15 Days to Distill - S2E6

FromAgave Road Trip

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15 Days to Distill - S2E6

FromAgave Road Trip

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Length:

22 minutes

Released:

Oct 15, 2020

Format:

Podcast episode

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Many men and women in rural Mexico started learning to make agave spirits when they were 10 or 11 years old, from their parents. Then some learned in two weeks from a bunch of university students who randomly showed up in town.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Agave Road Trip by becoming a member!Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.comAgave Road Trip is Powered by Simplecast.

Released:

Oct 15, 2020

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Agave Road Trip provides gringo bartenders with firsthand knowledge about heritage agave spirits from Mexico, including mezcal, raicilla, bacanora, and destilado de agave.

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Jump In! - S1E1: We introduce ourselves and the series, but mainly because we felt obligated to do it. We think it’s more fun to let that information reveal itself naturally. Though there is a nice bit about mind-blowing arroqueño and Santa Maria Sola de Vega. by Agave Road Trip
14 min listen
Be Still My Heart - S1E6: This is where we separate the alcohol from the water – we talk about distillation with mezcalero Jesus Franco. And traditional ceramics. And Oaxaca tour guides. And not a single poop joke. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
15 min listen
Coming Soon, from HRN: Agave Road Trip: Coming soon from 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. by Agave Road Trip
1 min listen
15 Days to Distill - S2E6: Many men and women in rural Mexico started learning to make agave spirits when they were 10 or 11 years old, from their parents. Then some learned in two weeks from a bunch of university students who randomly showed up in town. by Agave Road Trip
22 min listen
Oh, Wood You? - S1E7: To age or not to age, that is the question. And Lou and Chava attempt to answer it, along with mezcalero Mariano Vazquez. They also talk the proper mass of a tortilla and drink the proper mass of Michoacan mezcals. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
14 min listen
What is Agave? - S1E2: We give a nutshell explanation of how agave turns from sugar to alcohol and are joined on the occasion by maestro mezcalero Amando Alvarado Alvarez. We also talk about how growing agave helped a middle school in rural Oaxaca reduce violence in their community. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
15 min listen
Did Mezcal Save Fiestas, or Did Fiestas Save Mezcal?: The religious fiestas in rural Mexico are often colored by the heritage agave spirits made in the community — which makes for an especially fun night when those festivities also include fireworks and flaming toritos. In this episode of Agave Road Trip, we ponder the question: Did mezcal save the community fiestas, or did the community fiestas save mezcal? Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
20 min listen
What’s Heritage, Anyway? - S2E5: The traditional methods of making agave spirits in Yutanduchi de Guerrero, in Oaxaca’s Mixteca region, go back to … the late 1990s? So what does “heritage” mean, in this case? by Agave Road Trip
25 min listen
Get Roasted - S1E3: That agave won’t just start fermenting, you know. You’ve gotta make it delicious for yeast before yeast makes it delicious for you. We talk with mezcalera Catalina Navarro Sanchez about how that’s done, then talk about how mezcalero Eduardo Angeles saved Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca, from drought. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
14 min listen
Perlas Before Swine - S1E9: Dr. Roberto Zenit is a highly regarded professor at Brown University. Nonetheless, he speaks with us about his recently released study of las perlas, the process by which maestro mezcaleros use the bubbles in their agave spirits to measure the alcohol content and quality of the spirits. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
17 min listen
