Agave Road Trip

National Bartenders Day is the first Friday of December. That’s December 6 in 2024! Listen to Bridget’s podcast, “Served Up,” here ! To listen to the episode I was on, click here . Healthy Pour is a boutique coaching and consulting firm dedicated to transforming the global landscape of work. Founder Laura Louise Green has deep roots in the hospitality industry and does much of her work with hospit...

If you’re in Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca, go drink pulque at Reina Cortes Cortes’s A&V La Casa del Pulque . Drink the pulque — all the pulque — but also check out Quiote de Maguey Escabeche from Mujeres 5 Estrellas ! Check out Lyanne’s article that inspired this episode: “ Meet the Cactus Powering a New Generation of Latino-Owned Businesses,” Inc. , September 16, 2024 Tia Lupita Foods offers a range...

If you’re not already all over the Tequila Matchmaker app , you should be. Scarlet and Grover have built an amazing resource for anyone interested at any level in Tequila. They started the Additive-Free Alliance , a coalition of Tequila brands, retailers, consumers, and producers of other agave-based products who are dedicated to processes that do not use additives. “An Undercover Operation, a Rai...

Shout out to Lalo Angeles of Lalocura for his insights about the damage done to the palenqueros who mill agave by hand. Shout out to Jake Lustig of Mina Real and Mezcal Don Amado for his efforts to reduce smoke in the lives of the people from whom he sources his spirits. Shout out to Neta for supporting the healthcare of mezcalero Celso Garcia. Shout out to Dark Matter Coffee and Maguey Melate for...

Want easier access to beautiful spirits? Add your signature to ShipMySpirits.org ! Live in Illinois and want easier access to beautiful spirits? Send a letter to Deputy Governor Andy Manar ! Read the article that inspired this episode: “U.S. Craft Distilleries Are in Crisis,” Food & Wine, July 31, 2024 That quote from Peter Holland, rum expert and Foursquare Distillery’s UK brand ambassador, appea...

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 Marissa Paragano of The Tequiladies .  Note that this episode was recorded on September 25, 2024 -- before some of the latest developments regarding additive-free Tequila. Marissa is also a boar...

Dig whiskey? Dig the blog of the mighty Chuck Cowdery ! Want to know more about Hacienda de Chihuahua Sotol ? Click here ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Thanks to road-tripper Shain Bela Lugosi in San Diego for pointing me to Oslo Sardine Bar ! Caputo’s offers the most amazing mail-order selection of chocolate ! Read Rowan Jacobsen’s Wild Chocolate book, on sale now! When in Chicago, drop into Dark Matter’s Sleep Walk Chocolateria ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-se...

People in the Tequila chat groups get pretty outraged by things like diffusers and additives, and the basis for their outrage tends to be that these things aren’t traditional. But if it’s tradition they’re looking for, why aren’t they drinking Mezcal? Isn’t that more traditional than Tequila? And what exactly is tradition? It’s the most authentic episode of Agave Road Trip ever! Agave Road Trip is...

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 i...

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...

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 Ro...

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 spirit...

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 ba...

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 d...

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 th...

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...

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 seyna...

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!...

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-wi...

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 th...

“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. ...

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 help...

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 won...

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 o...