Heritage Mezcal

El aguacate para los mexicanos es salud, lujo y alegría. Practicamente todas las gastronomias del páis lo incluyen, ya sea embarrado, partido, en salsa, y yo lo he visto hasta en licuado. Pero pese a su popularidad, rara vez encuentro algún libro o docuento que explore a detalle esta fruta que nos ha acompañado por miles de años. Por eso hace unos meses decidí viajar a Uruapan, Michoacán, para entrevistar al ingeniero Antonio Oseguera, un experto que lleva tanto tiempo trabajando con aguacate, que algunos de sus colegas aseguran que más que ingeniero se podría decir que es un médico de huertas. Bienvenidos y espero disfruten este episodio.

Quizás sea un vicio de los malos, pero siempre me han encantado los productos que son casi invisibles. Por suerte algunos de ellos ahora empiezan a concentrar fama y atención, como el mezcal, pero otros siguen ninguneados. A mi parecer ese es el caso del cacao mexicano, si bien todos hemos comido y disfrutado de algún tipo de chocolate, conozco a muy poca gente que me pueda hablar de regiones, variedades o productores específicos. En esta conversación con Karina Archundia, reina indiscutible del cacao en la gran ciudad de México, hablamos de pinole, chocolate, policultivos y varias otras cosas bellas.

Bienvenidos a Heritage Mezcal en Español. En este episodio con Alan Schubert y Enrique Cesard nos acercamos a la muy improbable historia de los vinos del Norte, específicamente a la de aquellos producidos en Nuevo León. Si no ha tenido el gusto de probarlo, recomiendo ampliamente pedirse una botella de Pecho Tierra, y si ya lo probaron, pues aquí está la historia completa del como, donde y porqué.

Coahuila is the third-largest state in all of Mexico. But in many ways, it is a discrete, unknown territory. I personally know very few people who have traveled to Saltillo or who have roamed around the state. Happily, a few months ago, I had the chance to visit Casa Sotol, a project led by Fernanda Arrillaga, which is crafting some of the most exciting juice I've tried in a long time. I won't explain much more, but needless to say, start planning a trip to Coahuila to enjoy some very pretty sotol.

In this conversation with my dear friend Fabio Raya, we explore many of the ideas we were exposed to at the "VI Simposio Internacional de Agave". This episode includes everything from using agave as livestock silage to developing a comprehensive strategy for using 2 million hectares of Mexican arid land—a full labyrinth. Big shout-out to Fernanda Arrillaga, from Casa Sotol, for hosting us and letting us record at her beautiful house in Saltillo. And huge thanks to Alan and the whole team at Pechotierra for taking us to Jorge Luis Torres Casas vinata to get a proper education on Nuevo León spirits and for allowing us to catch the lovely picture featured in this episode. Cheers y feliz día de muertos y todos santos.

Este es el primer episodio que se graba en español y estoy tremendamente orgulloso de eso. Para esta nueva realidad paralela bilingüe del podcast, quise empezar con un episodio que resolvió muchas de las dudas que llevaba cargando desde hace tiempo. El sotol, o los sotoles, o los dasylirion, para ser más específico, son algo que me emociona y me intimida. No solamente los sabores me son difíciles de descifrar, sino todo lo que los rodea. Desde su identidad genética hasta las muchas maneras de procesarlo. Por suerte tuve la oportunidad de entrevistar a Samuel Ruíz, director de operaciones en Casa Endémica y probablemente una de las personas que mejor entiende a esta planta que se llama sotol en el norte pero que se toma como cucharilla en el sur. Este episodio fue grabado en las instalaciones de Casa Endémica en Zapopán, Jalisco. La música, la ingeniería de audio, y los videos que ahora pueden encontrar en Youtube, están a cargo de Roy Sierra. Tomen sotol y bailen pegadito. Bonito fin de semana.

Aging agave spirits (with the exception of tequila) is still a taboo, something you talk about using your softest voice not to gain some pretty vocal enemies. Yet, the influence of barrels (and clay vessels) has been critical to the evolution of spirits, wine, and beer for at least a few thousand years. While there are very sophisticated studies dedicated to better understanding this piece of technology, its basis has remained mostly unchanged. In this conversation with Cal Larson we explore the potential of soluble oak and how this approach may get us closer to more sustainable booze.

