There’s a lot of talk about ensuring that the mezcaleres get paid fairly, and that’s an important conversation. There’s less talk about the palenqueres getting paid fairly, and that’s also an important conversation that we should be having more often. But there’s zero talk about ensuring the people who own Mezcal brands get paid fairly. So … let’s talk.

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 and sharing from David Martin, Jr. of Dos Gabachos Mezcal.

Episode Notes

Check out Dos Gabachos Mezcal!

Shout outs this episode to David Suro, Lalo Angeles of Lalocura, SACRED Agave, celebrity owners, and Diageo!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I see so many agave enthusiasts visiting Mexico and not checking luggage. And Alvin Starkman, who guides visitors to Oaxaca’s palenques, sees even more. People … what are you doing? Alvin and I attempt to make the case to bring the case.

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 Alvin Starkman of Mezcal Educational Tours of Oaxaca.

Episode Notes

Read Alvin’s article, “Mezcal Aficionados: Check your Luggage When Visiting Mexico”! And read all of his articles: Oaxaca Mezcal Tours, Oaxaca Mezcal & Pulque, Mezcal Educational Tours, and his blog on MexConnect!

Shout outs this episode to Del Maguey Mezcal, Mezcal Rambha, CH Distillery, Jeppson’s Malort, Dolores Kohl Education Foundation, the Kohl Children’s Museum, and Dos Hombres Mezcal!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

According to the Comercam, production of Mezcal dropped in 2024. It went from 14.2 million liters in 2022 down to 12.2 million liters in 2023 and, last year, down again to 11.4 million liters. So how does Mezcal find new drinking buddies?

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 and insights from Sammy Halpern of Desolas Mezcal.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The US State Department has changed their safety ratings for Mexico. The only places in the country where, according to the US State Department, you can just go as freely as you might to, say, Washington, DC, would be Campeche and Yucatan. Everywhere else in Mexico it’s suggested that you should “exercise increased caution.” Some places I love to go, like Jalisco, Baja California, Chiapas, and Queretaro, I’m told I should “reconsider travel.” And my beloved Michoacan and Guerrero are “do not travel” zones, according to the US State Department. So … what does this mean for gringx bartenders?

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

The cover to this episode is everything to me. The art is by Gilbert Hernandez — Beto, of Los Bros Hernandez, creators of the comics series Love and Rockets. When I was a 15- or 16-year-old kid, this comic book showed me that comics could tell any story. The magical realism that Beto and his brothers Jaime and Mario depicted in Mexico and Southern California stuck with me. I think a lot of the joy I feel when I’m traveling in rural Mexico now is the discovery of images that they planted in my teenage brain. I was a comics geek growing up — mainly Marvel with a bit of DC on the side. Then some of the alternative superhero stuff when that started popping in the 1980s. But Los Bros Hernandez showed me a whole different world.

That realization of the broader stories that could be told through the medium didn’t redirect the trajectory that I was on in the business side of comics. I landed at Marvel when I was 21 years old, where I made so many friends who are still friends to this day. The angry, sarcastic Greg Wright was one of those friends — is one of those friends, though now he’s neither angry nor sarcastic having become a gentle and loving father who now goes by the more gentle and loving name Gregory Wright. Gregory stepped up to color this amazing Beto art.

And the initial reason for commissioning the art? Since 2021, the National Museum of Mexican Art has welcomed me to help organize their annual spirited fund-raiser, Copitas de Sol. I get to drag in a bunch of spirits brands and a bunch of restaurants and bars, and I get to commission art like this. This cover will be one half of the poster for next year’s Copitas de Sol, which will occur some time in August. And wait until you see the second half!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Months ago COMERCAM released the 2024 numbers for Mezcal. But I just finally got around to looking at them. What do they reveal? To me, a lot of questions about the integrity of the numbers!

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 Shawn Miller of PKGD Group.

Episode Notes

You can find the 2025 Comercam report here and the AMMA site is here. You won’t find any relevant numbers but the CIDAM site is here.

Shout outs to Tristan Stephenson of the Curious Bartender Podcast, Dr. Iván Saldaña Oyarzábal, Sergio Garnier at Ultramundo Mezcal, El Acabo Raicilla, and Lalocura.

Thanks to Roy Sierra for the episode cover and, as ever, funky sound design!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The technology most of us carry in our pockets allows us to take such good pictures that we often don’t recognize we’re not taking great pictures. Professional photographer Anna Bruce shares her tips and tricks to help you up your documentation game!

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 Anna Bruce of Rambling Spirits, author of Tequila, Mezcal & More: Discover, Sip & Mix the Best Agave Spirits.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There was sort of mini-boycott of agave syrup among bartenders about a decade ago, fueled by the industrial product contributing to Jalisco’s monoculture of blue weber agave. Or maybe fueled by a feeling that agave should only be used to make spirits – I’m still not 100% clear on that. And then there was the rise of the “new” agave syrup, which is really the original agave syrup, which is made in an entirely pre-industrial manner, in places other than Jalisco, from agaves other than blue weber. And it’s awesome! But it doesn’t taste like the agave syrup bartenders expect. So … what do you do with it? And, for that matter, what do you do with Mezcal that doesn’t taste like smokey Espadin and Tequila that doesn’t taste like the stuff that thwarted you in college?

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 Adam Murphy, an engineer who makes cocktails.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Willy Chavarria and Adidas went to China and made "Oaxaca Slip-Ons.” Was it an opportunity to benefit the communities in Mexico who make huaraches? Or was it a multi-cultural slip-up?

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 Fabiola Santiago of Mi Oaxaca. It was recorded a day or two before Mr. Chavarria issued an apology for releasing these huaraches. You can read his apology here.

Episode Notes

To sign up for Mi Oaxaca’s online course “Introduction to Mezcal Through Indigenous Worldviews,” which takes place online Tuesdays from October 7 through November 11, click here!

To read Dan Saladino’s introduction to Eating to Extinction, click here!

That news I mention, about visas being issued by the USA to people who make a monetary deposit? Read about that here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.