Gonzalo Alvarez is pursuing his master’s degree in pulque. Ivan Saldana has his doctorate in agave. Both tell me that farmed agave produces better pulque than wild agave. But on trips through Nuevo Leon, Cohuila, and Hidalgo, three pulque producers said the exact opposite. So … what’s the truth? They call me the Seeker, and I search low and high 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 insights from Aaron Campos of Dark Matter Coffee, fermentation revivalist and New York Times best-selling author Sandor Katz, and Michael Schallau of is/was brewing.

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Episode Notes

The book I reference that supports Gonzalo and Ivan is Memoria Sobre el Maguey Mexicano y Sus Diversos Productos, by Manuel Payno, published in 1864 by Imprenta de A. Boix. I found it on Google Books, which is an amazing source for just about all printed material. I’ve found it absolutely invaluable in my research. Thanks, Google Books!