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Us
Mezcouting is a small Mexican and American team with backgrounds in traditional mezcal, graphic design, language arts, food systems, and sustainable community development. Mezcouting was created in 2016 to bring those curious about the culture, history, and gastronomy surrounding straight to the source of traditional mezcal in Oaxaca through intimate and personal experiences. We have been scouting and creating unique experiences in the heart of mezcal country for over 10 years to ensure that your trip to Oaxaca is unforgettable!
We work with 34 families in 14 commuities the state of Oaxaca; our community partners are long time friends and often relatives of ours. Our co-founder Marco and guide Daisy have family roots in Oaxaca and we are lucky to call their families community partners. Our experiences promote rural and economically sustainable tourism, generating economic opportunity for the people of the regions in which we work, many of whom have had to migrate to other regions to find work in the past. We believe in wage equality and compensate ourselves and community partners for our time at an equal rate of least 4 times the Mexican minimum wage per hour. We value the time and expertise of community partners and pay everyone we visit for their time as well as materials used during the experience. Therefore we never accept comissions from our hosts and visitors are not expected to buy anything from our community partners as a form of compensation.
We are proud to be participants and donors to the 3 community projects. Each tour fee on a Mezcouting experience includes a 200 MXN/$10 USD donation per perso to one of these projects. In Santa Catarina Minas we work with Biblioteca El Rosario, in Teotitlán del Valle we give the annual community service project of the Vida Nueva women´s cooperative, and in Miahuatlán we areinvesting in a future homework center for students. Ask us how you can get involved or become a larger donor to these projects!
You
Our outings are not tours in the traditional sense but rather a day long experience in a rural Oaxacan community. Our experiences facilitate visiting with and learning from our community partners; and while our trips are hands on sometimes this also means just hanging out in people’s homes and hearing their stories, savoring local food and drink, resting in hammocks, and enjoying the landscape. Our participants come from all walks of life to learn about traditional mezcal, regional gastronomy, hand crafted goods, and the culture and people surrounding traditional mezcal production. If you are a traveler that prefers more structure in their experience we recommend our outings in Santa Catarina Minas and Teotitlán del Valle. We hope you'll join us for an unforgettable experience in Oaxaca's rural communities!
Our Partners
In Memorium
Communities we visit:
Oaxaca Valley
San Bartolo Coyotepec
Heading south of Oaxaca city, San Bartolo is about 30 minutes down the road from the city center. The community is known for it´s black clay pottery. Here we learn from two different families about the process of the making the clay black through the firing process as well as the history of the craft in the community. The black clay pots known as cántaros play an important role in how mezcal has been sold and stored in Oaxaca.
Day trips offered here:
Ocotlán Valley Choose Your Own Adventure
Ocotlán Valley
Santa Catarina Minas
A small mezcal producing village about 45 minutes to the south of Oaxaca city in the Ocotlán valley, Minas is highly regarded for maintaining the tradition of distilling their mezcal in clay pots. This production method is only used in a handful of town in Mexico; we visit with some of the producers who are committed to keeping this type of mezcal production alive. Minas produces the ultimate small batch mezcal, typical productions are about 90 liters! Working with 3 families, we tour mezcal production sites known as palenques, learning about the distillation process, the history of the distillery, and the beverage directly from mezcal producing families, eat where the locals do, and of course sample mezcal right at its source. You can purchase this extremely rare mezcal directly from the producers, we gladly help you pack it for travel.
Day trips offered here:
Fiesta Tradicional experiences offered here:
Mezcal Minero & Procession for Niño Jesús (Dec 24 & Dec 31)
Fiesta del Pueblo in Minas (Nov 25)
Carnaval in Tilcajete & Minas (varies yearly Tuesday before the beginning of Lent, Feb 17, 2026)
San Antonino Castillo Velasco
San Antonino is a small farming community known for growing flowers for the Day of the Dead celebrations in Novebmer and their famous Palm Sunday procession. Here we visit a cooperative of women who embroidered textiles like blouses and guayaberas in the regional tradition of small wildflowers. We do our Red Clay Workshop at the home and workshop of Don José and Doña Teresitsa and their family who are know for their fantastical red clay sculptures. Seasonally we visit farmers and artisans working dried flowers. You can´t miss trying the community´s famous empanadas de amarillo!Day trips offered here:
Ocotlán Choose Your Own Adventure
Fiesta tradicional experiences offered here:
Palm Sunday in San Antonino (varies yearly, the Sunday before Easter Sunday, April 13, 2025)
Day of the Dead (Nov 3)
Santo Tomás Jalieza
Santo Tomás is known for it´s backstrap loom weaving. Here the make cotton goods such as bracelettes, shawls, table runners, and belts.
Day trips offered here:
Ocotlán Choose Your Own Adventure
San Martín Tilcajte
Known for it´s alebrijes (carved and painted wooden animals).
Day trips offered here:
Ocotlán Choose Your Own Adventure
Fiesta tradicional offered here:
Carnaval in Tilcajete & Minas (varies yearly Tuesday before the beginning of Lent, Feb 17, 2026)
Ocotlán de Morelos
The name Ocotlán means “place of the ocotes (sappy pines)” in Nahautl, Ocotlán has two older Zapoteca names: gueleche and lachiroo, meaning place of the valley and place of the mercado día de plaza or place of the market day. Since the Atezcs (who spoke Nahuatl) arrived in Oaxaca about 5,000-7,000 years ago and named the area Ocotlán, it´s believed that the market referred to in the town´s Zapotec name has been happening since before then. We have the chance to have lunch at and visit the big Friday market that may have been happening for over 7,000 years! There is mural painted by local artist Rodolfo Morales depicting the history of the region in the town hall which is worth a visit. The Friday market is not to be missed as the freshest produce, fish, and pulque comes from all over the state to be sold only on Fridays.
