January. Well, with the uh with the nice. I never drank it with ice over ice, the anejo.

Karen Mac Nair 23:16

Would you drink it like you would an old fashioned with a big ice cube or would you drink?

Jaime Vargas 23:19

You can do it old-fashioned, you can do palomas. Okay. Uh like I said, I make a drink out of hibiscus jamaica.

Karen Mac Nair 23:25

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 23:25

Um, pretty much, but that's the hoven because it's it's the cheapest. It's just it's not aged, it's not sitting there. So I made a deal with my family for aging it because they don't they don't age it a mezcal. It's all hoven.

Karen Mac Nair 23:38

Okay, that's good to know. Did your uncle have a favorite?

Jaime Vargas 23:41

Did he originally you know what they only produced back then was Silvestris, which is Wild Agave, and Hoven Espadin. Okay. All these are all espadin. Okay, so my they never age this, so the all that they drank was uh wild agave and magaz and uh joven mezcal. Oh wow, yeah.

Karen Mac Nair 24:02

Wisdom right there, tell you. They knew it was freshness and just to drink it there.

Jaime Vargas 24:07

Yeah, right off the pot. Right.

Karen Mac Nair 24:10

Just open it up.

Jaime Vargas 24:12

Yeah.

Karen Mac Nair 24:12

So is there any other specialties? Anything else you want to share with us?

Limited Release, Label Story, Tickets

Jaime Vargas 24:17

Um, I have I have one more. Oh this is this is my limited release.

Karen Mac Nair 24:23

Oh my gosh. Okay, drum roll.

Jaime Vargas 24:25

Drumroll, please. Although my other ones are 80 proof, this is 90 proof.

Karen Mac Nair 24:29

Okay, so maybe should I take my answer back that I don't know what my favorite is yet?

Jaime Vargas 24:32

Yes, yes, because the majority of people are it's either gonna be the añejo or my limited release bottle. Okay, and my limited release bottle my family did not make.

Karen Mac Nair 24:43

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 24:43

The thing is that my cousin sold my two-year, I'm four months shy for the two-year to come up for my año mezcal. Business is picking up, and I'm like, I need some uh myjo. So there's a family in that town that only produce hoven. So the father at a year and six months took out the bottle. First time he don't do a niejo, but he passed away. Ugh He passed away, the kids left it there for six years.

Karen Mac Nair 25:12

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 25:13

Sitting there in a stainless steel airtight container. I came along, I tried it, and I'm like, You melt it. I'll buy it. I'll buy it from all of it. This is great. And I honestly thought I was gonna win double gold at the San Francisco Works Race competition, but I only won gold, which I'll take it in 2024.

Karen Mac Nair 25:30

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 25:32

So half of the people either, like I said, they love the lemon release as their number one, or they like the the number one Zanyo.

Karen Mac Nair 25:39

Okay. We're quiet because we're pouring. Now this color is on the lighter side.

Jaime Vargas 25:54

Yeah, like I said, it's only aged a year and six months. Okay.

Karen Mac Nair 25:57

So before I take it, go ahead.

Jaime Vargas 25:59

So it's still it's still um aging in its own juice. Like I said, it's it has it's uh additive free. So its own sugars, like it's aging, even though it's not in a barrel, but it's still aging because it's just sitting there in it.

Karen Mac Nair 26:14

So it only gets better with time.

Jaime Vargas 26:16

Yes.

Karen Mac Nair 26:16

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 26:17

It's like a only yes. I think I've I tried a uh a four-year mezcal aging uh American oak barrel, and I think past four years I wouldn't recommend aging it.

Karen Mac Nair 26:31

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 26:31

It it's a whole different taste. It starts tasting more like wine. Okay. Um, but but it's yes, you can leave it in a in a in glass as long as you want, and it'll keep aging.

Karen Mac Nair 26:45

Okay. Here we go. Gonna try it. Oh, that is good. Different flavorful but different flavors. Yeah, so now what's the description of the different flavors? Like it it sits on your tongue differently.

Jaime Vargas 27:04

Um stay there a little longer, yeah. Because it's a 90-proof.

Karen Mac Nair 27:08

Okay, is that what is that the kick at the end?

Jaime Vargas 27:11

Yes.

