Agave Road Trip

In the comments section of the Agave Road Trip Instagram page, Craig Reynolds — founder of the California Agave Council — wrote, “Unfortunately, there is virtually no significant amount of truly traditionally produced Mezcal left in the marketplace. It’s not environmentally or economically sustainable. An unfortunate fact that is difficult to accept.” I don’t accept that, but Craig did accept my invitation to debate the matter on this episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Craig Reynolds of the California Agave Council.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This Mezcal brand replants agave in the wild, uses solar power, and only cooks with certified wood. They convert their bagaso into biodegradable planters. They are a model of best practices in the industry. And they just left the market because no one supported them. We question what you really care about in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gone are the days when jars of pickled eggs and pigs feet lined the back of a bar. But a bit of food in your stomach can sure help when you’re out drinking. So what should the new bar snacks be? And how can they enhance your drinks menu? Sustainable-seafood expert Barton Seaver makes the case for canned fish. We go fishing for a new bar-snack direction in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto with insights and wisdom from Barton Seaver, one of the world’s leading sustainable seafood experts and educators. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Once a century, Agave Road Trip goes out looking for the most important Tequila of that era. Now, there are still a solid 75 years let in this century, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say, this early in the game, I’ve identified that Tequila. And the winner is… Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I saw a number of posts online suggesting that, if you’re making a Margarita, it doesn’t matter what Tequila you use – it pretty much tastes the same. Linda and I decided to put that to the test with a jury of nine tasters. What’s the verdict? To find out you’ll have to listen to this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Not everybody who drinks Mezcal is politically liberal. Not everyone carrying a copita in their pocket is a Democrat. Not all of the folks traveling to rural Mexico lean left. In fact, probably most of the mezcalerxs themselves tend to be more conservative. In this politically hot season, it’s maybe a good idea to consider that the person across the bar from you maybe loves Mezcal as much as you do, but doesn’t have the same political beliefs as you. It’s an all-purple episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Rimas Sydris. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A recent article in the New York Times suggested, "As more foreigners, especially Americans, visit or move to Mexico City, some taco shops have lowered the heat in their sauces. Not everyone is happy.” That makes me think about how foreign consumption of Tequila and Mezcal have also influenced the flavors — and the recipes — of those other landmarks of Mexican cultural heritage. And it makes me think about how salsa, Tequila, and Mezcal have changed daily life in the USA. It’s a cross-cultural episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Chef Gustavo Romero of Oro by Nixta. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Eric Kozlik of Modern Bar Cart shared with me an email exchange he’d had with a PR agency, where their selling point for a new Bourbon was that it was made using a "proprietary heirloom corn.” That made me think about Tequilas that are labeled “gluten-free.” Which made Eric think of “non-GMO.” Which made me think about the difference between “still strength” and “cask-strength,” and between casks and barrels. Which led to both of us deciding to stop thinking and start recording — which is usually how we make each episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Eric Kozlik of Modern Bar Cart.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mezcal geeks and agave nerds get hot under the collar when someone suggests that Mezcal is smoky Tequila. But … isn’t it? It’s a fire-starter episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s true: An uncertified agave spirit can kill you. But so can a certified Mezcal. Or a certified Tequila. So … what exactly is the point of certification? I had this … conversation? debate? battle? … with Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo in another episode in March of this year. He felt like he had more to say and I feel like I could talk about this issue all day long. So here’s your sequel! (And, yes, the title is designed both to anger everyone who correctly indicate that there is no such thing as uncertified Mezcal as well as to increase search optimization.) It’s a leave-the-gun, take-the-cannoli episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

