On this Day of Thanks, I ponder why Giving Tuesday isn’t Giving Thursday — why we aren’t giving thanks on Thanksgiving. It’s a thankless 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 at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-...
Nov 23, 2023•31 min•Ep. 18
It's impossible with coffee beans to get consistency in flavors and aromas from one harvest to the next. Add in the processing of those beans into that morning drug that starts most of our days and … still more barriers to consistency. Which reminds me so much of the things that I love about agave spirits. It’s yet another inconsistent episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Sup...
Nov 16, 2023•27 min•Ep. 17
With all the press, all the talk, all the social-media posts, there are always people looking to find out what this Mezcal thing is all about. So what’s the best way to introduce them to these spirits? It’s a welcome-to-the-newbies 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 ...
Nov 09, 2023•23 min•Ep. 16
A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive, on Mayahuel, nicotine, and the temptations of maguey. I’ve heard that all sorts of things in the world of agave spirits are sacred and should be treated with respect. But that begs the question, what does it mean to respect something? Or, more importantly, what constitutes disrespect? We bat that concept around in this unholy episode of Agave Road Trip! Photo Courtesy of CHema Skandal! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com ...
Nov 02, 2023•23 min•Ep. 15
I’m accustomed to people making hand gestures at me, whether in the USA or Mexico. And I’m generally able to understand those gestures in my home country. But just as I don’t understand the spoken language in Mexico, I’m a bit lost on these gestures, too. Luckily, on this specific Agave Road Trip, I have a couple of interpreters to help. Hands are flying in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported non...
Oct 26, 2023•14 min•Ep. 14
The best stuff is always in plastic water bottles — that’s a thing I hear from a lot of Mezcal geeks. But lately I’ve been reading a lot of stories in the news about how most of us have plastic in our blood stream. And that’s got me wondering … is the stuff brought back from Mexico in plastic water bottles really the best stuff, then? Or am I just drinking myself to death in an unexpected way? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Ryan Aycock plastic-coats this episode of Agave Road ...
Oct 19, 2023•26 min•Ep. 13
Price certainly has to be a factor when considering which Mezcals you stock in your well. And flavor, of course. But what about the environmental impact? Here are six lower-priced Mezcals (and a Bacanora and a Sotol) that you can use for high-volume cocktails that won’t break the bank and don’t threaten the bio-diversity of Oaxaca. It’s a Punch-and-Judy episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit po...
Oct 12, 2023•34 min•Ep. 12
Back in May 2021, Chava and I recorded an episode titled “The Birth and Death of the CRM.” Alberto Esteban Marina , former Director General of the NOMs for the Mexican government, had provided us with court papers that documented the end of the CRM’s monopoly on certifying Mezcal. Now Alberto’s come back to me with two court decisions documenting the end of the CRT’s monopoly on certifying Tequila. What does that mean for Tequila producers? What does it mean for Tequila drinkers? And what does i...
Oct 05, 2023•33 min•Ep. 11
The espresso martini is quickly becoming the go-to cocktail at bars. But is it really an espresso martini? Or are they using cold brewed coffee? What’s the difference? And is cold brew really the ideal way to make coffee? It’s a caffeine-fueled episode of Agave Road Trip, featuring Aaron Campos of Dark Matter Coffee as guest cohost! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becomin...
Sep 28, 2023•15 min•Ep. 10
There are three different natural methods agaves use to reproduce, but only one of those methods promotes genetic diversity: growing from seed. And that’s how much agave is grown around Mexico. But Blue Weber agave? The only kind of agave you can use to make Tequila? No one is growing it from seed. It’s all genetically homogenous. So what does that mean for the future of Tequila? It’s another doomsday episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage R...
Sep 21, 2023•31 min•Ep. 9
The best agave spirits require a lot of patience. It takes an awful lot of time for the agave to mature, it can take a lot of time to get to the mezcaleros who make the best spirits, and you won’t taste the full complexity of those spirits without taking your sweet time sipping them. Ismael Gomez of Cruz de Fuego Mezcal thinks all of the patience required has had an effect on me. I try to talk him out of it in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip....
Sep 14, 2023•17 min•Ep. 8
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. Steven Alvarez of St. John’s University, and Ismael Gomez of Laika Spirits and Cruz de Fuego Mezcal ...
Sep 07, 2023•14 min•Ep. 7
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 photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit po...
Aug 31, 2023•16 min•Ep. 6
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 & Founder of Nosotros Life and Spirits. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com He...
Aug 24, 2023•22 min•Ep. 5
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 Cruz de Fuego Mezcal ! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Netw...
Aug 17, 2023•20 min•Ep. 4
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 photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit p...
Aug 10, 2023•30 min•Ep. 3
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 listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member ! Agave Road ...
Aug 03, 2023•23 min•Ep. 2
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 Trip is Powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy N...
Jul 27, 2023•18 min•Ep. 1
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 tackle why this may or may not make sense. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com ...
Jul 20, 2023•15 min•Ep. 1
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 rules! Strap yourself in, because that’s the first rule of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and relat...
Jul 06, 2023•58 min•Ep. 150
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 related links at agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at ...
Jun 29, 2023•16 min•Ep. 149
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. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...
Jun 22, 2023•21 min•Ep. 148
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 Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/...
Jun 15, 2023•26 min•Ep. 147
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 para la Ciencia y Cultura S.C. to wing another episode of Agave Road Trip about bats and agave! Find ex...
Jun 08, 2023•22 min•Ep. 146
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. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Agave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast. Se...
Jun 01, 2023•22 min•Ep. 145
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 https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
May 25, 2023•18 min•Ep. 144
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 Trip is Powered by Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy N...
May 18, 2023•17 min•Ep. 143
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 how and what of it all in this 150th episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links ...
May 11, 2023•25 min•Ep. 142
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 Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
May 04, 2023•21 min•Ep. 141
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 Simplecast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com...
Apr 27, 2023•22 min•Ep. 140
