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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“That song makes me not want some mo G4.” That reaction to the music video “Sippin’ on Some G4” by Jeff Hodges and Los Henchmen, while nothing like the majority of commenters, was also not uncommon. Which is interesting, right? Because absolutely nothing changed about the Tequila in the G4 bottle. So … why would anyone stop drinking something they like because of a music video they don’t like?

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.

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

The impact that a bartender can have on the consumption patterns within a bar is huge. Does great responsibility come with that great power? And if so, what exactly does that responsibility look like?

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

Sign up for Mi Oaxaca’s Fall 2025 Six-Week Online Course, “An Introduction to Mezcal Through Indigenous Worldviews”!

Shout outs this episode to Mijenta Tequila’s Maestra Selection No. 1, Burger King, ketchup!

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There was this video that my friends at Zignum released years ago that suggested that traditional Mezcal was not clean. That was contrasted recently in a conversation I had with master tequilero Felipe Camarena, who suggested that county water with all its chlorine and other chemicals wasn’t clean. And then maestro mezcalero Eduardo Angeles has a further take on what “clean” means. So what exactly does it mean in the process of making spirits? How much does it matter? Find out in the filthiest episode yet 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 Michael Schallau of is/was Brewing with wisdom from Felipe Camarena of G4 Tequila and Eduardo Angeles of Lalocura.

Episode Notes

Shout outs this episode to Sleep Walk Chocolate, David Hammond, Zignum Mezcal, Campanilla, Mezcal Villasuso, and 30A Distilling!

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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, a poetic pause from Agave Road Trip poet laureate Larry Beckett, and a quick translation from Regina Gonzalez.

Episode Notes

If you enjoyed Larry Beckett’s poem, “True Words,” you can find it in Song to the Siren, a collection of Larry’s lyrics!

Shout outs this episode to Regina Gonzalez, Dark Matter Coffee, Greg Rutkowski of Finca 18, Budweiser, blue cheese, Arte Agave, and Malort!

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