No question but that most people in the USA are introduced to Mezcal through cocktails. But most bartenders I know — most people I know, in fact — prefer drinking Mezcal neat. Drinking spirits neat, however, can be intimidating to that cocktail drinker. So what’s the gateway? We talk Mezcal flights in this 30,000-foot episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Shad Kvetko of Dallas’ beloved Las Almas Rotas! (And Dave Tyda of Phoenix’s beloved BARCOA jumps in with another great suggestion!) Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You can’t log onto a Facebook Tequila group without seeing Cristalino Tequila derided, abused, and generally treated as some kind of punch line. But … do those user groups reflect the average consumer? Does the average consumer matter as much as the more highly engaged consumers that populate these online groups? And does consumption itself matter as much as cultural heritage? And why do I like the average Tequila Cristalino more than I like the average Tequila? That’s what I discuss with my past self on this time-travel episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Lou Bank from the Past and filled with interview clips from Jaime Salas of Proximo and Jose Cuervo Tequila; Juan Eduardo Nuñez of Tequila El Viejito; Tequila-geek royalty Khrys Maxwell; dean of American whiskey journalism, Chuck Cowdery, and Barbara Engelskirchen from the National Museum of Mexican Art. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“According to the Beverage Testing Institute of Chicago in Illinois, mezcal is the purest distillate or alcohol that exists on the planet and the noblest with the human body.” Or, at least, that’s the oft-repeated quote that comes up every several months and drives the folks at the Beverage Testing Institute crazy. So I’ve invited Andrew Moldenhauer, their Director, on to clear up the confusion. Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Andrew Moldenhauer of the Beverage Testing Institute.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I like to talk about the 400 decisions that a mezcalerx makes that determines how an agave spirit tastes. But there are other elements beyond their decisions … natural elements that find their way into the process … that also have an impact on what goes into the bottle. We’re taking shots in this episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Unknown Mezcalerx of Unknown Mezcal Brand.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s all in the eye of the beholder, I know. But when I think about what Tequila was back in the ‘80s and ‘90s … it was a catalyst for fun. I had a coworker who thought “tequila” was Spanish for “dancing on tables.” And I still see that, though mainly in Mexico. Here in the USA, it’s become so serious. Or maybe I just don’t go to the right places or hang out with the right people. But I’m left wondering … when did Tequila stop being fun? When did they add Tequila Académico to the Norma? We’re taking shots in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto and quotes from James Miller of El Bandido Yankee Tequila and Jaime Salas from Proximo Spirits. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the past several weeks, I have seen in numerous online forums the misstatement that Mezcal can’t have additives. And the misstatement that those additives can only be fresh fruits and raw turkey. So this episode is 100% just so I can post a simple link the next time I see that error pop up again. And it’s an opportunity to clarify the allowance of additives in all Mexican spirits. And it’s an opportunity to speak again with Alberto Esteban Marina, who was the Director General for all Normas in Mexico from 2013 to 2019, during which time he literally wrote some of those regulations. It’s a from-the-horse’s-mouth episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Douglass of the multi-award-winning Louisville bar Pretty Decent is renowned for his hospitality. But he got a bit hot under the collar when one of his favorite customers complained about a $30 chicken dinner at a fancy spot around the corner. We break that chicken down — and your free chips-and-salsa, too — in this under-priced episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest John Douglass of Pretty Decent, a mezcal-focused cocktail bar and a boutique plant shop in Louisville, Kentucky.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Road-tripper Nathan Mealey checked in to ask, “How do you if a brand is ethical?” So I’ve started having that conversation with a number of people, coming at the question from different angles. This first answer considers packaging — specifically glass bottles. We think of those glasses as recyclable. But … are they? It’s a myth-busting episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest William Bahan of W. Bahan, a Los Angeles-based firm that provides branding, identity, and package designs for select clientele.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you turn 24,000 acres of wild maguey Lamparillo and dasylirion into beer? You bring Mike Schallau of is/was brewing to Durango to hang out with Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo! Mike has been making beer since 2018 with agave I’ve brought him from Mexico, to fundraise for SACRED. This year, he made the trip himself. The beer is in the works and should be ready for your glass this summer! But this episode of Agave Road Trip is ready to be consumed now!