Day trips offered here:
Ocotlán Choose Your Own Adventure
Fiesta tradicional offered here:
Mezcal Minero & Procession for Niño Jesús (Dec 24 & Dec 31)
Tlacolula Valley
San Marcos Tlapazola
Kown for it´s red clay artisans, San Marcos Tlapzola is located on the outskirts of Tlacolula de Matamoros, offering a spectacular view of the entire valley. Here we learn the traditional crafts of the area and delight in locally grown heirloom corn and wildly harvested tomatoes.
Day trips offered here:
Teotitlán del Valle
This Zapotec community is nestled in the Tlacolula valley, 40 minutes east of Oaxaca city. While surrounded by magueys and mezcal production, Teotitlán is known for its incredible handmade rugs. Since pre-Hispanic times, the people of this village have been using natural materials to hand dye local cottons and later wool for textile production. While the village prides itself on its rich textile history, it is also considered a culinary treasure within Oaxaca's eight regions. Famous dishes from to this community include següeza a pre-Hispanic mole, mole amarillo de pan or mole de castilla, as well as other Oaxacan favorites like tamales, mole negro, and sopa de guías. Partnering with the first all women's cooperative in the village with 15 active members, we learn about their history as well as the symbolism of Zapotec design, natural dye, traditional cooking, and traditional medicine.
Day trips offered here:
Fiesta Tradicional experiences offered here:
Fiesta del Pueblo in Teotitlán (first Wednesday in July 2, 2025)
Celebration of the Cristo Negro de Esquipulas & Weaving in Teotitlán (Jan 15)
Day of the Dead (Nov 1 & Nov 2)
Overnight experiences offered here:
Mitla
Known in Zapotec culture as the place where souls pass from this life to the next (lyobaa), Mitla is home to world renown ruins boasting beautiful desgins. It might be equally as famous for its chocolate de agua blanca (white water hot chocolate); drinking it is truly an otherworldly experience! An hour to the east of Oaxaca, we explore Mitla´s regional gastronomy as well as visit with an antiques dealer who has a vast knowledge of the region's history as well as a large collection of mezcal storing vessels-black clay cántaros and glass damajuanas and garrafones. Mitla is also home to a rich weaving tradition in which artisans practice diverse techniques to create cotton blouses and shawls as well as wool sashes. On our Handcrafted Goods Outings, we explore weaving on both back strap and pedal looms.Day trips offered here:
Mitla Weaving & Mezcal Antiques
Weaving Two Ways
Mitla Chocolate Making Workshop
Fiesta tradicional experiences offered here:
Chocolate & Bread Making Workshop (Oct 20-Oct 30)
Day of the Dead (Nov 1 & Nov 2)
Overnight experiences offered here:
Best of Mitla
Sierra Sur
Miahuatlán
The economic and cultural hub of the Sierra Sur, the Miahutalán area is a biodiversity hotspot. It boasts an immense variety of mezcal producing agaves endemic to the area, resulting in some of the most complex and rare mezcals in all of Mexico. The region's cuisine creates a perfect compliment to its traditional drink resulting in regional specialties like shobatá, a bean soup with masa dumplings, and a party favorite, barbacoa de chivo, or goat roasted in an earth oven. The Monday market is not to be missed as people from the surrounding communities come to the market to sell their goods: organic and heirloom vegetables from their fields, wild honey, freshly baked bread, traditional mezcal, and unique local delicacies like palo de chile. Literally translated it means chili stick: a twig that when you nibble on it, it makes your mouth go temporarily numb! A great substitute for salsa when you're on the go. Working with five families in the area we offer several mezcal and gastronomic experiences in this region to dive deep into the cultural heritage of traditional mezcal.
Day trips offered here:
Miahuatlán Mezcal
Miahuatlán Market & Mezcal
Miahuatlán Traditional Cooking Class & Mezcal
Fiesta tradicional experiences offered here:
Day of the Dead (Oct 30, Oct 31, & Nov 2)
Seasonal experiences offered here:
Chapulines
Sal de guzano
Elotiza
Overnight experiences offered here:
Tapada del Horno
Mezcal Camp
Barbacoa
Mole Workshop
Chapulines
Stays at Rancho los Nahuales
San José del Pacifico
Hight up in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca, on a clear night you can see the lights of Puerto Escondido-hence the name San José of the Pacific.
Overnight trips/seasonal trips offered here:
Wild Mushroom Foraging & Cooking the Sierra Sur (July & Aug)
Sierra Norte
Ixtapeji
Day trips/seasonal experiences offered here:
Wild Mushroom Foraging & Cooking in the Sierra Norte (July-Sept)
Benito Juárez
Welcome to the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca! While only an hour away Oaxaca´s city center, here you´ll immerse yourself in high altitude pine forests. Climbing up to 3,000 meters above sea level, we´ll see some of the best views of the Oaxaca and Tlacolula valleys while breathing in the crisp mountain air. The first town in Oaxaca to participate in the ecotourism movement, Benito Juárez has over 30 years of experience in showing guests all the region has to offer. We have the opportunity to learn from several local families about their history, culture, nature, organic agriculture, and traditional cuisine. We work with both a local eco-tourism guide and a family that makes wood fired oven bread made using locally grown wheat. We enjoy the region's dishes such as amarillo de setas, chichillo, and atole colorado.
Day trips offered here:
Bread & Chocolate Making Workshop
Overnight experiences offered here:
Benito Adventure