Sarai Jarquín, 38, moved to the United States from Mexico in search of work. Now, she helps promote her family’s mezcal business in Mexico while working at the Mexican Consulate in Chicago. Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave.
Jarquín is the sister of Mezcal Pádiúxhi’s founder, Gabriel Jarquín, 34. She said the company started five years ago when her brother took their grandfather’s recipe and began producing mezcal for production outside of Oaxaca.
“My grandfather was the one who taught his family to make the mezcal; he was the only one to make mezcal in his area of Oaxaca,” Jarquín said.
She said the workers who produce their mezcal are all locals in Oaxaca. Jarquín’s family has hired local people to help provide jobs for their community. “Their project goes to help the Indigenous community of Oaxaca. They can make the mezcal and sell it in Mexico and export it,” Jarquín said.
Jarquín said that Mezcal Pádiúxhi is unique compared to other types of mezcal. They make it artisanally, cooking the agave in small batches and distilling the final product by hand. “They don’t have a company with machines producing and bottling the mezcal; the people do it by hand and bottle it well,” Jarquín said.
Mezcal Pádiúxhi doesn’t have a physical store in Chicago, but it is sold in Little Village and at Moe’s Cantina in downtown Chicago. Jarquín is excited about the future.
“The company is small, but it’s growing,” Jarquín said.
Jarquín said that people can find more information about Mezcal Pádiúxhi on Instagram at “Mezcalpádiúxhi” and can buy bottles on Amazon.
Nathan Friesen, 21, is a junior at Northwestern University studying journalism and elementary education. He grew up on Chicago’s South Side and enjoys covering stories from the South and West Side neighborhoods. As an aspiring journalist, Friesen is working to become fluent in Spanish so he can write for bilingual publications like the Latino News Network.
Publisher’s Notes: This story, among others, was produced by undergraduate students in the bilingual reporting class at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications. Led by Prof. Mei-Ling Hopgood, the class aims to help journalism students practice sensitive and ethical engagement and reporting with multicultural communities in Spanish and English. Students visited the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Business Expo at Navy Pier this fall and interviewed local business owners.