Fantastic Fermentation - S1E5: We give a nutshell explanation of how agave turns from sugar to alcohol and are joined on the occasion by mezcalero Amando Alvarado Alvarez. We also talk about how growing agave helped a middle school in rural Oaxaca reduce violence in their community. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
14 min listen
How to Drink Spirits Neat - S2E7: The margarita is almost certainly Mexico’s greatest ambassador. But how do you move from drinking cocktails to drinking neat spirits? We suggest one specific journey in this episode of Agave Road Trip. by Agave Road Trip
26 min listen
The Grind - S1E4: After you cook your agave, you’ve gotta mill it – make tiny, little pieces of those giant, cooked agaves. How do you do that? We explain it here and maestro mezcalero Eduardo Angeles joins. Then we talk about how to avoid explosive diarrhea while eating great street food in Mexico. And chocolate. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
14 min listen
Who Says It's Not Mezcal?: Mezcal can only be made from the heart of the agave. Or … wait? It can be made from the leaves? And sometimes that worm in the bottle isn’t just for tourists? What’s true in one community is not true universally, and the only absolute truths are the ones the Mexican government puts to paper … until they edit that document. Join us for the most confounding episode yet of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
23 min listen
No Tequila is Mezcal - S2E4: Maybe someone told you that all tequila is mezcal but not all mezcal is tequila. Hell, maybe you read it in the New York Times, USAToday, the Daily Mail, or the Chicago Tribune, or on VinePair, Thrillist, Chowhound, or Science 2.0. They’re all wrong. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
28 min listen
What's in My Tequila? - S2E1: Some tequila bottles say they're 100% blue agave. Others don't. So ... what exactly is in those bottles? Lou and Chava speak with David Suro of Siembra Azul Tequila about mixto tequilas: what they are and how they affect the tequila industry and the people whose lives are impacted by the industry. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
38 min listen
How to Drive in Mexico Without Getting Killed - S2E11: I tell a lot of stories about driving through Mexico — about the dried-up riverbeds that serve as roads to rural communities, about the car rental agencies that sometimes need to be threatened before they get you your car, about the expansive beauty of the Sierra Madres. But perhaps the strongest reactions I get are to tales of driving through blockades — roadblocks set up by protestors to intentionally create traffic problems as a way of making a political statement. That’s what we cover in this week’s episode of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
24 min listen
Mezcal Cocktails, Cocktail Mezcal: Some mezcal geeks use the term “cocktail mezcal” as an insult. But we know you love cocktails! So let’s talk about why those geeks are wrong and how to make a righteous mezcal that can be used in cocktails! This and more in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
23 min listen
Heads, Hearts, and Tails: Where You Cut Matters: Most people think that when you distill a spirit, what comes out of that still goes directly into the bottle. But, in fact, different distillers make different decisions about which parts of the distillation they keep and which parts they leave out — and those decisions have a profound effect on the finished flavor. That’s what we talk about in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
24 min listen
Gringo Guero - S2E3: Some folks are wondering what we mean when we say “gringo.” Here’s the deal…. by Agave Road Trip
24 min listen
Hasta Pronto! - S1E8: The season wrap includes Tecate I.V. drips, bartender super powers, and the value of time in rural Mexico. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
15 min listen
Modern Bar Cart take-over: Not an actual episode of Agave Road Trip, but a cleverly disguised episode of Modern Bar Cart, Eric Kozlik’s cocktail podcast for home bartenders and industry pros alike. Erik interviews Chava and Lou and proves that they actually can talk for more than 15 minutes. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
