Earthy, but with a kick

“It’s remarkable how different they are from one another. You take one cocktail and make it with one style, and then make the same drink with another one and they’ll all taste completely different,’’ said Kalkofen, who tends bar at Drink in Fort Point.

Mezcal was long known simply as that stuff with the worm in it. But now it’s getting a radical upgrade as a new wave of artisanal mezcals arrives stateside, announcing once and for all that the worm is about as authentic as green beer on Saint Patrick’s Day. Cooper, a pioneer in the movement, has spent the past 14 years working with small-scale distillers in villages throughout Oaxaca, Mexico, where mezcal is produced.

“Our mezcals are like fine wines in that you can taste the terroir, the place where they were made,’’ said Cooper. “And like a great bourbon, the maker’s fingerprints are all over it.’’

Tequila is essentially one style of mezcal. Mezcals are made from the agave plant, a succulent that takes around eight years to mature. Pure tequilas are distilled from the juice of the blue agave, whereas mezcal is made from other varietals. Another difference is that while the pinas, or hearts, of the blue agave are typically steamed to produce tequila, the agave is roasted over hot stones to make mezcal, absorbing earthy flavors in the process.

Perhaps it’s the diversity of mezcal flavors - which can range from rich and smoky to tropical fruity - that’s attracting the attention of so many local bar folk.

“I’m always looking for different sipping spirits to offer after dinner. Sure, we have scotch and cognac and I’ve brought in aged rums. Mezcal seems the next natural thing,’’ said Courtney Bissonnette, bar manager at Toro, where she serves two flights of three Del Magueys in traditional earthenware vessels.

At Green Street in Cambridge, owner Dylan Black, who brings a honed wine knowledge to his bar, sees mezcal’s appeal to oenophiles. “It tickles the sensibilities of anyone who appreciates terroir-driven wines,’’ he said. “While one is dry and electric in its minerality, like a great mountain Syrah, in other ones you can find great fruit notes, like in a Spanish or Italian white.’’

When it comes to tequila’s claim to fame, the margarita, consider an added measure of mezcal the equivalent of plugging a guitar into an amplifier. You can find a Mezcarita on the drink list at Olé in Cambridge.

“I’ll recommend it to someone who orders Scotch here, or anyone who wants those smoky flavors,’’ said Patrick Lynch, a bartender at Olé. “I might not have the single malt that person wants, but I’ll say, ‘I can make you a margarita that will have an essence that’s like scotch.’ ’’

What makes mezcal intriguing for some is its fixed, sacred role in custom and community in southern Mexico, which is arguably why the distillers have not initiated commercial endeavors. Cooper likes to point out that villagers appoint judges to serve it. That fascination has captivated Kalkofen, who has a masters in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School. She’s now part of an inaugural class of bar professionals working on her B.A.R. masters, an advanced degree, of sorts, bestowed by Beverage Alcohol Resource, a New York-based program that positions itself as the spirits industry’s parallel to a master sommelier program. Her thesis is based on mezcal’s role in ritual.

“I spent years studying religion, then years studying spirits,’’ Kalkofen said. “They can’t be so disconnected that I go years and they don’t intersect.’’