Agave Road Trip

Howard Scott Gentry’s 670-page Agaves of Continental North America (University of Arizona Press, 1982) is a seminal work in the field. Gentry included thorough descriptions of over 136 species … and identified the 11 best agaves for spirits production. Which 11 are they? And what makes them the best? You’ll have to listen to this episode of Agave Road Trip (or read the book) to find out!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 NotesThanks to Google Books for digitizing Jose Carmen Segura’s El Maguey (Impr. Particular de la S. Agrícola Mexicana, 1901)! The images that are used for this week’s cover and social-media posts were taken from that book.Shout outs this episode to KFC’s Original Recipe, Traditional Juan Matador Cantina, Mezcal Lagrimas de Dolores, Gilberto Roldan, Mezcal Del Maguey, Ron Cooper, and Gary Nabhan.Ad LinksFor a copita full of hospitality, check out Mezcal Palomo! Carlos Mendez Blas makes delicious spirits, some of which were distilled with cacao, coffee, and mole!Head out on an Agave Road Trip with Finca 18!‍ ‍Greg Rutkowski will take you on his Agave Road Trip Route #2 - Raicilla de la Costa! Price includes a bottle of Paulo Rodriguez’s fabled, limited Tumbado batch!Order beautiful spirits to be delivered to anywhere in Mexico — beautiful or otherwise — through Agave Spirits Presents!

In my quest to lower my blood pressure, I stumbled on an article suggesting that jamaica — the Mexican agua fresca made from dried hibiscus flowers — can do exactly that. So I started using that as a base for an energy drink. Which maybe mitigates the blood-pressure thing, but, anyway, that’s where I landed when I invited Linda Sullivan‍ over to talk aguas fresca.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“What to Drink to Lower Blood Pressure Quickly: These 9 Drinks May Help,” GoodRX, May 5, 2026Agave Road Trip episode: “Does Mezcal help you hydrate?”Shout outs this episode to Monster Rehab, Tazo Tea, Big Works, Mello Yello, Mountain Dew, Electrolit, Cocktail MD Ryan Aycock, Thirsty Whale Justin Sajda, Four Loko, Malort, Quiote Mezcaleria, Labo Fermento, Finca 18, and is/was Brewing.Ad LinksIf you want to taste 24,000 acres of wild desert, get yourself a bottle of Mezcal Ultramundo!Head out on an Agave Road Trip with Finca 18!‍  ‍Greg Rutkowski will take you on his Agave Road Trip Route #2 - Raicilla de la Costa! Price includes a bottle of Paulo Rodriguez’s fabled, limited Tumbado batch!Order beautiful spirits to be delivered to anywhere in Mexico — beautiful or otherwise — through Agave Spirits Presents!

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 NotesShout outs this episode to Tomas Virgen, Maguey Melate, Clase Azul Tequila, Michael Rubel, and John Douglass at Pretty Decent!Ad LinksEvery time you drink El Acabo Raicilla, you’re helping to support the biodiversity of Jalisco — it’s a delicious way to help the environment!Head out on an Agave Road Trip with Finca 18!‍  ‍Greg Rutkowski will take you on his Agave Road Trip Route #2 - Raicilla de la Costa! Price includes a bottle of Paulo Rodriguez’s fabled, limited Tumbado batch!Order beautiful spirits to be delivered to anywhere in Mexico — beautiful or otherwise — through Agave Spirits Presents!

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 from her podcast, and then we landed on one 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 NotesMarissa 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 NotesThanks 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!

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 becomes open call, those same guests go back to their common-order comfort zones. Which makes Linda uncomfortable — but gives us something to talk about in this episode 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 Linda Sullivan‍ of seynasecreto!Episode NotesShout outs this episode to the shiftie, Licor Pajarote, Casamigos, Kool-Aid, Sloe Gin Fizz, The Ramones song “Somebody Put Something in My Drink,” the Tequila Report, the French Martini, and 818 Tequila!

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 existing NOM. Sergio Garnier’s view isn’t so different. But we argue anyway. Because that’s our love language.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 food writer Sergio Garnier of Ultramundo Mezcal.Episode NotesTo read the draft revised NOM-070 in Spanish, click here!To read the draft revised NOM-070 in Google Translate English, click here!Shout outs this episode to Queretaro’s spectacular table-in-a-farm restaurant Bárbaro Asador de Campo, Rancho Villa Organica, Campanilla,  Francisco Terrazas and the Tequila Interchange Project, Cristalinos, and Chava!

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 has become a victim of its own success. And David Suro’s La Jefa Milpa Bar in Philadelphia doesn’t serve a Margarita, which suggests Alisha isn’t alone. So … what’s going on with the Margarita?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 food writer Alisha Miranda!Episode NotesCheck out Alisha’s article “Beyond the Margarita: Rethinking Tequila & Agave Spirits,” August 31, 2026.This week’s cover features art by Jose Guadalupe Posada, taken from the “El corrido de la muerte” broadside published by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. You can access that file via the Library of Congress!Shout outs this episode to David Suro’s La Jefa Milpa Bar, vodka/sodas, Morgan Weber’s Marfa Spirits Co., Frankie Ramirez’s Amà, Nacho Jimenez’s Superbueno, Ricky Ramirez (and Jason Parr)’s Mothership, Squirt, Jon Langley’s Sobre Masa, and Palomas!Ad LinksFor a copita full of hospitable Mezcal, check out Mezcal Palomo! Carlos Mendez Blas makes delicious spirits, some of which were distilled with cacao, coffee, and mole!Chicotona Mezcal honors tradition while always looking for something better. Try a taste of family, culture, and tradition! Head out on an Agave Road Trip with Finca 18!‍  ‍Greg Rutkowski will take you on his Agave Road Trip Route #2 - Raicilla de la Costa! Price includes a bottle of Paulo Rodriguez’s fabled, limited Tumbado batch!Order beautiful spirits to be delivered to anywhere in Mexico — beautiful or otherwise — through Agave Spirits Presents!

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, grab a machete, and join us for the fun!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 wisdom from Dr. Juan Pablo Salazar Andreou, with translations from Daniel Peñaloza of Chicotona Mezcal!Episode NotesCheck out Dr. Juan Pablo Salazar Andreou’s book Con o Sin Derecho!This week’s cover features art by Jose Guadalupe Posada, taken from the “El corrido de la muerte” broadside published by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. You can access that file via the Library of Congress!Shout outs this episode to Katherine May Lewis, Siete Rayas Yolixpa, and Julia of Las Chingonas Imports!

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 compelling as Tequila. And author and researcher NC Stevens argues that is one of the leading reasons that Tequila has become so successful. 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 Nic Comrade Stevens, author ofThe Complete Guide to Mexican Beverages: From Atole to Zambumbia. Episode Notes Shout outs this episode to the Cuba Libre, cactus tuna wine, Buchanan’s, and colonche! Ad Links Every time you drinkEl Acabo Raicilla, you’re helping to support the biodiversity of Jalisco — it’s a delicious way to help the environment! Head out on an Agave Road Trip with Finca 18!‍ ‍Greg Rutkowski will take you on his Agave Road Trip Route #2 - Raicilla de la Costa! Price includes a bottle of Paulo Rodriguez’s fabled, limited Tumbado batch! Order beautiful spirits to be delivered to anywhere in Mexico — beautiful or otherwise — through Agave Spirits Presents!