I’ve met at least a dozen mezcalerxs who no longer drink, but continue to make Mezcal. How do they do that, and still make delicious spirits? And what can bartenders and chefs take from this? 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 wisdom from mezcalero Isidro Rodriguez of Rio de Parras, Michoacan...
Aug 14, 2025•25 min•Ep. 108
It feels like it was about a decade ago that I started hearing the word “Latinx,” and I liked the inclusivity – or, maybe, the lack of exclusivity – the word implies. But now I’m told it’s not the right term. I try to watch my language 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 Dr. Héctor García ...
Aug 07, 2025•38 min•Ep. 107
I hear and read a lot about how the red, mineral-rich volcanic soil is what makes this Tequila especially delicious. Or about the arid earth that makes that Mezcal so special. But … those are not forever things, right? If the minerals produce an agave that makes a delicious spirit, that means the agave is taking something from that soil — is consuming those minerals. And if they aren’t replaced … does that mean no more delicious Tequila and Mezcal? Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, awar...
Jul 31, 2025•28 min•Ep. 106
In the world of whiskey, most geeks will tell you that a spirit won’t age unless it’s stored in wood. In the world of agave spirits, geeks will swear they do change. The agave geeks are right and, now, we finally have proof. It’s an evidentiary 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 sey...
Jul 24, 2025•28 min•Ep. 105
I was watching that short documentary that PKGD released about mezcalero Carlos Mendez Blas , “Capitan Palomo.” And I was struck by the revelations in that film and how I think there’s something in Carlos’ world view that could solve the problems around immigration. 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 Oto Michel of Estrella...
Jul 17, 2025•45 min•Ep. 104
Linda has her method for tasting agave spirits. I have mine. And they’re relatively the same. But we just learned a new method from Rosa Perez Hernandez of Campanilla and it blew our minds! It’s a breath-taking 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 wisdom from Rosa Pe...
Jul 10, 2025•27 min•Ep. 103
Ron Aleman of Taco Mucho knows and loves Tequila. But he’s now finding himself drawn to Raicilla. “I’ve never had one I didn’t like,” he says. And I have a theory about that. So I run that theory by Marissa Paragano of The Tequiladies in this Jalisco-centric 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 Marissa...
Jul 03, 2025•21 min•Ep. 102
There are people in rural Mexico for whom Mezcal is 100% cultural heritage. And there are people there for whom it’s 100% business — sometimes tied to cultural heritage but sometimes tied simply to paying for food, clothing, shelter, and life’s aspirations and pleasures. So what does it mean when that business side taps into the cultural heritage side to increase business? It’s a thoughtful, precious episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast tha...
Jun 26, 2025•29 min•Ep. 101
I see it all over the news, hear it in conversations: we're drinking less. But then I look at the sales numbers from DISCUS and it makes me wonder, are we really drinking less? Or are we just drinking differently? It’s a complex math equation that we try to solve 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 Linda Su...
Jun 19, 2025•20 min•Ep. 100
The fastest-growing spirits category in the USA is Tequila/Mezcal. The most popular cocktail is the Margarita. We love tacos, we love tamales. So … can all of that help us as a country learn to love the people who brought us these things we love? 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 Alba Huerta of Julep Houston . Episode Notes Sh...
Jun 12, 2025•25 min•Ep. 99
At the DISCUS conference a few months ago, I was at a party that was populated by small-brand tasting tables. The one that drew my attention most was the one that was both least visited and most colorful. And my response to everything they were pouring was, Yes, please! But most especially, the White Chocolate/Raspberry Tiramisu whiskey! It’s an artificially inspired episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better u...
Jun 05, 2025•28 min•Ep. 98
I thought this episode was going to be about blind tastings. And it is. Or, at least, it starts that way. But when you’re talking with Marissa, aka @ tequilaencyclopedia , you rarely take as straight a path as you’d expect. So if you want to listen to a conversation about that … or about CostCo … or about the Agavos Awards … or how much I paid Marissa to join me on a trip to 818 Tequila, this episode is for you! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx b...
May 29, 2025•22 min•Ep. 97
Chuck Cowdery was called “the dean of American whiskey journalism” by no less than Robert Simonson in the New York Times . So when I decided more than 250 episodes into this podcast to finally devote one to Mexican whiskey, I naturally invited my celebrated drinking buddy over. It’s (perhaps) the corniest 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 ...
May 22, 2025•48 min•Ep. 96
Last episode we contrasted the good done through the consumption of heritage agave spirits with the damage caused by same. This episode, we talk about the damage done by the casual consumption of agave spirits. And coffee. And chocolate. And … well, everything. It’s a casual-destruction 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 Ba...
May 15, 2025•24 min•Ep. 95
It’s amazing and moving to see mezcalerxs whose lives have clearly improved as a result of the growing interest in agave spirits. But there’s another side to that story – or, really, multiple other sides to it: some good, some bad, and some … well, the jury is still out on those. We talk about those various stories 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 Mex...