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I’ve heard a lot about how bartenders use cocktails as a way to introduce their guests to Mexican spirits like Mezcal, Tequila, Raicilla, Bacanora, and Sotol. And lately, I’ve also heard a little about using those same cocktails to introduce guests to the communities those spirits come from – turning the cocktail into a gateway to another culture. So I spoke with some bartenders about exactly that. Alex Dominguez checks in from Calico in New York, Matthias Ingelmann from KOL in London, Mariane Garcia from Copitas Cholula, NC Stevens from the nomadic Drinking Folk, and Aithan Shapira from MIT Sloan School of Management. It’s a globe-spanning episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto. Photo Courtesy of KOL Mezcaleria and Eleonora Boscarelli. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The first time I saw tascalate on a menu it was at Itanoni in Oaxaca. I immediately fell in love with the traditional drink. But finding a second cup – particularly at home in Chicago – was a lost cause. But now, years later, Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu has written an article about how tascalte has made its way onto bar menus. And that’s a reflection of a broader trend. It’s an everything-old-is-celebrated-again episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I was having a conversation with Grace Gonzalez of Tequila El Mayor and she said something that brought into focus a thought that’s been bumping around in my head: We talk a lot about the ages of the agaves that are used to make Mezcal and Tequila. But there’s really no mechanism to verify that. And, in fact, since different agaves reach maturity at different points – even when they are the same species growing in the same territory – a statement like “we only harvest eight-year-old agave” simply can’t be accurate. So how should we be talking about the age of agave? It’s an episode for the ages on Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto, with supporting insights from Grace Gonzalez of Tequila El Mayor.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Four wheels good! Two wheels more good? For the last few years, Nick Barreiro has organized a moto-rally for small group of motorcycle-and-Mexico enthusiasts. And while motorcycles aren’t my speed, I know they work for plenty of gringx bartenders, and I love this whole different way to take in the stories of rural Mexico. Learn about Nick’s international motor rally in this bitchin’ hog of an episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Nick Barreiro of Mezcal Moto Rally.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In his New York Times op-ed about the imploding dream of cultivated meat, Joe Fassler writes, “[It] was an embodiment of the wish that we can change everything without changing anything. We wouldn’t need to rethink our relationship to Big Macs and bacon. We could go on believing that the world would always be the way we’ve known it.” And while I can’t see a direct corollary to Mezcal and Tequila, the way the word “sustainable” is thrown around over an afternoon of neat pours, it suggests to me that we think we’re saving the world one copita at a time. So … are we? It’s a plant-to-the-slaughter episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Evelyn Cotton Botello of Mezcal Amaras.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vinepair, Wine Enthusiast, Esquire … seems like every publication these days has their suggestions for what you should have been drinking over the past year. Maybe what you should be purchasing as holiday gifts. But these lists can also serve as sales tools for gringx bartenders! It’s a DIY episode of Agave Road Trip!Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of Seynasecreto. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’ve done a lot of episodes about the importance of biodiversity, but usually we’re talking about plants. Sometimes insects. Bats, on occasion. So when we got an email from the gang at Alma de Jaguar Tequila about preserving this apex predator, I thought, yeah, let’s really sink our teeth into this subject! It’s a wild cat episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo.Photo Courtesy of Tequila Alma de Jaguar.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A trend that’s emerged in the past decade are these drinking straws that are being promoted as made from agave fibers — the agave fibers being a byproduct of the process for making Tequila and Mezcal. The straws are marketed as biodegradable. But I think — emphasis on “think” — that these straws are at least in part made from plastics and are not actually entirely biodegradable. At least not in the way that they are presented. So I invited Natasha Tucker, the executive director of Mind Your Plastic, to have that conversation. Are agave straws really better for the earth than plastic straws? At the risk of giving away the answer, it’s another heartbreaking episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with guest cohost Natasha Tucker of Mind Your Plastic.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I’m seeing a lot more restaurants expanding their Mezcal selections, and a lot more events pairing Mezcal with food. So what do you eat when you drink Mezcal? I asked a bunch of industry folks that question over the last several months, then coerced food, science, and nature journalist Rowan Jacobsen to dig through those quotes with me to add his own thoughts. It’s a smorgasbord episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with guest cohost Rowan Jacobsen and insights and thoughts from Lanie Bayless of Topolobampo, Francisco Tapia of Tacovision, Grace Gonzalez of Tequila El Mayor, Mariana Alvarado-Garcia of Masazul, Kate Owca and Adrian Villarreal of Tahona, and mezcaleros Jorge Torres and Eduardo Angeles!