Deep in the mountains of Oaxaca, a six hour drive from the city, the Krassel family has been making agricole-style rums for the last three generations. “Jaba” sugarcane is harvested on the mountainsides along the town of Santa María Tlalxitac from anywhere between 760m and 1180m above sea level. The sugarcane is manually harvested and mechanically crushed, and the cane juice is gravity-fed to the distillery.
After a 7-10 day fermentation, the tepache is distilled to proof on a custom pot-column hybrid still. The aguardiente is rested in glass for several weeks before bottling and labeling