What Mezcal means
Mezcal is a Mexican drink name of Nahuatl origin meaning "cooked agave". It comes from mexcalli (cooked maguey leaves), from metl (maguey, agave) + ixca (to bake). It is pronounced mes-KAHL, and it is most associated with Oaxaca.
The word names the roasted agave heart, not the spirit; the drink took the name of its raw material. Mexcalli is well attested in Classical Nahuatl dictionaries, which makes this one of the securest food etymologies in Mexican Spanish.
Mezcal is one of the many Mexican food words formed in Nahuatl. Spanish borrowed it, and in several cases English borrowed it again from Spanish. See how Nahuatl builds words and the full list of Mexican food names.
This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: Agua fresca, horchata, atole, tepache, pulque, mezcal. Most Mexican drink names are the name of the plant or grain they are made from, and the agave spirits are named for the towns and regions that make them.