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Since I first met Sergio Garnier, before he launched Mezcal Ultramundo, we’ve debated about the relative merits of certifying your agave spirits as Mezcal. We decided it was time to record our disagreement. It’s a what-side-are-you-on episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The fist time I tasted an agave spirit fermented in the skin of a bull, it was all anyone was talking about in Oaxaca. I tasted it at three mezcalerias, and all three bottles were made by Amando Alvarado Alvarez in Santa Maria Ixcatlan, Oaxaca. I made my way out to visit him a few months later, to see the bull-skin fermenters myself. And when I share his spirits at tastings, everyone is in awe of these bull-skin fermenters. But … why bull skins? Where did that start? I think I have the answer! And I share it with you in this speculative episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Did the small family producers in Tequila, Jalisco, eat the metaphorical and literal lunch of the big producers in Guanajuato and San Luis Potosi at the 1893 World’s Fair? It’s a What If? episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto, with supporting insights from Juan Pedro Valdés of Mezcal Villasuso.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I got obsessed with Rowan Jacobsen when American Terroir hit bookstores in 2010, and was recently re-obsessed when his podcast “Wild Chocolate” dropped into my feed. So I reached out and he noted he was writing a sustainability feature about Mezcal for Bloomberg’s Businessweek. That article dropped last week, but this episode was recorded prior to that. And he wouldn’t let me read an advance copy. So, instead, we just talk agaves and sustainability in general. If that’s your thing, this is your episode of Agave Road Trip!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you find reliable sources for information about adult beverages? This is a multi-billion dollar industry, there should be reliable places to learn about trends. But I keep seeing significant errors in articles about agave spirits — which leads me to question what I’m reading about other spirits. And food. It’s an “On the Media” episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Jay West of Whiskey Raiders.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A couple weeks ago, I threw the Washington Post under the bus for failing to recognize that food journalism is — or should be — journalism. This week I throw myself under the bus for an article I wrote for InsideHook. Not because it fails as journalism — I’ll let someone else make that claim. But because I think it misses the most relevant point about the story of Tequila sales in the USA in 2023. And I attempt to rectify that here, in this mea culpa episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why are there so few Mezcal and Tequila brands owned by the people who produce them? When I try to rattle off the names of brands of Mezcal and Tequila that are owned by the people who actually make those spirits, it’s more of a clunk than a rattle. Why is that? And why is that important? It’s an own-or-be-owned episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special co-host Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you want to preserve the biodiversity of agaves? Or do you want to preserve agaves in the wild? Because those are two different things, often at odds with one another. And you can’t have that conversation without talking about the reasons for the disappearing wild lands in Mexico. But that’s exactly what the Washington Post did last week, when they concluded that the biodiversity of agave is disappearing because “[f]oreign mezcal drinkers have adopted a taste for the wildest, scarcest agaves.” I wish foreign drinkers had adopted a taste for the wildest, scarcest agaves. And Mexican drinkers, too. But instead we’re all drinking spirits made from monoculture blue weber agave in Jalisco and soon-to-be-monoculture espadin in Oaxaca. And that’s the problem the Washington Post should have covered. So we do it here, instead, in this set-the-record-straight episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo, with supporting insights from Dr. Hector Ortiz, conservation scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Heather Morse traveled to Mexico City with her husband, Aaron. And her dog. And her cat. By car. From Las Vegas. If you’ve ever wanted cross the border in a car, with your pets, and make it back home with everything intact, this might be the episode you’ve been waiting for. Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Heather Morse of Create Joy Travel.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a Wine Enthusiast op-ed titled “Is it time to leave Tequila alone?,” spirits and cocktail writer Kara Newman asks, “When it comes to pushing tequila’s boundaries, how far is too far?” Now, I tend to be a “head to the endzone” kind of guy, so I’ve brought in Ana Rita García Lascurain, founder and director of MUCHO, Mexico City’s museum of chocolate, to ensure there’s actual culture in this cultural conversation with Kara. