Mezcal (or mescal) is a distilled alcoholic beverage made 100% from many types of agave. In fact, unlike Tequila that can be produced only with Blue Weber Agave, Mezcal production can start from one (or combination) of around 28 - 39 species of agave (unofficial data) from 210 knowns, 75% of the agave species that can grow in México. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl Mexicali, metl (maguey, agave) and ixcalli (fire) which means "cooked agave”.