This is your first drop of Oaxaca
Come see where it was born.
Four ways to get to know us in Puerto Escondido: three at Las Garrochas and one at Mercado Zicatela.
Choose how you want to get to know Piedra Antigua
From a quick tasting in Zicatela to a whole day of fire, maguey and traditional cooking.
The difference is simple: in the Gastronómica you cook, in the Full we serve you, in the Mezcalera the mezcal is the whole point, and the Cata Rápida lets you taste without leaving Zicatela.
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10:00 am
Experiencia Gastronómica · Fuego, Cocina y Mezcal
Here you do the cooking.
You come into the kitchen and work with us: roast the chillies, grind them, make salsa, press tortillas, whatever the day's menu asks for. Then we eat what came out of it, with a selection of Piedra Antigua mezcals.
The deepest into the house.
- Lasts
- 3 to 4 hours
- Costs
- $2,500 MXN per person
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1:00 pm
Experiencia Mezcalera · Piedra Antigua
The mezcal, start to finish.
I show you the maguey, the baking, the fermentation and the still, and where each part comes from. Then we taste: mezcals, creams and curados, with salt, orange, grasshoppers and Oaxacan snacks.
No full meal.
- Lasts
- 1.5 to 2 hours
- Costs
- $1,900 MXN per person
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4:00 pm
Experiencia Full · Mezcal & Comida
Mezcal and a table, without stepping into the kitchen.
The full walk-through and tasting, and then we sit down to eat: traditional Oaxacan food, sides, salsas and tortillas, with mezcal through the meal and the long talk after it.
We cook, you sit.
- Lasts
- 2.5 to 3 hours
- Costs
- $2,500 MXN per person
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3:30 pm
Mercado Zicatela · Stall 20
Cata Rápida · Mercado Zicatela
Get to know Piedra Antigua without leaving Zicatela.
Five artisanal mezcals at our stall in the market: three espadín and two from wild magueys, with worm salt and orange. Taste first, then pick the bottle you want to take home.
Buy one or more bottles and your $300 MXN comes off the total.
- Open
- Every day, by reservation
- Costs
- $300 MXN per person
- Two people minimum, the Cata Rápida included.
- Prices are per person, in Mexican pesos.
- Book and pay online from the day before. Experiences are held with 50% and the rest is paid in cash there; the Cata Rápida is paid in full.
- Cancel more than 48 hours ahead and we refund what you paid.
- The three experiences happen at Las Garrochas, near Puerto Escondido; the Cata Rápida, at Mercado Zicatela, stall 20.
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Not drinking?
You are still welcome. Las Garrochas is cooking, fire, country and stories. Nobody gets split off from the group.
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Need a ride?
We pick you up and bring you back for $300 MXN more per person, round trip, within 10 km. Farther out, $200 MXN more per person. Just tell us where you are staying.
My name is Juan Óscar Vázquez Cruz
I am the mezcalero behind Piedra Antigua. I was born in Santa María Quiegolani, high in the Sierra Sur mountains of Oaxaca, at 2,160 metres. In Zapotec, Quiegolani means ancient stone. The brand is named after my town.
In my family we learned this trade by watching our parents. You wait years for the maguey to ripen. You roast it three days and three nights in a stone pit. You crush it under a stone wheel, let it ferment for 23 to 25 days, and distil it twice in copper.
None of that can be rushed. That is everything inside the bottle you just tasted.
Las Garrochas is not a place you tour. It is a day you spend.
It is our distillery near Puerto Escondido. You will not sit through a tasting: you stand by the fire, handle the maguey, watch us distil, and try several Piedra Antigua mezcals with us.
A bottle only tells you part of it. The rest is at the house.
One last thing
Plenty of places will pour you a mezcal. I want to show you why it exists.
- The fire.
- The maguey.
- The hands that made it.
So the next time you open a bottle of Piedra Antigua, you remember more than the taste. You remember where it came from.
Juan Óscar Vázquez Cruz Mezcalero · Piedra Antigua Las Garrochas Hoguera Mezcalera · Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca