Agave Road Trip

Maybe you’ve heard of bacanora, that agave spirit from the north of Mexico. But you probably haven’t. Or if you have, you’ve maybe tried one or two. Maybe. And … why is that? In this episode of Agave Road Trip, we try to figure out why bacanora is the agave spirit that never seems to get its share of respect. Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Celebrate HRN’s new look and in...

Before the director of the FDA shows up at my door with a warrant … the title of this episode, that’s sarcasm. But it’s all stuff we’ve heard from mezcal enthusiasts — and, to be fair, sometimes from the folks in Mexico who make these spirits. So is there any truth to these legends? Join us for a myth-busting episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Cel...

Is it cultural appropriation to make mezcal in California? Or whiskey in Mexico? It’s a throw-down episode of Agave Road Trip this week! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Celebrate HRN’s new look and invest in the future of food radio. Become a monthly sustaining donor at heritageradionetwork.org/donate . Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https:...

When you age alcohol in wood, it of course takes on the properties of the wood. But what about when you age it in glass? Some experts say no. But experts aren't always right.... We offer our take in the latest contentious episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road...

When we think about spirits, we tend to think of a commodity alcohol that tastes the same from one batch to the next. And while that’s certainly true of many mezcals, there’s also a huge selection of bottles on the market that, like fine wines, have widely varying flavors that reflect a moment in time. So why hasn’t the wine world become obsessed with mezcal? We try to figure that out in this epis...

Sometimes they’re called mezclas, sometimes they're called ensambles, and sometimes that “a” turns to an “e” for “ensemble.” Some geeks call them field blends, as if anyone is doing any blending in a field. What does it mean when you see these terms on your mezcal label? Find out in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is...

When Kendall Jenner released 818 Tequila, social-media caught fire. It seemed to make a bunch of bartenders mad. Then she appeared on Instagram wearing a huipil and the phrase “cultural appropriation” started to get thrown around. But … for years now, Chava has been begging me to wear one of those traditional Mexican garments. So if I had, would I have been appropriating that culture? In this epis...

The agave has one mission in life: to reproduce. It spends its life generating the energy it needs to fulfill that mission. So ... does it tell us something when one agave takes significantly longer -- decades longer, even -- to reach maturity than another agave? I've got a theory about that, and I bother Chava with it in this week's episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links...

Most cocktails call for a sweetener of some type. Maybe there’s a better way to make simple syrup? Learn how to sweeten your cocktail game in this episode of Agave Road Trip! We’re joined by 2019 World Class US Bartender of the Year Katie Renshaw so, you know, it’s not entirely amateur hour. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported non...

Okay, to be fair, that title is 100% click-bait. Or, rather, it’s click-bait if you’re one of the agave geeks who even knows that the CRM is the body that certifies mezcal. Or, rather, that the CRM is *a* body that certifies mezcal – but *used* to be the sole body. And the end of the monopoly paired with the chaos over who controls the CRM … ? Well, that’s what the “death” part of the title refers...

I feel like the title of this episode also serves as the description. Unless you don’t know what pulque is. So … pulque is a fermented beverage, and it’s made from the uncooked agave. Now you get it? Good. So dive into this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Roa...

I don’t recall in which online forum I saw it, but someone asked the question, "Why are so many mezcaleros named Don?" It made me laugh, but it’s funny because it illustrates one of the translation problems with agave spirits. We dive deep into that problem in this week's episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener suppo...

A lot of people are blown away by how expensive mezcal is. But … is it? I mean, is it really? We talk the price of mezcal in this  episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com 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...

NOM 006 defines what tequila is. NOM 070 defines what mezcal is. Bacanora has NOM 168, sotol has NOM 159, and raicilla … well, give raicilla a minute – they’ll get back to you. But every other spirit sold in Mexico is, in theory, defined by NOM 199. (Except pox – where’d pox go?) But in March 2021, the Mexican government proposed abolishing NOM 199. So where does that leave comiteco, charanda, xta...

A lot of mezcal enthusiasts drink their mezcal from clay copitas. Hell, we drink our mezcal from clay copitas. And we think that’s the best vessel for heritage agave spirits. But is it? And is it culturally authentic? Maybe … if you’re talking hipster culture. This and more in the latest episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is...

Mezcal is a Denomination of Origin, kind of like champagne. It’s controlled by the Mexican government, and that government gets to define what mezcal is. Then there’s a body that certifies mezcal, and since that Denomination of Origin has existed, that has been the CRM. But recent legislative changes in Mexico have opened up certification to three additional certifying bodies. In this second part...

Tequila collectors the world over hate the diffuser, the industrial machine that is used to turn blue weber agave into tequila. So Chava and I attempt in this episode to show that the diffuser can be nature's way to make a better, more accurate tequila. Maybe because we're contrarians. Or maybe because science. Find out in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at aga...

Maybe you’ve noticed on the back of your tequila bottles there’s a number preceded by “NOM.” It’s there on the back of your mezcal bottles, too, but it means something different. Or maybe you’ve been in an online forum where agave geeks were posting about NOM 070, or NOM 006, or NOM 199. Well, that’s another shade of different again. But all those NOMs come back to one general idea: regulations in...

Some people will tell you that agave is at risk of becoming extinct. They'll tell you that you should primarily drink mezcal made from farmed espadin. But we tell you, gringo bartenders, that if you love mezcal, you should drink more wild agave, and you should get your customers to do so, too. Find out why in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com...

We talk a lot about the 400 decisions that palenqueros make in the process of producing heritage agave spirits. That’s the result of using pre-industrial methods in fermentation and distillation … but also in that first stage of production when you cook the agave to convert the fructans into fermentable sugars. Maybe it seems like, okay, you cook it underground in a stone-lined earthen oven. But w...

Before you can ferment those agaves to make alcohol, you’ve got to convert the carbohydrates into sugars. One way to do that is cooking. And one way to cook the agave is underground. And, yep, there are lots of ways to do that, which leads us to the question, "Do mezcaleros need to know how many grams of smoke per kilo are in their cooked agave?" Find out in "What’s Smoke Got to Do with It?” — the...

Clay fermentation vessels … wood-fired pot stills … glass garafones filled with clear liquid. From the pictures you might think you’re looking at heritage agave spirits in rural Mexico. But in fact, you’re looking at heritage feni being made in rural India. Learn about another community using pre-industrial methods to ferment and distill spirits in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photo...

Those school-boy days of drinking shots in parking lots are gone, but my affection for Monte Alban Mezcal will live on and on. In the mezcal-geek bubble that Chava and I travel in, you don’t hear a lot of love for the first mezcal most of us ever tried. But outside those circles? In the real world? Monte Alban is that best friend who can teach you right from wrong and take you from weak to strong....

John McEvoy wrote what has to be the first English-language book for mezcal geeks: Holy Smoke! It’s Mezcal came out in 2014. So when John sent us an email complaining that we “left out the most important part” in our “Tequila vs Mezcal” episode … well, we invited him on to try to convince him that he’s wrong. Will it work? Can we change the mind of the man who goes by Mezcal PhD? Find out in this...

If you’re not pouring a cross on the ground as a gift to the earth … if you’re not bowing to the south in gratitude to the land from which your mezcal came from … if you’re not performing a Mayan Cħa Chac ritual chant before that first sip, you may be drinking your mezcal all wrong. And if you’re drinking it in a cocktail? Be prepared for Mayahuel to have her vengeance. In this episode of Agave Ro...