79 min listen
The Arnold Palmer of Pulque - S2E2: Before there was mezcal, there was pulque: the undistilled, fermented sap of the uncooked agave. If you’ve never had it, you’ll want to go find it after listening to Chava and Lou talk with master pulquero Jose Luis Dominguez Gonzalez. Or, at least, you’ll be amused by how he dismisses Lou’s choice of the Arnold Palmer of pulques. by Agave Road Trip
30 min listen
The Birth and Death of the CRM (NOM mini-series #4 of 3): Okay, to be fair, that title is 100% click-bait. Or, rather, it’s click-bait if you’re one of the agave geeks who even knows that the CRM is the body that certifies mezcal. Or, rather, that the CRM is *a* body that certifies mezcal – but *used* to be the sole body. And the end of the monopoly paired with the chaos over who controls the CRM … ? Well, that’s what the “death” part of the title refers to. Listen to this episode of Agave Road Trip if you want to join us in trying to sort out exactly what’s happening with this institution. by Agave Road Trip
28 min listen
Mercado Day in Mexico - S2E9: All of the fruits and spices and flowers and herbs and meats and magic of Mexico show up in the mercados -- the markets. So you should show up there, too! What should you look for? What can you bring back? And what exactly is a clown market? All this and more in this episode of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
25 min listen
Certified Tacos: Some restaurants in the USA are serving what they call tacos, but they’re skipping the certification process, so … should they be allowed to call their tacos “tacos”? Or should they have to call them “tortilla-wrapped meals”? And if they also serve uncertified salsa, does that double-negative result in a positive? We speak to the CRT (Consejo Regulador del Taco) to try to better understand the dangers of uncertified tacos in this delicious episode of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
23 min listen
Another Freaking Gringo Looking for Jabali…: For hundreds of years, mezcaleros believed that you could not use maguey jabali (agave convallis) to make spirits — it foams so much, both during fermentation and distillation, that it was thought unmanageable. But a couple decades ago, someone found a strategy to manage the foaming. Now gringos go crazy looking for the rare, wild destilado de jabali! In this episode of Agave Road Trip, we speak with maestro Felix Angeles about his jabali strategy. by Agave Road Trip
21 min listen
To Monte Alban Mezcal, with Love: Those school-boy days of drinking shots in parking lots are gone, but my affection for Monte Alban Mezcal will live on and on. In the mezcal-geek bubble that Chava and I travel in, you don’t hear a lot of love for the first mezcal most of us ever tried. But outside those circles? In the real world? Monte Alban is that best friend who can teach you right from wrong and take you from weak to strong. This golden-colored episode of Agave Road Trip is a love letter to Monte Alban — and it comes with a gusano in every download. Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
30 min listen
How Many Agaves Does it Take to Make a Bottle of Mezcal?: It’s crazy enough to think that every other alcohol is made from a sugar source — like grapes, grains, grasses, and starches — that take, at most, a year to reach maturity. Most, in fact, are harvested at less than six months old. But agave takes anywhere from three to forty years to reach harvest age. But it gets even crazier when you realize how many agaves are used to make a bottle of mezcal! Find out the answer in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
32 min listen
"Milpa" is Spanish for "Regenerative Viticulture": If you dip your toe into the world of wine, some buzz phrases you’ll see are “regenerative viticulture” and “regenerative agriculture.” But, really, when you get right down to it, isn’t that really just milpa? Join us for a conversation about farming practices in Mexico, and about how those farming practices impact agave spirits, in this episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com by Agave Road Trip
18 min listen

