Quiquiriqui Mezcal Espadin 70cl

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Currently in residence at Curio Cabal on Kingsland Road, Sin Gusano is part business, part passion project, part social enterprise. Darby wants to teach people about good mezcal, and focuses on buying small amounts of traditionally made mezcals at local prices, importing tiny batches. The project has committed 5% of profits from this trading activity to sustainable growth programs and charitable causes in Oaxaca.

In the wilderness of the dusty, gently undulating hills in Oaxaca, Mexico, rows and rows of blue-green agave plants appear to march militantly into the horizon, their spikes stretching up towards the bright sun like grasping fingers. Here, in a field just outside Santiago Matatlan – a village about an hour's drive from the brightly painted buildings of Oaxaca City – I'm seeing the incredible plants that are used to make mezcal, the mysterious Mexican spirit that's currently driving drinks aficionados to the point of obsession. Unlike other spirits, the aging process happens when the plant is growing [that said, mezcal can be aged in oak barrels – reposado has been rested for between two months and a year, and anejo is matured for one to three years – but purists prefer to drink it joven, or young]. Most agave plants are ready after around eight years – you're drinking something which has matured and has personality and a story to tell." What’s more is they have been working for many years to organise a collective of producers in their village to stop the discarding of left over liquid from distillation (vinasas) and have recently become the only palenque in the area to have their own organic disposal facility! They also work with a collective to only use dead or diseased wood for the production, as deforestation is a big problem in Oaxaca and certain wood types are dangerously over harvested. Right now, we've still got a real chance to influence the industry by guiding consumers to make the right decisions," says Darby, which is one of the reasons he ended up setting up Sin Gusano and the Mas evenings.

A bluffer’s guide to mezcal

Mezcal is more than just another drink," says Jon Darby, founder of mezcal bar Sin Gusano, which also runs a mezcal masterclass under the name Mas (Mezcal Appreciation Society, but also, handily, the Spanish word for more)."There are so many elements associated with its production; it's a window into a different society." Taking 20 years or more to mature, Arroqueno yields mezcal with a slightly bitter, almost chocolatey taste. Raicilla means 'small root', and is another spirit distilled from the agave plant, with a more fragrant and fruity taste than tequila and mezcal. Estancia's raicilla is distilled to the highest standards in the highlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. Made with espadin and three wild agaves – madrecuishe, bicuishe and mezicano – Papadiablo (which means Pope Devil) is a complex, traditionally made mezcal. All the ingredients are organic, no chemicals are added and the brand also distill to proof – which means no water is added to adjust the ABV. The agave most commonly used to make mezcal. It matures in eight years and gives the highest yield. Tepaztate

The mezcal industry has changed dramatically in the seven years since I started, and you just need to look at tequila to see where we're currently headed."But, aside from flavour, perhaps mezcal's most entrancing quality is the chance to build an industry that's sustainable for both the local communities and the environment. Those making mezcal in an artisanal way adhere to the ethos of 'permaculture' as much as you'll find in Mexico," says Starkman. "For me, permaculture is the weaving together of what nature can provide in a microclimate, with material goods and human needs and aspirations, in an ethical manner that sustains the complete system." While many spirits start off as artisanal labours of love, only to become mass produced for wider consumption later, mezcal is deliberately – almost inconveniently – traditional in its methods. The word "mezcal" traditionally refers to all agave-based spirits, including tequila, but in recent years has come to refer to a specific breed of agave drink. Within the new definition of mezcal there are three categories: "mezcal", "mezcal artisanal" and "mezcal ancestral". En route, I whizzed down the highway, past hundreds of signs offering mezcal tours and the chance to try, in situ, mezcal made at one of the roadside palenques. Mezcal tourism in Oaxaca is booming and I've become one of its tourists, determined to uncover the spirit's secrets. And, I learn, it all starts with the agave.