PODCAST · society
Agave Road Trip
by Heritage Radio Network
Agave Road Trip provides gringo bartenders with firsthand knowledge about heritage agave spirits from Mexico, including mezcal, raicilla, bacanora, and destilado de agave.
Episodes
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Is Mezcal cool? Or cooling down?
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…
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What cooked agave doesn’t taste like
The rules around Mezcal are so complex that I’m not surprised when someone gets the details wrong — even brand owners. And two brand owners did exactly that on a recent episode of The TequiLadies Show. I used that as a jumping-off point to get into it with Marissa Paragano about some recent clips...
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The sex lives of agave: hijuelos, bulbils, and seedlings
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…
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What we drink when we don't know what to drink
My frequent-but-not-frequent-enough cohost Linda Sullivan has a beverage education business, seynasecreto. And while she’s doing the education part at events, sharing funky, interesting, and cool agave spirits, the guests are engaged and loving it. But when the education stops and the bar…
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Proposed changes to the rules of Mezcal
The Mexican government is considering a revised version of the NOM that defines what is and what is not Mezcal. My big takeaway is that it feels like the changes are either moving more toward protecting heritage mezcaleres or codifying things that were already allowed but weren’t anywhere in the...
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Has the Margarita become a victim of its own success?
That’s what I thought we were talking about: the Margarita collapsing under the weight of its popularity, so to speak. But food writer Alisha Miranda thought we were exploring the question, Can we get past the Margarita? And that question itself suggests that, at least for Alisha, the Margarita…
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September 16 is Cinco de Mayo!
As we approach September 16, we prepare to celebrate Cinco de Mayo: Mexican Independence Day! And we do so in Agave Road Trip style with lawyer and professor Dr. Juan Pablo Salazar Andreou, author of Con o Sin Derecho, about the history of Cinco de Mayo in the legal context. Take off your shoes,...
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NC Stevens read all the royal directives so you don’t have to
When most people think about Mexican drinks, they think about Tequila. But Tequila's success is really built on the vibrancy of the broader landscape of drinks and drinking in Mexico. It’s not a standalone spirit. It comes from a history and geography and culture that made possible something as...
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The reason to ID every drinker
I was watching an episode of John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” about gas-station drugs and it felt to me like, while never mentioned explicitly, the reason to ask every guest who orders an alcoholic beverage to show their ID. And I had Linda cornered so made her talk it through with me. Agave…
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Plastic and glass in the age of Mezcal
“This brings us to the question of glass versus food-grade plastic, because both are used at José Alberto's palenque, and food-grade plastic is certainly used to store mezcal at every other palenque I’ve visited, and both are legitimate vessels for storing agave spirits.” That’s what Marcus Piña…
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The ten categories of ancestral mezcal
Mezcal can get very confusing for the average consumer. You’ve got regular Mezcal, Mezcal Artesenal, and Mezcal Ancestral. And then there are variations among those, including Joven, Reposado, Anejo, abocado con, destilado con, and on and on. But this, it seems, is part of the heritage of Mezcal…
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A tahona doesn’t make your Tequila authentic
There was a time (about a week ago) when posting to social-media that you would only drink “additive-free” was a way to say, I know Tequila. Now it feels like “milled by tahona” is the new “additive-free.” And in the same way that the additive-free-signaling actually signaled the opposite to me,...
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The Raicilla episode featuring El Acabo and Asil
“You just do it by the old way. It's not difficult. It's not fast, but it's not difficult. If we make it fast, you have to correct a lot of things. When you give the real time for a distillation, you get all the flavors. Give it the time, the real time that it needs to make it.” That’s Alvaro...
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Gasoline & electricity: The science of Mezcal
Before science was invented, things were confusing. And, to be fair, for several decades into the birth of science, it was still confusing. Don’t believe us? Check out Scientific American magazines from the late 1800s — especially this one article about scientists tasting Mezcal and Tequila for…
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The profound justification for Raicilla
Okay, for real, this episode is only vaguely about Raicilla. It’s a bit more about profound justifications — that’s a reference to a quote from my guest co-host, Shawn Miller of PKGD Group. He brings that quote up as we’re talking about the white paper PKGD released a few weeks ago. That white...
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The great rise of industrial Mezcal
I recorded a few weeks ago an episode with Marissa Paragano in which we talked about the 2025 numbers from Comercam. But we got so distracted by overall sales that I forgot to highlight this one very important fact: plain, old Mezcal (in other words, the stuff that can be made industrially) has...
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Palomo Mezcal: It’s better not to count
“Before, only white people or gringos used to sell Mezcal, and the consumer was used to only buying it from those people. But now the consumer is changing their mind and saying that I want to buy from the producer. I want to know how it’s made. I want to know if they are planting more agaves, or…
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It’s a Tequila dust-up of epic proportions!
