Media
Chicago Reader – June 5, 2019
Schroeder initially developed an appreciation for mezcal while running the beverage program at Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, and Xoco and traveling around Mexico soaking up the spirit. He went on to open the late Mezcaleria las Flores before joining Quiote/Todos Santos. While his expertise might be granular, here he takes a bird’s-eye view of the situation. There is no brand fetishizing, no charming portraits of hardworking campesinos; just a neat, dry, witty (ahem) distillation of the history, botany, methods, traditions, and modern economics surrounding this old spirit, now entering a world, for better or worse, that still doesn’t get it.
Words, concepts, and species are brought to life by illustrator Polly Jimenez, who founded nascent publishing house Prensa Press along with journalist Paul Biasco, who opened and for a time managed Quiote/Todos Santos and now runs the Mexico City Neapolitan pizzeria Dr. Pizza.
Understanding Mezcal is a quick read, but in short order you’ll have a reasonable appreciation for the differences between pulque and pechuga, tobala and tepextate, clay pot and copper alembic.
Chicago Tribune – Feb. 14, 2019
You won’t find glossy photos in “Understanding Mezcal.” Instead, hand-drawn illustrations by Polly Jimenez detail the appearance of agave plants, the regions they come from, and the equipment used to distill the plants into the smoky spirit. There are no recipes, no personal anecdotes and no mentions of brands. The book is published by Prensa Press, based in Mexico City and Chicago, and founded by Jimenez and Paul Biasco, whom Schroeder met through Quiote.
Biasco and Jimenez founded Prensa Press in 2018 with the mission of working with writers, chefs, artists, architects, designers and more to publish their written work. Schroeder said while many publishing houses will take an idea and then manipulate it into something that sells, Prensa Press worked with him to ensure that the end product was still his voice and what he wanted.
Inside Hook – March 5, 2019
That buddy of yours who’s sampled every nano-brewery in the country and can recite every cru in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855? He’s got nothing on Jay Schroeder.
A walking encyclopedia when it comes to all things agave, Schroeder is the author of Understanding Mezcal, an engagingly erudite new guide to the plant and all its pleasures. And if anyone can claim to truly understand the enigmatic spirit, it’s him.
Schroeder’s C.V. reads as follows: former chief mixologist for the restaurants of star chef Rick Bayless, current partner and beverage director at Chicago’s Quiote (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2018, 2019) and adjoining bar Todos Santos, and quite possibly the most knowledgeable man in Chicago when it comes to Mexican spirits.
Since our mezcal wisdom is limited to the basics (it’s smoky, all tequilas are mezcals but not all mezcals are tequilas), we recently sat down with Schroeder to chat about his book, its subject and what to know before you pick out a bottle.