May 08, 2025•30 min•Ep. 94
When I first started drinking Mezcal, I was told that there were some agaves that couldn’t be farmed — that could only grow wild. And I still here that narrative some two decades later. And it still doesn’t make sense to me. So I did the only logical thing: I asked a farmer. 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 Tracey Vowell of T...
May 01, 2025•22 min•Ep. 93
In my consumer-focused tastings, I tell attendees that one of the big things I hope they walk away with is, they can lead a more delicious life and support a more sustainable ecosystem if they start drinking more than just Blue Weber processed in Jalisco and Espadin processed in Oaxaca – that’s literally 99% of what they drink now, and if they instead drink one of those two eight times out of ten instead of, rounded up, ten times out of ten, they’ll be helping to turn the ship away from the mono...
Apr 24, 2025•23 min•Ep. 93
Mexico has been purchasing about $3 billion of corn annually from farmers in the USA, the vast majority of that corn having been grown from genetically modified seeds. The Mexican government announced in 2020 that it would, in 2025, ban that GMO corn from the country, which was found to be in violation of the USMCA agreement of 2018. So now, the Mexican government has amended their constitution to identify native corn as an "element of national identity," which will ban GMO corn from being plant...
Apr 17, 2025•29 min•Ep. 92
If you want to listen to that October 2023 episode with Khrys Maxwell, it’s “The CRT loses their Tequila monopoly.” You might also want to check out this episode: “The Birth and Death of the CRM,” in which MIA Chava and I discuss the end of the CRM’s monopoly on Mezcal certification. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Apr 10, 2025•27 min•Ep. 90
Check out Riker’s project, MadAgave , on the Web , on Instagram , and on Facebook — and consider making a financial gift. It will help support this important project and also help mitigate the damage done by the recent cyclone that hit the community. In the episode cover, that’s head distiller Fomesoa, and the other crew members are Samba, Tsimireke, and Freddy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Apr 03, 2025•45 min•Ep. 89
Marissa is also a board member of Tequila That Cares , a philanthropic organization bringing positive change to the agave spirits industry! If you missed World Poetry Day , it’s not too late to celebrate. Click here for the archived celebration with Agave Road Trip Poet Laureate Larry Beckett and August Gladstone ! Some numbers I culled from the DISCUS data over the past eight years: If you just look at volume consumed, 2.7 billion liters in 2024 o Vodka: 667 million liters (24.4%), trending dow...
Mar 27, 2025•35 min•Ep. 88
Shout outs this episode to Cambio Tequila and Puesto ! And Howard Gardner’s “Theory of Multiple Intelligences” ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Mar 20, 2025•27 min•Ep. 87
That one hit is from Australian Traveller : “30 of the best bars in Sydney right now.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Mar 13, 2025•29 min•Ep. 86
This episode was inspired by a post that Mexican distiller Tomas Nava made in the Facebook group Mezcal Society . His post was inspired by the entry for “foreshots” at SpiritsBeacon.com . The response from Tom Bartram of Speciality Brands gave me the excuse to reconnect with Tom! Bonus! Tom’s puntas-filled annecdote ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Mar 06, 2025•27 min•Ep. 85
Check out 30A Distilling Co. when you’re in Florida! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Feb 27, 2025•24 min•Ep. 84
First and foremost, when claims are made about expenses by USAID or any federal agency of the US government, you can research for yourself at usaspending.gov . This is a great tool that is as close to absolute transparency in government as the USA has ever had. In the (literal) days since I recorded this episode (February 17, 2025), President Trump has signed an executive order that requires “radical transparency” of all government offices. In that very order, he highlights as an example of “how...
Feb 20, 2025•26 min•Ep. 83
Shout out this episode to Steve Catbagan , Denver, and its groovy agave scene ; Arik Torren and his Lot 001 Brands , and fog nets . And of Cambio Tequila ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Feb 13, 2025•19 min•Ep. 82
Shout out this episode to Quiote Mezcaleria ! And when in Chicago go visit the desert house at the Chicago Botanic Garden . It’s as close to Mexico as anything 1,800 miles north of Mexico! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Feb 06, 2025•19 min•Ep. 81
The previous episode that inspired this episode is “The secret origin of Tequila Oro.” Shout out this episode to Jason Cox at 5 Sentidos ! Shout out to Tequila Cascahuin ! Maybe dibs in Chicago actually was documented…? Click here! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jan 30, 2025•21 min•Ep. 80
That incredible beer-not-beer was made by tlachiquero Marco Antonio of pulqueria El rincon de Mayahuel in San Felipe, Guanajuato. I was introduced to Marco by Malena Villasuso and Juan Pedro Valdes of Mezcal Villasuso . This episode was recorded outdoors at Bárbaro Asador de Campo , an amazing table-in-farm restaurant in Queretaro, where we stopped to have lunch with our travel companions: environmental scientist and SACRED program manager Regina Gonzalez and Brian Rabon of 30A Distilling Compan...
Jan 23, 2025•17 min•Ep. 79
