About Us
“Neta” | “Truth”, “The Real Deal”
NETA works closely with over twenty small, family producers from the southern valleys and hills of Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, many of whom are members of the cooperative Grupo Productor Logoche. Situated at the southern tip of the Central Valleys and the foot of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains, the area is renowned for the strong character of its people, its diverse landscapes, and the rich agricultural and culinary traditions that have been maintained throughout generations. As such, the region has preserved its reputation for producing some of the finest spirits in Mexico.
The recipes and knowledge have been passed down and shared through family and community ties. Some mezcaleros follow their grandfathers’ traditions to the letter, while others experiment to carefully fine-tune the laborious process in accordance with their own tastes, observations, and relationships with the natural world. No two productions can ever be exactly the same as environmental conditions, water, natural yeasts, and soil types all contribute to their nuances just as much as the touch of their maker.
Since 2012, our friendships and working relationships with families in rural communities across Miahuatlán have granted us participation in a world elusive to those not born into it. It is this humbling privilege that allows us to present a carefully curated selection of extraordinary spirits that would otherwise never be found outside of their place of origin. Así es, la mera mera NETA.
Single-batch agave spirits
NETA exclusively commercializes single-batch agave spirits from producers in Miahuatlán and almost entirely from the 110-person village of Logoche. When talking about "single batches" we are referring to lots produced from a single oven or harvest of agave. The process of crafting these batches begins with the harvest of mature en guía or capón plants, often of various species or types of agave around the time of the full moon, that are then cooked together in a conical earthen pit. The roasted agave hearts or piñas are then either separated and designated for multiple smaller batches, or macerated and fermented together in their entirety to make a single batch. In accordance with traditional practices, the spirits produced from different ovens are not blended, homogenized, or standardized to a particular ABV. Each production is unique and bottled at still-strength by members and family members of the co-op and the quantity produced is relative to the number of agave cooked in an oven and their respective yield. Agave spirits are agricultural products, and the quantities of production should reasonably reflect the availability of local resources.
The NETA value chain
Our Team
MAX ROSENSTOCK
Founding Partner
Max Rosenstock was born and raised in northern New Mexico, amongst multiple landscapes and communities that shaped and guided much of his identity, interests, and sensibilities. A student of History, avid traveler, and caldo de frijol aficionado, Max’s relationship with agave was initiated through extensive time spent in small villages of the sierra and valle of Miahuatlán in 2012. The purchase of a few liters of Bicuixe or Tepextate was a tangible and sometimes necessary excuse to travel within certain parts of the region, and the invitations to share a table and convivir that often followed led to the friendships that kept him in Oaxaca and eventually brought Neta to where it is today. Having bounced between New Mexico, Oaxaca, and Oakland before finally settling in Oaxaca City, Max feels tremendously privileged to be able to participate in a slice of the complex world of agave spirits and life in southern Mexico.
NIKI NAKAZAWA
Founding Partner
Daughter of an Uruguayan mother and Japanese-American father, Niki Nakazawa was raised in the American Northeast and has spent much of her life between the United States and Latin America. Since making her home in Mexico in 2007, she has worked across creative disciplines as a promoter and producer of music, art, film, food, and drink. In 2012 she co-founded experimental pop-up restaurant and catering company Pichón, expanding her knowledge in and enthusiasm for Mexican foodways, culinary history, and cultures. She consulted on the beverage offerings for the 2017 Noma pop-up in Tulum and has worked as a field producer and fixer on select episodes of the Netflix shows “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat”, “Ugly Delicious”, and "Street Food”.
YUSKEI MURAYAMA
Founding Partner
Of Japanese/Swedish/American descent and a national identity tangled somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Yuskei Murayama first dipped into a garafón of mezcal at a tender age and promptly fell for the spirit. As the current CEO of a multinational CPG brand, Yuskei brings outside expertise and experience to bear on NETA's unique challenges, guided by the deceptively simple question, “how do we make our business as good as our pour?”