The agave spirits multiverse is as exciting as ever. The conversation has been expanding year after year, bringing to light new regions, agaves and production techniques. But, at least personally, certain places have been more prolific than others. As I've stated in previous episodes, I have an ongoing romance with Salmiana, and I've been exploring the Bajío region with passion for the last few years. The Casa Agave project checks all of these boxes and more. They plant and harvest their agaves using regenerative techniques to supercharge the Cañada de la Virgen bioreserve; bottle a one-punch-knock-out spirit called Atzin made in conjunction by two of my favorite Mexican distillers (Germán Gonzalez and Daniel Navarro); and released Mata de Monte, a 29 ABV "vino de mezcal", that has become my favorite party trick. I could go on and on, but I rather let this conversation with Sophia Trapp, Casa Agave's CEO, be the one to tell you the full story. Hope you enjoy it! #casagave #agavespirits #tequila #mezcal #guanajuato

Chihuahua is not only Mexico's largest state but also full of neverending stories. The first episode I ever recorded about this state was more of an ode: two people who had recently found Chihuahua and had become hardcore fans overnight. But, after that, I wanted to record with someone that had deep roots and a fine-tuned expertise in the territory. This conversation with Alessandra Camino has become my new excuse to delve further into sotol and the many Chihuahuan delights I have yet to experience. I hope you enjoy it!

More and more I've been thinking that we could summarize agave as the lovely culmination of three main variables: agave, yeast and water. In this podcast I believe we've explored in great depth agave and yeast, but we had only superficially touched on water. There are plenty of themes to explore within this realm, but given the times we live in, I thought that exploring reasonable ways of using this vital resource was a good place to start. Mezcal, some would say, is not a basic necessity. So, is it ethical to dedicate precious water to mezcal when that same liquid could be used to grow food or mitigate fires? Is there a way to build a distillery that nourishes its surroundings instead of damaging the environment? We don't claim to have all the answers, but we do have some ideas. Please welcome Miguel Albarrán, from Cara a Cara Mezcal, and his simple yet powerful insights about water.

In this episode with Fabiola Santiago, President and Executive Director at Mi Oaxaca (an NGO which aims to “preserve Oaxaca’s indigenous food and beverage cultures through narrative change, education and collaboration with compatible organizations across borders”) we talk about so many things that I believe are critical for the future of mezcal. Things like how terrenos comunales work, the impact of mezcal in Santiago Matatlán, how, in a perfect world, should mezcal be presented to consumers and the many ways in which this spirit is more than a commodity. If you want to learn more about Fabiola’s work you can find her on Instagram as @mi.oaxaca or on the internet as mioaxaca.org.

Methanol is one of the scariest things I can possibly imagine. We’ve all read stories about people getting intoxicated. Losing their sight and sometimes even their lives. And with all of that as a backdrop I’ve always wondered: why is it that after sampling hundreds of agave and dasylirion spirits that have never been tested, have I never had any problems with this? That answer belongs to a longer, more convoluted discussion, but for now, let’s start exploring methanol from a medical standpoint, which involves the vast wisdom of Mr. Ryan Aycock. Let’s dive in!

In this episode on Heritage Mezcal, I had the opportunity to have a delightful conversation with Eric Zandona. He is an incredibly booze-informed gentleman, and the organizer of the ADI’S International Spirits Competition, which, if you were to ask me, offers a great chance for brands of all sizes to break into the US market. Especially if you have something that may shock the nerds. They are not sponsoring this episode, but after being invited a few times as a judge, I can say that I’ve never met a group of people that cared about and loved spirits with such passion. That being said, this episode covers a lot of ground, but was originally inspired by a petition published in Change Org by Pepe Tequilas titled: “Highlighting the Importance of Protecting Agave’s Biocultural Heritage”. I prefer not to throw any major spoilers in this introduction, but let's just say that both Eric and I would love for agave spirits' beauty to prevail for at least another thousand years.