Mezcal & Regional Food Retail Specialist

Responsibilities

• Guide guests through artisan mezcal selection — agave species variety (espadín, tobalá, tepeztate, madrecuixe, cuishe), production method (palenque, clay pot, underground pit roast), maestro mezcalero, region of production
• Conduct mezcal tastings with cultural education — the difference between espadín and tobalá is not just flavor; it is the difference between an 8-year cultivated agave and a 20-year-old wild plant that took 20 years to mature
• Sell Oaxacan regional food products — mole pastes (negro, coloradito, amarillo, verde, chichilo, rojo, manchamanteles — the seven moles), chocolate paste, grasshopper salt, tejate powder, local chocolate bars
• Advise on product transport and customs considerations for international guests
• Process mezcal and food product sales with packaging for travel
• Maintain product knowledge across a rapidly evolving artisan mezcal market

Requirements

• Genuine mezcal knowledge — agave species, production methods, regional variations
• Oaxacan food culture expertise — the seven moles, traditional Oaxacan ingredients, regional product variety
• English for international guest communication
• Tasting facilitation comfort — mezcal retail involves informal tasting guidance
• Commission sales motivation

Benefits

• IMSS, Aguinaldo, vacation + premium
• Mezcal and product access
• Commission

Work environment

Mezcal boutique or regional food shop in Oaxaca City. A product-education-intensive retail environment — the associate who develops genuine expertise becomes the expert guide that guests specifically seek out.

About the role

The educator of the world's most complex spirit. Artisan mezcal is not tequila. A wild tobalá agave that took 20 years to mature in the Oaxacan mountains — harvested by a maestro mezcalero who learned from his father and grandfather, fermented in a clay pot buried in the earth, distilled twice in a clay still that has never been cleaned with chemical agents — produces a liquid that cannot be replicated by any industrial process and that is genuinely different from every other batch ever made from that plant. The retail associate who explains that to a guest who assumed they were buying a fancy tequila has opened a door to something that will change how they drink for the rest of their life.