More Episodes from Agave Road Trip

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What Is the Connection Between Mezcal, Mexican Food, and Museums?: The first time I saw tascalate on a menu it was at Itanoni in Oaxaca. I immediately fell in love with the traditional drink. But finding a second cup – particularly at home in Chicago – was a lost cause. But now, years later, Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu has written an article about how tascalte has made its way onto bar menus. And that’s a reflection of a broader trend. It’s an everything-old-is-celebrated-again 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 Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu. by Agave Road Trip
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Maybe That 12-Year-Old Agave Is Only Five Years Old…: I was having a conversation with Grace Gonzalez of Tequila El Mayor and she said something that brought into focus a thought that’s been bumping around in my head: We talk a lot about the ages of the agaves that are used to make Mezcal and Tequila. But there’s really no mechanism to verify that. And, in fact, since different agaves reach maturity at different points – even when they are the same species growing in the same territory – a statement like “we only harvest eight-year-old agave” simply can’t be accurate. So how should we be talking about the age of agave? It’s an episode for the ages on 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, with supporting insights from Grace Gonzalez of Tequila El Mayor. by Agave Road Trip
27 min listen
Mezcal Moto-Rally!: Four wheels good! Two wheels more good? For the last few years, Nick Barreiro has organized a moto-rally for small group of motorcycle-and-Mexico enthusiasts. And while motorcycles aren’t my speed, I know they work for plenty of gringx bartenders, and I love this whole different way to take in the stories of rural Mexico. Learn about Nick’s international motor rally in this bitchin’ hog of an 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 Nick Barreiro of Mezcal Moto Rally. by Agave Road Trip
46 min listen
What Can Cultivated Meat Teach Us About Mezcal?: In his New York Times op-ed about the imploding dream of cultivated meat, Joe Fassler writes, “[It] was an embodiment of the wish that we can change everything without changing anything. We wouldn’t need to rethink our relationship to Big Macs and bacon. We could go on believing that the world would always be the way we’ve known it.” And while I can’t see a direct corollary to Mezcal and Tequila, the way the word “sustainable” is thrown around over an afternoon of neat pours, it suggests to me that we think we’re saving the world one copita at a time. So … are we? It’s a plant-to-the-slaughter 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 Evelyn Cotton Botello of Mezcal Amaras. by Agave Road Trip
28 min listen
Are the Best Bottles of the Year the Best Bets for Your Bar?: Vinepair, Wine Enthusiast, Esquire … seems like every publication these days has their suggestions for what you should have been drinking over the past year. Maybe what you should be purchasing as holiday gifts. But these lists can also serve as sales tools for gringx bartenders! It’s a DIY 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. by Agave Road Trip
24 min listen
This Bottle Protects Jaguars: We’ve done a lot of episodes about the importance of biodiversity, but usually we’re talking about plants. Sometimes insects. Bats, on occasion. So when we got an email from the gang at Alma de Jaguar Tequila about preserving this apex predator, I thought, yeah, let’s really sink our teeth into this subject! It’s a wild cat 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 Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo. by Agave Road Trip
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Are Agave Straws Really Better Than Plastic?: A trend that’s emerged in the past decade are these drinking straws that are being promoted as made from agave fibers — the agave fibers being a byproduct of the process for making Tequila and Mezcal. The straws are marketed as biodegradable. But I think — emphasis on “think” — that these straws are at least in part made from plastics and are not actually entirely biodegradable. At least not in the way that they are presented. So I invited Natasha Tucker, the executive director of Mind Your Plastic, to have that conversation. Are agave straws really better for the earth than plastic straws? At the risk of giving away the answer, it’s another heartbreaking 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 guest cohost Natasha Tucker of Mind Your Plastic. by Agave Road Trip
22 min listen
How to Pair Mezcal With Food: I’m seeing a lot more restaurants expanding their Mezcal selections, and a lot more events pairing Mezcal with food. So what do you eat when you drink Mezcal? I asked a bunch of industry folks that question over the last several months, then coerced food, science, and nature journalist Rowan Jacobsen to dig through those quotes with me to add his own thoughts. It’s a smorgasbord 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 guest cohost Rowan Jacobsen and insights and thoughts from Lanie Bayless of Topolobampo, Francisco Tapia of Tacovision, Grace Gonzalez of Tequila El Mayor, Mariana Alvarado-Garcia of Masazul, Kate Owca and Adrian Villarreal of Tahona, and mezcaleros Jorge Torres and Eduardo Angeles! by Agave Road Trip
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The Beautiful Inconsistencies of Coffee and Mezcal: It's impossible with coffee beans to get consistency in flavors and aromas from one harvest to the next. Add in the processing of those beans into that morning drug that starts most of our days and … still more barriers to consistency. Which reminds me so much of the things that I love about agave spirits. It’s yet another inconsistent episode of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
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How to Welcome the Mezcal Curious: With all the press, all the talk, all the social-media posts, there are always people looking to find out what this Mezcal thing is all about. So what’s the best way to introduce them to these spirits? It’s a welcome-to-the-newbies episode of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
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The Church of Our Lady of Tequila: A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive, on Mayahuel, nicotine, and the temptations of maguey. I’ve heard that all sorts of things in the world of agave spirits are sacred and should be treated with respect. But that begs the question, what does it mean to respect something? Or, more importantly, what constitutes disrespect? We bat that concept around in this unholy episode of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
21 min listen
Mexican Hand Gestures in a Mezcaleria: I’m accustomed to people making hand gestures at me, whether in the USA or Mexico. And I’m generally able to understand those gestures in my home country. But just as I don’t understand the spoken language in Mexico, I’m a bit lost on these gestures, too. Luckily, on this specific Agave Road Trip, I have a couple of interpreters to help. Hands are flying in this episode of Agave Road Trip! by Agave Road Trip
13 min listen

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15 Days to Distill - S2E6

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