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Field guides for the curious drinker. Less marketing, more "what is this thing in my hand and how do I think about it."

What is mezcal? A field guide for the curious drinker

Mezcal is what Tequila used to be — agave spirit made the slow way. Roasted in earth pits, crushed by donkey or stone, fermented with wild yeast. Here's how it differs from Tequila and what to look fo…

What is tequila? Reading the label, decoding the NOM

All tequila is made from blue Weber agave in five Mexican states. But the difference between $25 and $100 bottles isn't just price — it's production method, who owns the distillery, and a code on the …

Mezcal vs Tequila — the real differences

Both come from agave. Both are Mexican. Beyond that, almost everything diverges. Here's what changes between them and why it matters for what's in your glass.

What is natural wine, really?

There's no legal definition. There are convictions. Natural wine producers farm without chemicals, ferment with wild yeast, add nothing in the cellar (or as little as humanly possible). Here's what th…

What is biodynamic wine?

Biodynamic farming is organic + a holistic, calendrical layer of practices originated by Rudolf Steiner in 1924. Some of it sounds eccentric. The wines, however, often taste extraordinary.

What is pet-nat? Champagne's scrappy cousin

Pétillant naturel — pet-nat — is sparkling wine bottled before the first fermentation finishes. The remaining sugar continues to ferment in the bottle, trapping CO2. Cloudy, lively, often weird, often…

How to read a Champagne label

Brut, Extra Brut, Doux. Vintage vs NV. Grower vs House. Three letters in the corner that tell you whether it's farmer-grown or sourced. A walkthrough.

What is orange / skin-contact wine?

White grapes fermented like red wine — on their skins. The result is amber, tannic, savory, ancient. Born in 6,000-year-old Georgia (the country, not the state). Reborn in Friuli in the 90s.