I used to regularly come back from Mexico with a lot of alcohol — a lot. But in the last few years, it’s become significantly harder to get bottles back. And I think I know why. It’s a smuggler’s-blues 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. Lou Bank hosts this episode alongside Khrys Maxwell plus a surprise last-minute guest! (It’s Ben Schroder from Pensador Mezcal.)

Looking for Ancestral Agave Syrup? Click here for the sweet life!

Episode Notes

To listen to the episode where Chava and I outline how we used to bring spirits back from Mexico, click here.

To better understand why it’s become more difficult to bring spirits over the border, read these stories:

“Fast, cheap and deadly: How fentanyl replaced heroin and hooked America,” Reuters, August 16, 2023

“Thousands of tequila bottles containing liquid meth seized,” CNN, April 25, 2023

“Mexican marines seize 7,200 bottles of liquid meth in mezcal bottles bound for Australia,” ABC News, July 26, 2023

“Who is sneaking fentanyl across the southern border? Hint: it's not the migrants,” NPR, August 9, 2023