Agave Road Trip

The religious fiestas in rural Mexico are often colored by the heritage agave spirits made in the community — which makes for an especially fun night when those festivities also include fireworks and flaming toritos. In this episode of Agave Road Trip, we ponder the question: Did mezcal save the community fiestas, or did the community fiestas save mezcal?Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comPhoto Courtesy of David VallejoHeritage 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.

Some mezcal geeks use the term “cocktail mezcal” as an insult. But we know you love cocktails! So let’s talk about why those geeks are wrong and how to make a righteous mezcal that can be used in cocktails! This and more in this episode of Agave Road Trip!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comPhoto Courtesy of Mezcal AmarasHeritage 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 the cleanest spirit you can drink! It’s made from the best sugar source in the world! It’s made by hand! So … how could there possibly be such a thing as bad mezcal? Find out 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.

Mezcal can only be made from the heart of the agave. Or … wait? It can be made from the leaves? And sometimes that worm in the bottle isn’t just for tourists? What’s true in one community is not true universally, and the only absolute truths are the ones the Mexican government puts to paper … until they edit that document. Join us for the most confounding episode yet 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.

Most people think that when you distill a spirit, what comes out of that still goes directly into the bottle. But, in fact, different distillers make different decisions about which parts of the distillation they keep and which parts they leave out — and those decisions have a profound effect on the finished flavor. That’s what we talk about in this episode of Agave Road Trip!Photo Courtesy of Michael SagerFind 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 tell a lot of stories about driving through Mexico — about the dried-up riverbeds that serve as roads to rural communities, about the car rental agencies that sometimes need to be threatened before they get you your car, about the expansive beauty of the Sierra Madres. But perhaps the strongest reactions I get are to tales of driving through blockades — roadblocks set up by protestors to intentionally create traffic problems as a way of making a political statement. That’s what we cover in this week’s episode of Agave Road Trip!Photo Courtesy of Alvin SchultzFind 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.

What’s the difference between tequila and mezcal? Is all tequila really mezcal? Is all mezcal made by hand? These and other questions are answered in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip helps gringo bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. Your hosts are Lou Bank and Chava Periban.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

All of the fruits and spices and flowers and herbs and meats and magic of Mexico show up in the mercados -- the markets. So you should show up there, too! What should you look for? What can you bring back? And what exactly is a clown market? All this and more in this episode of Agave Road Trip!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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’re headed to Mexico! Excited to drink agave spirits in their natural habitat! More excited to bring spirits home to share with friends! So … how much are you allowed to bring back?Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 margarita is almost certainly Mexico’s greatest ambassador. But how do you move from drinking cocktails to drinking neat spirits? We suggest one specific journey in this episode of Agave Road Trip.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

Many men and women in rural Mexico started learning to make agave spirits when they were 10 or 11 years old, from their parents. Then some learned in two weeks from a bunch of university students who randomly showed up in town.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 traditional methods of making agave spirits in Yutanduchi de Guerrero, in Oaxaca’s Mixteca region, go back to … the late 1990s? So what does “heritage” mean, in this case?Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 someone told you that all tequila is mezcal but not all mezcal is tequila. Hell, maybe you read it in the New York Times, USAToday, the Daily Mail, or the Chicago Tribune, or on VinePair, Thrillist, Chowhound, or Science 2.0. They’re all wrong.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.

Some folks are wondering what we mean when we say “gringo.” Here’s the deal….Heritage 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.

Before there was mezcal, there was pulque: the undistilled, fermented sap of the uncooked agave. If you’ve never had it, you’ll want to go find it after listening to Chava and Lou talk with master pulquero Jose Luis Dominguez Gonzalez. Or, at least, you’ll be amused by how he dismisses Lou’s choice of the Arnold Palmer of pulques.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

Some tequila bottles say they're 100% blue agave. Others don't. So ... what exactly is in those bottles? Lou and Chava speak with David Suro of Siembra Azul Tequila about mixto tequilas: what they are and how they affect the tequila industry and the people whose lives are impacted by the industry.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

Dr. Roberto Zenit is a highly regarded professor at Brown University. Nonetheless, he speaks with us about his recently released study of las perlas, the process by which maestro mezcaleros use the bubbles in their agave spirits to measure the alcohol content and quality of the spirits.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 season wrap includes Tecate I.V. drips, bartender super powers, and the value of time in rural Mexico.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

To age or not to age, that is the question. And Lou and Chava attempt to answer it, along with mezcalero Mariano Vazquez. They also talk the proper mass of a tortilla and drink the proper mass of Michoacan mezcals.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 is where we separate the alcohol from the water – we talk about distillation with mezcalero Jesus Franco. And traditional ceramics. And Oaxaca tour guides. And not a single poop joke.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 give a nutshell explanation of how agave turns from sugar to alcohol and are joined on the occasion by mezcalero Amando Alvarado Alvarez. We also talk about how growing agave helped a middle school in rural Oaxaca reduce violence in their community.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

After you cook your agave, you’ve gotta mill it – make tiny, little pieces of those giant, cooked agaves. How do you do that? We explain it here and maestro mezcalero Eduardo Angeles joins. Then we talk about how to avoid explosive diarrhea while eating great street food in Mexico. And chocolate.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

That agave won’t just start fermenting, you know. You’ve gotta make it delicious for yeast before yeast makes it delicious for you. We talk with mezcalera Catalina Navarro Sanchez about how that’s done, then talk about how mezcalero Eduardo Angeles saved Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca, from drought.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 give a nutshell explanation of how agave turns from sugar to alcohol and are joined on the occasion by maestro mezcalero Amando Alvarado Alvarez. We also talk about how growing agave helped a middle school in rural Oaxaca reduce violence in their community.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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 introduce ourselves and the series, but mainly because we felt obligated to do it. We think it’s more fun to let that information reveal itself naturally. Though there is a nice bit about mind-blowing arroqueño and Santa Maria Sola de Vega.Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave 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.

Coming soon from Heritage Radio Network:Agave Road Trip provides gringo bartenders with firsthand knowledge about heritage agave spirits from Mexico, including mezcal, raicilla, bacanora, and destilado de agave. 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.