Karen Mac Nair 27:12

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 27:14

And even the smells are a little bit a little bit different.

Karen Mac Nair 27:20

But good different.

Jaime Vargas 27:21

Yes. They're all good.

Karen Mac Nair 27:23

Yes. We're smelling and taking another drink.

Jaime Vargas 27:30

This one, I smell a little bit of ethanol in this one. Out of all the other ones I didn't, this one I had a little bit.

Karen Mac Nair 27:43

Wow. He you guys can't see his face, but he smiled. He was this big smile.

Jaime Vargas 27:48

Every time I go back to this one, uh-huh and I'm like, oh wow, this is good. Like, because I don't drink it every day, so like when I do events, people want to do a shot with me, I'll do it. And I'm like, wow, this is great.

Karen Mac Nair 28:01

It's like, I love my job. Oh, this has been awesome. Cheers.

Jaime Vargas 28:07

Cheers.

Karen Mac Nair 28:07

Salute.

Jaime Vargas 28:08

Salute.

Karen Mac Nair 28:09

Um, I'm gonna take another drink. Jaime, thank you so much for being here. No, thank you. Can you give us the website again?

Jaime Vargas 28:18

Where do you have www.cocihomescal.com.

Karen Mac Nair 28:22

So everyone, make sure you come to Taste of Arcadia. Go to taste of arcadia.com for the tasting. Anything else you want to add?

Jaime Vargas 28:30

Yeah, the our the name Cosijo is the Zapoteco God of Rain and Lightning.

Karen Mac Nair 28:35

Oh, that's right. We didn't talk about that. I've that is an amazing story. And if you look at the label, tell me a little bit about the label.

Jaime Vargas 28:42

That's the label. Uh that's the cocijo, that's their god. Okay. That's on the label.

Karen Mac Nair 28:47

It's beautiful. It's in gold and has beautiful details on it. Cosijo.

Jaime Vargas 28:53

Cocijo, you got it.

Karen Mac Nair 28:54

Yay! It only took me in a whole episode.

Jaime Vargas 28:57

Three uh three shots and you pronounced it right.

Karen Mac Nair 28:59

I'm so proud of myself. See? What a podcast will do.

Jaime Vargas 29:02

So and I forgot to mention all my Hoven bottles have the salt worm. Oh. Sal de gusano. So the worm that used to be inside the bottles is crushed now with chili flakes. The worm is roasted and you crush it with chili flakes, salt all crushed together. Okay. So you ever go to Oaxaca and you're gonna order mezcal, they're gonna give you the salt worm, sal de gusano, an orange, and the shot. Just because uh sal de gusano, the salt worm, really brings out that smoky flavor intensely. Okay. Some people their palate might be too much, and like I say, you do the orange afterwards and it kills all that smoky flavor.

Karen Mac Nair 29:39

Okay. So now with the worm, do you what do you it's circle? It's dried in the little plastic bag right now. There it's and so you do something.

Jaime Vargas 29:47

So wherever the last shot you get from the mezcal, you put the worm inside the shot glass, uh-huh. Let it sit between three to five minutes, let the worm absorb the alcohol, and then you take it.

Karen Mac Nair 29:59

Okay.

Jaime Vargas 30:00

Yeah. And it's it's it it's not bad. It really isn't.

Karen Mac Nair 30:04

You guys can't see my face, but my eyes got vacant. It's chewy, okay. Okay. I'll trust you on that one. We won't do that tasty today. How about that? We'll just let that stay.

Jaime Vargas 30:16

Another time, another podcast.

Karen Mac Nair 30:18

Maybe, maybe at Taste of Arcadia. There you go.

Jaime Vargas 30:20

I'll be there you go.

Karen Mac Nair 30:21

I'll have enough gumption to come try it. Well, thank you so much for being here. We're excited to see you at Taste. Everyone, as always, thank you for listening to this wonderful episode. Go to taste of arcadia.com to get your tickets today. And John, take us away.

John Villa Announcer 30:37

Thank you, Karen, for another great episode. You can hear it on YouTube. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio. Don't forget, join us on September 19th at Stephanie Depart for Taste of Arcadia. You can get your tickets now at TasteFarcadia.com. Thanks again for joining us for Tasty Arcadia. We'll see you at the Taste.