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There’s Mrs. Butterworth’s, and then there’s fine Vermont maple syrup. And the same extremes exist for agave syrup. But here’s the thing: the artisanal version of agave syrup has this whole cultural heritage aspect to it. And you’ve probably only been able to access Mrs. Agaveworth’s. Until now! It’s a sticky, chicken-feather-covered episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special co-host Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gonzalo Alvarez is pursuing his master’s degree in pulque. Ivan Saldana has his doctorate in agave. Both tell me that farmed agave produces better pulque than wild agave. But on trips through Nuevo Leon, Cohuila, and Hidalgo, three pulque producers said the exact opposite. So … what’s the truth? They call me the Seeker, and I search low and high in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with insights from Aaron Campos of Dark Matter Coffee, fermentation revivalist and New York Times best-selling author Sandor Katz, and Michael Schallau of is/was brewing.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It started with a rumor I heard as a kid, that Maraschino cherries and bubblegum would stay in your stomach for seven years. Which led to a conversation about digestion. Which led to a conversation about fermentation. And Bloody Marys. And how your digestive system works. All of which is to say, Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Ryan Aycock joins me for a meandering year-end episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with Agave Road Trip Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Ryan Aycock, author of Simply Cocktails.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well, of course, there is coffee in Mexico. I’ve bought some at Whole Foods in the past. But my friends at Dark Matter — who want nothing more than to source coffee from Mexico — have run into nothing but trouble. So what can we learn from that? It’s a caffeinated, globetrotting episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. Lou Bank hosts this episode alongside Aaron Campos of Dark Matter Coffee.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Liquor.com article I read earlier this year highlighted the number of hospitality workers who grew up in radical churches. That made me think about how hospitality itself is a sort of religion – depending on how you define religion. So this is maybe, to you, a sacrilegious episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special co-host Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Maybe you were speeding. Maybe you weren’t. Either way, the Mexican police have pulled you over. Question now is, what are you gonna do, punk? Do you feel lucky? It’s a dirty, hairy episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. Lou Bank hosts this episode alongside Ismael Gomez of Cruz de Fuego Mezcal while Dr. Steven Alvarez chuckles in the background. Then Rob Lopata steps in. And then journalist Lydia Carey. I guess I know a lot of people who have been pulled over in Mexico. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I used to regularly come back from Mexico with a lot of alcohol — a lot. But in the last few years, it’s become significantly harder to get bottles back. And I think I know why. It’s a smuggler’s-blues episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this Day of Thanks, I ponder why Giving Tuesday isn’t Giving Thursday — why we aren’t giving thanks on Thanksgiving. It’s a thankless episode of Agave Road Trip!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's impossible with coffee beans to get consistency in flavors and aromas from one harvest to the next. Add in the processing of those beans into that morning drug that starts most of our days and … still more barriers to consistency. Which reminds me so much of the things that I love about agave spirits. It’s yet another inconsistent episode of Agave Road Trip!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With all the press, all the talk, all the social-media posts, there are always people looking to find out what this Mezcal thing is all about. So what’s the best way to introduce them to these spirits? It’s a welcome-to-the-newbies episode of Agave Road Trip!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive, on Mayahuel, nicotine, and the temptations of maguey. I’ve heard that all sorts of things in the world of agave spirits are sacred and should be treated with respect. But that begs the question, what does it mean to respect something? Or, more importantly, what constitutes disrespect? We bat that concept around in this unholy episode of Agave Road Trip!Photo Courtesy of CHema Skandal!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I’m accustomed to people making hand gestures at me, whether in the USA or Mexico. And I’m generally able to understand those gestures in my home country. But just as I don’t understand the spoken language in Mexico, I’m a bit lost on these gestures, too. Luckily, on this specific Agave Road Trip, I have a couple of interpreters to help. Hands are flying in this episode of Agave Road Trip!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comHeritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.