Mescal vs. Mezcal — What's the Difference?

Any of various agave species.

Mezcal (, Spanish: [mesˈkal] (listen)) is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl mexcalli [meʃˈkalːi], which means "oven-cooked agave", from metl [met͡ɬ] and ixcalli [iʃˈkalːi].

The hearts of agaves, cooked as food.

A Mexican liquor distilled from a fermented mash of roasted agave hearts.

See peyote.

Alternative form of mescal

Mezcal.

Same as Mescal.

A Mexican alcoholic drink distilled from the fermented juice of the agave.

A small spineless globe-shaped cactus; source of mescal buttons

The peyote cactus.

A distilled liquor prepared in Mexico from a species of agave. See Agave.

A small spineless globe-shaped cactus; source of mescal buttons

A colorless Mexican liquor distilled from fermented juices of certain desert plants of the genus Agavaceae (especially the century plant)