I've got a big (~200lb) agave pina I'm about to start roasting to make my own mezcal... I've never made it before.
I read up on the process a bunch, but one thing that no one mentioned was that the sap burns like hell if it hits your skin.
I've since read in lots of places (i.e. Wikipedia) that Agave americanus has highly irritant sap, but not in the context of mezcal/distilling.
Can I assume that the roasting process breaks down whatever chemical makes the sap so noxious?
I want to bottom this out before I go into anaphylactic shock when I take the first shot