about

Erstwhile Mezcal

Erstwhile Mezcal is an importer based in Brooklyn, New York. We specialize in artisanal and ancestral mezcal.

Yes, we sell mezcal. But we always aspired for Erstwhile be more than just a mezcal brand. Our founders created Erstwhile to be a platform for the core values and social missions that we believe in:

Mezcal education. Promoting and helping small producers to export for the first time. Women representation and empowerment in the mezcal industry. Transparency in who we are as individuals, and in every aspect of how we do business.

We set ourselves apart from others in several ways.

First, the small producers we work with are independent family businesses. They are Erstwhile’s partners, not employees. Our partner producers have complete autonomy over what they make, exactly how they want to make it. We pay our producers fairly. We do not ask them for exclusivity or discounts.

We seek out small producers who are interested in exporting out of Mexico, but do not have the means to do so on their own. We believe in empowering producers to own as much of their export process as possible, be it using their own bottling facility or hiring their own workers. We step in if and only if they want our help. If they are missing certifications or licenses for export, for example, we front the legal and application fees to get them the right paperwork. If they don’t have access to a bottling facility, we would look and arrange for the most convenient option nearby.

We feel good about the fact that we help our partner producers clear these hurdles from the get-go, independent of their work with us in the future.

Unlike family-owned brands, we are not encumbered by loyalty to any particular family. When you support Erstwhile, you support not just one but all the small family producers we partner with.