Agave Road Trip

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 about the beautiful mystery of Mezcal 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 Sullivanof seynasecreto.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 what makes our world so special!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 Schultz of Tech Tip Tuesday.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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. Spoiler alert: I think AI is a far greater danger than is traveling to Mexico.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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Linda Sullivan of seynasecreto with wisdom from Devin Adams of Mezcal Mala Mia, Dalton Kreiss of Maguey Melate, and Anonymous Contract Brand Owner.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 the marketplace for Mezcal?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 John Douglass of Pretty Decent, an award-winning Mezcal-focused cocktail bar and a boutique plant shop in Louisville, Kentucky.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Roadtripper Daniel Moen checked in to ask, Why does water matter in Tequila and Mezcal? I immediately went to my old trope: About half the bottle or more is water. But then he followed up with, The water you're consuming when you drink Mezcal, that fifty percent is actually distilled water. And distilled water, by definition, is neutral. So … why does it matter? Or does it not? We wade into the issue 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 with wisdom from Daniel Mohn, Eduardo Angeles of Lalocura, and Ari Marks and Michael Schallau of is/was Brewing.Episode NotesThanks to Miguel Dimayuga Meneses for the cover photo of El Choforo working on the well project in Atempa, Guerrero — a project funded by SACRED Agave through a grant from 818 Tequila.Shout outs this episode to Fiji water, Felipe Camarena of G4 Tequila, and the bio-digester project of Serafin Morales Cruz of Mezcal Alarii!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 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 of The Tequiladies and Tequila That Cares.Episode NotesMarissa is also a board member of Tequila That Cares, a philanthropic organization bringing positive change to the agave spirits industry!Read the full story in Shanken News Daily (which requires a subscription) and subscribe to VinePair’s VP Pro newsletter (which is free).Shout outs this episode to Shawn Miller, Don Julio Tequila, Tito’s Vodka, White Claw, Jose Cuervo Tequila, that UFC Cuervo ad, Tequila Patron, those Patron additive-free ads, Chava Rosales of Cascahuin, and tattoos!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 restrictions and the diets of Mexico. 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 of The Tequiladies and Tequila That Cares.Episode NotesMarissa is also a board member of Tequila That Cares, a philanthropic organization bringing positive change to the agave spirits industry!Shout outs this episode to mezcalero Ildefonso Macedas Ginez, mezcal con gusano, Tide pods, Chava Periban, Chava Rosales of Tequila Cascahuin, and Ronnie Kaplan!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Zach Jarosz of CH Distillery, makers of Jeppson’s Malort.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 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 NotesYou can find Shawn’s article that inspired this episode here: “I know everything about how to make Tequila but I don’t know how to make Tequila.”Shout outs to Sergio Garnier and Mezcal Ultramundo, Lalo Angeles of Lalocura, and the Additive-Free Alliance!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest evolutionary biologist Daniel Moen with wisdom from Benjamin Scott of Mal Bien.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest John Douglass of Pretty Decent, an award-winning Mezcal-focused cocktail bar and a boutique plant shop in Louisville, Kentucky, with wisdom from Rachel Bailey Palumbo of Chancho, a just-shuttered agaveria in Edinburgh, Scotland, and sister to the award-winning Hey Palu.Episode NotesShout outs this episode to Jim Beam, Old Forester, Copper & Kings, Alberto Martinez Lopez, Cinco Sentidos, Buffalo Trace, Michael Rubel, The Pinnacle Guide, Malort, and Fortaleza!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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? For whom did he make his first cocktail? All that and more!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 Chuck Cowdery!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank and Bruce Costa of the Granite Forest Dojo!Episode NotesShout outs this episode to Dark Matter’s Sleep Walk Chocolate, Lifetime Wells International, “The Last Tourist,” Hampden Estate Rum, and Appleton Estate Rum!