Agave Road Trip

The amount of time that mezcaleros take to make their spirits is an essential ingredient in the process. But it’s also in stark contrast to the amount of time that gringx bartenders have to share those agave spirits with their guests. What does that mean for those guests? And the future of those spirits? We’re running hot in this episode of Agave Road Trip! This episode is hosted by Lou Bank, Dr....

I’ve been reading lately that Skittles are being banned in parts of Europe. That made me think of all the bottles of vodka I’ve seen in bars in the USA that are being infused with the colorful candy. So is this a way to make alcohol even more dangerous? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Ryan Aycock doesn’t candy-coat his response in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photo...

Almost all alcohol goes through some kind of filtering, and chill filtering has been one of those methods for … well, forever. But recently, some folks have been flagging this as an unacceptable practice. And if it’s considered unacceptable, you know I want to give it a try. It’s an anything-but-chill episode of Agave Road Trip! Featuring Linda Sullivan , of seynasecreto , and Carlos Soto, CEO & F...

There are often-repeated inaccuracies that cause the general public to greatly misunderstand Mezcal. I call them “mezcalarrhea.” You know, like Mezcal + diarrhea? Because it’s usually people talking out of their butt. And because it makes me laugh. It’s a hot-and-runny episode of Agave Road Trip featuring Dr. Steven Alvarez , professor at St. John’s University and Ismael Gomez of Laika Spirits and...

I’m asked all the time what the difference is between Tequila and Mezcal. But, for my money, the more interesting questions is … what’s the difference between Tequila and whiskey? It’s a grains-versus-succulents grudge match in this episode of Agave Road Trip featuring Jay West of Whiskey Raiders ! You can find more from Jay at @t8ke.review , @aficionadosgroup , and @weekly.whiskey Find extra phot...

For years I’ve heard that cacao and coffee are antioxidants, but I’m left wondering … what exactly does that mean? Are they healthy? Is there a limit to how much you should consume? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Ryan Aycock , breaks it down in this free-radical episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a list...

There’s been a lot of talk about the environmental damage being done to Jalisco and Oaxaca as a result of global demand for Tequila and Mezcal. Hell, we’ve been doing a lot of that talking. But … man, have you read about what beer is doing? You’re gonna want to set down that Modelo Especial for this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Tr...

In this conversation with Eric Zandona we try to address one of the elephants in the room: can mezcal flavor be powerful enough to convert a non-believer? Are these plants communicating a full culture through a glass or is this just a blatant exaggeration? Eric has been lucky enough to have tasted hundreds if not thousands of spirits from all around the world and he was generous enough to try and...

This week’s episode marks the third anniversary of Agave Road Trip! Chava and I celebrate by sharing the many rules we’ve learned for making a great road trip — and we get schooled by road-trippers Ben Schroder (Pensador Mezcal), Craig Thompson, Dalton Kreiss (Maguey Melate), Ismael Gomez (Mezcal Cruz de Fuego), Jon Darby (Sin Gusano), and Sergio Garnier (Mezcal Ultramundo), who have their own rul...

Gringx bartenders like to tell the bigger story of mezcal, the story that goes beyond the delicious spirit to explain why it’s delicious — the thing that gives it that pulse. One of those things is the landscape from which the agave comes from. Eating to Extinction author Dan Saladino prods us to talk about the beautiful landscapes we’re taking him to on this Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and...

There’s this idea that’s been circulating around USA bars that you should only ever use espadin mezcal to make cocktails. But there’s this idea that’s been circulating around in my head that we should never use espadin mezcal to make cocktails. It’s yet another contrarian episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by  Simplecast...

Pulque is a drink of place — something you have to have near or where it is made. It doesn’t travel. But it’s not the only such drink in the world. Eating to Extinction author Dan Saladino compares pulque to a drink made by the Hadza hunter-gatherers. It’s a cross-cultural episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by  Simplecas...

Our friends at Bat Conservation International have teamed with a number of other organizations to launch “ We Belong Together ,” a campaign in support of their Agave Restoration Initiative. The goal is to redevelop the foodways that allow bats to migrate from the southern USA to southern Mexico. So they connected us with Valeria Cañedo from Colectivo Sonora Silvestre and Centro de Colaboración par...

Dan Saladino has traveled the world documenting the stories of our most endangered foods. He would argue that we need to protect them, for our future food security, for the good of the planet, and for the good of our own health. And Chava and I are all for that — but we’re also all for another person in the car to argue with. So we took Dan on an Agave Road Trip, and all you get is this episode. F...

Yeah yeah yeah. I know. Plastic is killing the world. But it’s hardly the only thing. And in the case of ecoSpirits, it’s maybe also saving the world. We talk about the complicated path of sustainability in what’s sure to be another contentious episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by  Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at http...

There’s this concept of the infinity bottle in other spirits – where you take the last bits of favorite bottles, pour them together over time to make this ever-changing blend. But … can you do that in mezcal? Without getting kicked out of a Facebook group? We tamper with the forces of nature in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Tr...

There’s an idea that mezcal made with wild agave is more delicious, because the agave lived in a hostile environment. But in the world of pulque, there’s an idea that the most delicious batches of that fermented beverage come from pampered, farmed agave. We check in with Gonzalo Álvarez-Ríos (who we call Dr. Pulque) and Dr. Iván Saldaña Oyarzábal (who we all Sir) to better understand the why and h...

Chava says this is the first of a series of episodes where we take a close-up look at specific agaves. I'm not as confident that this works. But, hey, you tell us. It's a Choose Your Own Adventure episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by  Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Not...

There are so many different approaches to farming these days, and so many different terms that, from the outside, feel like they mean the same thing. But how do they look from the inside? And which one best describes the agaves you’ve seen in rural Mexico? It’s a rhetorical episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by  Simpleca...

The average consumer doesn’t understand how the established taxes on mezcal in Mexico affect the producers, who pay a VAT of 16% plus a separate tax of 53%. Now the state of Oaxaca is adding a 4.5% tax to that – but only for some mezcaleros. And that’s going to have an even greater impact on these families. How? We break it down for you in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and rel...

Cows, goats, sheep — it’s not at all unusual to see livestock roaming around fields of agave in rural Mexico, especially up north. And it’s such a happy, peaceful, idyllic scene. But how are those animals being cared for? How does that impact the agave? It’s a mez-cow episode of Agave Road Trip, and you maybe won’t want that burger with the works! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadt...

The Distilled Spirits Council of the US released their 2022 report detailing who sold what, how that changed from the previous year, and suggesting where the market is going. Such great information! So Chava and I went through the report separately and each identified three facts in the report. In this episode of Agave Road Trip, we bicker over what those facts mean, what they don’t mean, and wher...

We’ve had any number of conversations about what it means to pay a mezcaler@ fairly. But a better question is, once you know the fair price, how do you pay them? It’s a cross-border banking episode of Agave Road Trip!  Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by  Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

How many calories do you consume daily? How many do you consume through alcohol? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Ryan Aycock, tells us about the philosophy, “I’d prefer to drink my calories.” And he tells us about all the reasons that is wrong. It’s another uplifting Cocktail MD episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip...

Alcohol is nature’s great temperature regulator — it warms you up when you’re cold, and cools you down when you’re hot! Or … does it? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Ryan Aycock, sets the record straight in this week’s episode! Find extra photos and related links at  agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by  Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...