I don’t know, maybe I’m just behind the curve on this one. But I had a conversation with Marcado 28 Tequilero Bruno Barba and, during that conversation, he brought up a subject that surprised me: the cleaning of the bottles. And it made me realize, there’s an “abocado con” Tequila I never…
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What’s in a scientific name?
There are scientific names and common names for agaves … or magueys, to use the common name. But the common names lack commonality: A papalometl in one part of the Mixteca is a potatorum. Less than 40 kilometers away, papalometl will refer to a Cupreata. And even the scientific names get screwy.…
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Is Mezcal searching for mainstream success?
A recent episode of the VinePair podcast, titled "Mezcal’s Continued Search for Mainstream Success,” feels to me like it was riddled with inaccuracies. And for some reason, it also feels to me like it stands in stark contrast to the recently released 2025 numbers from Comercam, the largest of the...
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Agave straws and cactus plastic
We’ve talked about agave straws in previous episodes, but I’ve been spending more time digging into them. And more than that, I’ve been spending time reading about – and now speaking with – Dr. Sandra Pascoe Ortiz, who has developed a plastic that is compostable and leaves behind no…
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Where can Mezcal geeks go to geek out?
There are places that have massive collections of beautiful, small-batch agave spirits, but having the bottles isn’t the same as understanding them. And having those bottles, which are often expensive, requires additional expense in training staff. Or, anyway, are most likely going to realize…
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G4 Tequila: Felipe Camarena doesn't have the whitest legs
“This is my playground. And we are always looking for the best profile we can get. Different profiles, different changes.” Those are the words of Master Tequilero Felipe Camarena, founder of G4 Tequila. We profile Felipe and G4 in this first episode of Agave Road Show! Agave Road Show is an...
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Mezcal, the moon, and multi-generational wisdom
I find myself saying “multi-generational wisdom” pretty frequently, in reference to these communities I get to visit in rural Mexico. But when they start talking about how the moon affects their production of agave spirits, or the presence of a pregnant woman, I kind of laugh it off. So what am I...
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The difference between a good agave and a bad one
How often have you heard or read that a brand of Tequila or Mezcal is only using quality agaves? That makes me wonder about those poor, down-market agaves. They deserve love, too, don’t they? And what makes them different from the good agaves? Brix? Years? Agave Road Trip is a critically…
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The tumbado way to harvest maguey (Paulo Rodriguez remix)
Last episode I talked with Linda Sullivan about the tumbado process of harvesting agave. This episode … also about tumbado, but with Paulo Rodriguez, the raicillero who brought the method back to Chacala, Jalisco! So, why two episodes about the same thing? I was maybe a bit under the influence…
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Harvesting maguey the “tumbado” way (Linda Sullivan remix)
I was listening to Tim McKirdy’s podcast “Mezcal’s Untold Past, Soaring Present, and Fragile Future,” and he talks about an agave harvesting process called tumbado, where you disconnect the plant from its roots and let it sit there in the field. It was said to be an old practice that had been…
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Spirits vs beer vs wine: Last alcohol standing
There’s a graph in the latest report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the US that shows that for the first time in recent history, we’re drinking more spirits than we are either beer or wine. What does this mean, exactly? Or does it mean anything? And why is it that everyone I know will…
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Bird poop in the fermenters
I was talking with a brand owner about the process used to make his Tequila, and when he described his fermenters, I asked if they were indoors or outdoors. I hadn’t realized the regulations required them to be indoors – or, anyway, he said they did, though I found nothing in the NOM to…
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Making sense of the Filipino still
When people talk about stills in Mexico, you hear “Filipino” and “alambique” a lot … “Mongolian” a little. And it’s been suggested that the Filipino still was the first to arrive the Americas’ What makes it Filipino? How did it get here? And what’s it got to do with coconuts? Food writer Nic...
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Making (non)sense of 2025 spirits sales
For the first time in a decade, we’re paying less per liter for Tequila/Mezcal, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US. The most expensive cordials are growing in sales faster than anything. We’re not drinking less, we’re drinking differently. And those are just three of the…
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When 130 Tequilas are additive-free, does that matter anymore?
In a recent issue of The Tequila Report, more than 130 Tequila brands identify as additive-free. So how do those brands distinguish from one another? What else matters to discerning consumers? Tequila Report publisher Jay Baer and I try to figure that out in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave...
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Those Mezcal stories in the AP News
Earlier this month, journalist Claudia Rosel released three Mezcal stories via the AP. Some of the agave nerds derided the stories as “at least 5 years late.” But I’d suggest they didn’t understand the stories. Or maybethey don’t understand the lifecycle of agave? Or … maybe they don’t understand...
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Does transparency ruin the mystery of Mezcal?
