Agave Road Trip

Heritage Radio Network
  • 4.5 (42)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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

  1. Mezcal in whisk(e)y country

    6D AGO

    Mezcal in whisk(e)y country

    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 Notes Shout 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.

    34 min
  2. The secret origin of Chuck Cowdery

    12/25/2025

    The secret origin of Chuck Cowdery

    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.

    31 min
  3. The problem with the Cadbury dark chocolate ad

    12/18/2025

    The problem with the Cadbury dark chocolate ad

    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 Notes Shout 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.

    41 min
  4. Attack of the 50-foot picudo!

    12/11/2025

    Attack of the 50-foot picudo!

    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 Notes Shout 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.

    37 min
  5. Does Whitexicans have para llevar?

    12/04/2025

    Does Whitexicans have para llevar?

    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 Notes Shout 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.

    24 min
  6. Giving Thanks

    11/27/2025

    Giving Thanks

    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 Notes Shout 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.

    42 min
  7. To AirBnB is human...

    11/20/2025

    To AirBnB is human...

    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 Notes Check 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.

    21 min
  8. If you’re selling Mexican food, what do you owe Mexicans?

    11/13/2025

    If you’re selling Mexican food, what do you owe Mexicans?

    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 notes Check 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.

    25 min
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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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