All Tequila used to be Mezcal, but now Mezcal is becoming Tequila
Over the last few months there have been a flurry of stories in the news that basically boil down to “celebrities are destroying Mexico by starting tequila brands” and “gringos are destroying Mexico by drinking too much mezcal.” So Chava and I dig into those stories, argue about their relative veracity, and point out all the inaccuracies! It’s an “On the Media” episode of Agave Road Trip!
This episode is brought to you by Bowl of Zole, the festival of pozole and mezcal. Bowl of Zole will take place on Saturday, October 23rd, in Brooklyn. There will be ten pozoles by ten chefs and more than fifty agave spirits, so you’ll definitely want to coat your stomach with all those pozoles. And Chava and I will be there pouring samples of the new Cafe Mezcalero, a coffee conditioned with Cruz De Fuego Mezcal by our friends at Dark Matter Coffee! And we’ll also be running around doing live Instagram and Facebook interviews from the event, so if you can’t make it, hey, join us that day on social media!
This episode is also brought to you by Seminario 12, a space for memory and heritage located in the heart of the historic CDMX. If you’re looking for fine ceramics, tiles, and agave spirits, head to Mexico City’s zocalo — and you’ll maybe find Chava Periban there, leading a tasting! Contact them to schedule your tasting with Chava!
Agave Road Trip is a podcast that helps gringo bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. It’s hosted by Lou Bank and Chava Periban.
Episode notes
The stories that set me off for this episode are “Mezcal: From Farms To Bars,” from “Latino USA”; “Kendall Jenner, Michael Jordan, the Rock: How American celebrities are changing Mexico's tequila industry,” from the Los Angeles Times, and “The Big Tequila Problem,” from Elle. And here’s the graph that proves the reporters at the LA Times don’t understand math:
That graph was put together on the CRT website. Go make your own graph!
