Proposed legislation in Mexico, NOM 199, would impose new restrictions on the use of the term mezcal to describe the broader class of agave-based spirits of which tequila has long been the most popular.
Jacob Grier reports:
NOM 199 goes even further, banning producers not only from calling their product mezcal, but requiring them to abandon use of the word “agave” as well. A new word, “komil,” would be forced upon them. Critics assert that this would further marginalize the producers of these spirits, many of whom are poor and live far from the central Mexican government.
Their first objection is to that problematic label “komil,” a Nahuatl word presumably chosen for its lack of cultural context or relevance to traditional Mexican spirits. The Tequila Interchange Project, a non-profit organization that works to preserve traditional Mexican spirits through advocacy and education, objects that there “is no connection anthropologically, biologically, historically, and above all socially, between the word ‘komil’ and agave distillates. This Nahuatl word meaning ‘intoxicating drink’ or ‘alcoholic drink’ could etymologically refer to eggnog or tequila.” It’s a vague and meaningless term, no more descriptive than “liquor” or “booze.”
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/26OTZZx
via IFTTT