I've been having a lot of conversations recently with people who own brands of agave spirits. And my friends who own Tequila brands, they're a little uncomfortable with the state of the market. And then my friends with Mezcal brands, they really don't like the state of the market. Not so long ago, Mezcal was hot. Is it still cool? or is it cooling down?

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!

Episode Notes

Shout outs this episode to Tomas Virgen, Maguey Melate, Clase Azul Tequila, Michael Rubel, and John Douglass at Pretty Decent!

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The rules around Mezcal are so complex that I’m not surprised when someone gets the details wrong — even brand owners. But I still used that as a jumping-off point to get into it with Marissa Paragano about recent clips from The TequiLadies Show. And then we landed on a clip in which she talks about what agave tastes like. And what does it taste like? Well, which agave…?

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 (AKA the eye-rolling, not-easily-offended, kind-of-5’2” Tequila Encyclopedia) of The TequiLadies Show and The Tequila That Cares Foundation and added wisdom from Heidi Roach of the Mezcal Academy in Scotland.

Episode Notes

Marissa is a board member of Tequila That Cares, a philanthropic organization bringing positive change to the agave spirits industry!

Check out Heidi’s Mezcal Academy in Scotland, with educational tastings at the end of every month!

Join us in Puerto Vallarta this April for the tenth-anniversary celebration of SACRED!

Shout outs this episode to Tove Lo, Billy Bragg, Long Island Lou, Eduardo Angeles of Lalocura Mezcal, Tequila Ocho, Chicago pizza, chocolate, tasting wheels, and “So I referenced this helpful tasting wheel, designed by Patrón, to expand my awareness of what to look for and to help better define”.

Agaves have three ways to reproduce: they can generate seeds, bulbils (semi-clones that grow on their quiotes), and hijuelos (clones from the roots). But sometimes, you’ll hear that a particular variety of agave doesn’t produce hijuelos, or its seeds aren’t viable. Why not? Which ones? And how did that come about? It’s our most sexual episode yet!

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 evolutionary biologist Daniel Moen.

Episode Notes

Thanks to raicillero Nereo Garcia Romero for the cover pose this episode!

Shout outs this episode to Dr. Iván Saldaña, El Acabo Raicilla, the Herculoids, Tacho Guzman, and Emilio Saenger!