Savage Water: Tequila & Mezcal

“O tequila, savage water of sorcery, what confusion and mischief your sly, rebellious drops do generate!” In 1980 Tom Robbins poetically captured the personality of tequila as a disruptor in his novel Still Life with Woodpecker, but he might also have been predicting tequila’s disruption of the American liquor market. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US, tequila and mezcal are poised to upset vodka as the best-selling liquor in the United States this year. So what is the difference between tequila and mezcal? What gives them their distinct flavors? Join Notre Dame chemistry professor Ken Kuno and Ron C. Runnebaum ‘96, associate professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science at UC Davis, as they uncover the chemical mysteries behind tequila, mezcal, and other agave-based spirits.

The Secret Life of Spirits, from the Notre Dame College of Science and Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business is preseneted in collaboration with the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine & Food Science at University of California, Davis. The Secret Life of Spirits is co-sponsored by Notre Dame Family Wines, YoungND and Notre Dame Senior Alumni.