As with all the best food and drink, mezcal has to be made with love. And like our relationships, mezcal takes time and work. From the patience and care required at each step of the process, to the kiss of a sip you give the spirit when it is finally ready to share.

Love lives in the generational knowledge behind artisanal practices, and in the enthusiasm shared when we open a bottle. Producers explain how mezcal is present at every important life moment. Birth, death, and key moments in our lives and relationships. Palomo producer Carlos Blas describes how mezcal is “connected to everyday love,” the love that strengthens community through hardship and celebration alike.

Profound love involves both pleasure and hardship, vulnerability and protection. This duality is often symbolised by the rose. Roses signify love and beauty, while their thorns represent the pain and challenges required in true, deep relationships. Mezcalero José Santiago López compares agave to this same duality. The heart is generous, while the spines act as boundaries, showing that enduring love requires strength and a willingness to navigate difficulty in order to enjoy love’s bounty.

Agaves often bear the marks of lovers, who scratch their names into the thick pencas, aspiring to romantic success. When speaking with mezcaleros about this tradition, they explained that although they do not fully believe in the impact of these small carvings, they had all done it at one point, “out of curiosity.”

This tradition was celebrated in La Ley del Monte by 1970s singer Vicente Fernández: “I engraved your name on the maguey. You yourself were the one who chose the penca. The most beautiful. The slimmest. And you even said to record two hearts.”

Mezcal is deeply intertwined with love songs and stories, perhaps the most famous being the tale of the lovers Mayahuel and Quetzalcóatl, whose doomed love led to the creation of the first agaves. Many brands name their products in ways that echo these stories of love, such as Amaras and Amantes, the latter featuring the lovers lying together beneath an agave.

Many of the best mezcal brands are born from a place of deep love. Bringing this artisanal spirit to market comes with considerable challenges, so genuine care is essential.

Recently, I met Courtney and David Yurko, who work with producers in Chichicapam, Oaxaca. Having fallen in love with the spirit, when they got married they wanted to share it with their friends and family. They remembered how producers drove 24 hours from Oaxaca to their wedding, bringing mezcal with them. This meaningful gesture inspired the couple to develop a brand, T.O. Mezcal, “T.O” standing for todo and together. “We are forever inspired by the love our mezcaleros pour into their craft.”

Víctor René Altamirano, who works with T.O., explains that “in each glass of mezcal there is a goodbye, and perhaps a good beginning, to how much I loved you.”

I fell in love with the spirit when I first came to document the process in 2013, moved by the monumental task of harvesting agave and filling the oven. Over the years, this passion has grown deeper as I have come to know the producers and their families. Romantically, I credit mezcal with how I met my husband. He was visiting a palenque on a day when I was doing a photoshoot. Mezcal was flowing, and one thing led to another. Three months later, I persuaded him to move to Oaxaca for good.

One of my favourite sayings about drinking mezcal roughly translates to: “Treat mezcal like your lover. Kiss it and it will treat you well. Hit it, take it as a shot, and it will mess you up.” To me, this speaks to the respect and trust required in all relationships.

This year, the Masters of Mezcal festival in Mexico City will be held over Valentine’s Day, on the 14th and 15th of February. It feels like the perfect time for mezcal producers, brands, and aficionados to come together to celebrate both the spirit and the love that unites them. In Mexico, Valentine’s Day is not just for couples, but a moment to celebrate friends and family as well.

Love is not only romantic, but also found in the connections we build, in supporting one another and the world around us. 

So let’s all raise a mezcal and show the love we have for one another!

_{Anna Bruce is an award-winning photojournalist and author of Tequila, Mezcal and More. Since a 2013 media residency with Mexico’s foreign ministry, she has documented the history and production of agave spirits, contributing to various publications and independent projects. She lives in Oaxaca, where she and her partner run Rambling Spirits, offering bespoke experiences with mezcal producers.}

_{If you want to learn more about Anna’s work, you can find her on social media: @ramblingspirits.photos}

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