In the December 2025 episode of his amazing podcast “The Curious Bartender,” Tristan Stephenson asks Foursquare Rum CEO and Master Distiller Richard Seale, “How important is transparency in rum?” And Richard’s answer was not at all what I expected. Close the kimono and call in Linda — we talk…
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Molcajetes, exploding hammers, and the makers of the world
That guacamole you just made from scratch? Well, did you make the molcajete you used to grind the onions, cilantro, chiles, and salt? Did you make the gunpowder and sledgehammer you used for the Exploding Hammers Festival? Even the makers of the world rely on other makers in the world and that’s...
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The dangers of Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and AI
We’ve already done a couple of episodes about the dangers of traveling to Mexico. But … the violence around the apprehension and killing by the Mexican government of cartel leader “El Mencho” in February 2026 led to a more heated public conversation on the issue. So, here’s a third episode.…
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How much does a mezcalero make per bottle?
Even the lowest-priced bottles of Mezcal aren’t cheap. So that means the people making those spirits are making better money than the people making other spirits, right? Right??? Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave,...
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Are collectors ruining Mezcal?
Some people buy bottles to drink now. Some people buy to drink later. Some people buy special bottles to share when special guests are over having a special meal. And some people buy to squirrel away those bottles that they expect they can sell for more money in a few years. How does that affect...
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Does the water matter in Mezcal and Tequila?
Okay, so, first … yes, of course, water matters. Without water, there can’t be Mezcal or Tequila, both because you need it to make the spirits but more importantly, people make these spirits and without water, there are no people. With that out of the way … evolutionary biologist and frequent...
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Don Julio is the best-selling spirits brand in the USA
According to a story in VinePair’s VP Pro newsletter, quoting an article from Shanken News Daily, Don Julio in 2025 became the biggest spirits brand in the USA, measured by revenue. And this during a year when Don Julio was dragged through the mud. So, what does this tell us? Agave Road Trip is a...
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Eating vegan in rural Mexico
When you’re a vegan but you find yourself in a situation where someone has cooked a whole goat in your honor, do you eat the goat? When Marissa and I start talking rural Mexico, you can never be sure where the conversation will go. This time, it went to the conflict between our dietary…
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Agave Bike Trip!
Traveling the hard way to visit mezcaleres who make agave spirits the hard way seemed right to me. So I grabbed my cyclist friend Zach Jarosz and we set off from Oaxaca Centro on an Agave Bike Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders…
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But did you really make that Tequila?
Slippery language can lead to misunderstandings. When a brand owner talks about their distillery, their agaves, their producers … maybe they’re just being sloppy. Maybe their claiming ownership. But what’s the impact of those claims? Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning…
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A lot of talk about lote numbers
Most spirits don’t have lot numbers … or lote numbers … or batch numbers. But some (a lot?) do. And what exactly do those numbers mean? Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits,...
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Mezcal in whisk(e)y country
Scotland is known for Scotch whiskey. Louisville for Bourbon. But award-winning bartenders have opened agave-focused drinking halls in both places. What does it mean when Mezcal finds its way into whisk(e)y country? Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps…
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The secret origin of Chuck Cowdery
Not an episode about agave, agave spirits, or rural Mexico! For this special Christmas episode of Agave Road Trip I offer you the gift of Chuck Cowdery, the “dean of American whiskey writing,” according to the New York Times. When did he have his first drink? When did he have his first whiskey?…
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The problem with the Cadbury dark chocolate ad
This new ad for Cadbury’s Bournville “dark” chocolate is funny. But there’s a cost to that humor, and it isn’t to Cadbury. We take Goliath to task for attacking David in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders...
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Attack of the 50-foot picudo!
There’s a field of blue weber agave in Jalisco that SACRED has purchased. The plan is … well, a secret. But there’s a possible glitch in the secret plan and that glitch is the picudo, a weevil famous for eating agave. Are we going to let a famous weevil interrupt our plan? No — we’re going to bug...
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Does Whitexicans have para llevar?
There’s a restaurant that opened in Queens, New York, a couple months ago with the name Whitexicans. That’s a loaded word – loaded with enough implications of classism and racism that it sparked a protest. But it also sparked a lot of media coverage. So what does it mean that your place of...
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Giving Thanks
There have been so many things for which to be grateful this year. But, oftentimes, I find myself dwelling on the heartaches and regrets of the year. So Linda and I got together to talk about the great moments, to share on Thanksgiving. And we talk about how to help create more great moments…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Agave Road Trip have?
Agave Road Trip currently has 311 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Agave Road Trip about?
Agave Road Trip provides gringo bartenders with firsthand knowledge about heritage agave spirits from Mexico, including mezcal, raicilla, bacanora, and destilado de agave.
How often does Agave Road Trip release new episodes?
Agave Road Trip publishes regularly with 311 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Agave Road Trip?
You can listen to Agave Road Trip on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Agave Road Trip?
Agave Road Trip is created and hosted by Heritage Radio Network.
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