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 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 and Greg Rutkowski of Finca 18 with wisdom from Isaac Arellanes Santos, an agricultural consultant, and interstitial fun from Agave Road Trip Poet Laureate and Official Troubadour Larry Beckett!Episode NotesShout outs this episode to the the 818 Tequila-funded water-security project in Chacala, Jalisco, Emilio Sengar, Eduardo Aguilar from Telesecundaria El Manantial, and Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo!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. And that art was colored by my friend and former Marvel Comics colleague Gregory Wright! When I moved as a 21-year-old kid to New York to take the job with Marvel, Greg was one of the first to welcome me, introducing me to the fabled pastrami-on-rye at the dearly departed Carnegie Deli! Long-suffering friends are the best friends!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 hospitality has an inhospitable name?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 and Dr. Steven Alvarez of St. John’s University.Episode NotesShout outs this episode to Ismael Gomez, The Great Gatsby, sound engineer Roy Sierra, the Instagram page of Whitexicans, Steven’s course Taco Literacy, and the neighboring restaurant The Queensboro!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 before the year ends.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 Dre from Clavel, Chava Rosales at Tequila Cascahuin, Michael Rubel, Leavitt Street Tavern, Women in Spirits, Misty Kalkofen, Del Maguey, Ron Cooper, David Suro, Greg Rutkowski at Finca 18, the raicillero community of Chacala, Jalisco, Paolo Rodriguez, Kendall Jenner, 818 Tequila, Roy Sierra, Mezonte, Ben & Frank glasses, Expendio el Sacualillo, Serafin Morales, Mezcal Alarii, Temo Garcia, DC Chocolate Festival, the Heirloom Cacao Preservation fund.If you’re looking to give thanks, please consider contributing to the Heirloom Cacao Preservation fund or help SACRED underwrite the installation of a bio-digester in San Dionisio Ocotepec!The picture in this episode’s cover is from the inauguration of the well and cistern in Chacala. Included in the photo are Emilio Sengar, Atanasio Guzman, Omar Alejandro Rodriguez Cruz, Greg Rutkowski, Leti Bañuelos, and Adrian Rodriguez Joya, among many others!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the past decade, housing prices in Mexico City have climbed 148%, fueled largely by digital nomads and a tourism boom. More than 26,000 AirBnB units have taken over what would have been apartments for people for whom Mexico City is home. This past summer, that led to protests in the streets: “shattered glass, broken doors and furious graffiti,” according to a story in The Guardian. In our enthusiasm to visit a place, are we displacing the foundation of what makes that place so desirable? The people who live there? Should we not visit?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 Roy Sierra of Agave Road Trip with insights from Olga Camargo of SheNix.Episode NotesCheck out the other podcast Roy engineers, Heritage Mezcal! And Olga’s app, SheNix!The sweet art in this week’s cover includes Manifestación by José Clemente Orozco!Shout outs this episode to Hotel Stanza in CDMX and Agave Spirits Presents, the best way to get amazing, traditionally made agave spirits from families in rural Mexico, even when you find yourself at an all-inclusive resort! And when you’re looking to stay in a hotel in Mexico City, consider all of these wonderful options from Marriott!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you’re a business owner who makes their living serving food or drinks that are rooted in Mexican traditions, or a brand owner who is selling spirits made in Mexico or, perhaps, made somewhere else but rooted in Mexican tradition, what are your obligations — if any — to the people who come from Mexico?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 Lyanne Alfaro of Moneda Moves with insights from Arturo Lamas of Lost Lore Tequila and Primo Hermano Mezcal.Episode notesCheck out Lyanne’s podcast, Moneda Moves!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

First I heard from Sergio Garnier that the wild lamparillos on his 24,000-acre ranch in Durango skipped a season. Didn’t shoot quiotes. Didn’t go to flower. Then I heard the same about the agaves in Guerrero from Damian Meneses from El Tigre. And Damian and I were in Jalisco together and he told me that the raicilleros were saying the same thing: none or almost none of the agaves are going to seed. So … what’s 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 Sergio Garnier of Mezcal Ultramundo.Episode NotesCheck out Mezcal Ultramundo!Shout out this episode to El Tigre!“Do Trees Talk to Each Other?,” Smithsonian Magazine, March 2018“Trees Talk To Each Other. 'Mother Tree' Ecologist Hears Lessons For People, Too,” “Fresh Air,” May 2024“Underground Networking: The Amazing Connections Beneath Your Feet,” National Forest FoundationSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.