Spirits vs beer vs wine: Last alcohol standing
There’s a graph in the latest report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the US that shows that for the first time in recent history, we’re drinking more spirits than we are either beer or wine. What does this mean, exactly? Or does it mean anything? And why is it that everyone I know will drink wine but wine is, and always has been, the runt of this litter?
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 Marissa Paragano of The Tequiladies with numeric wisdom provided by DISCUS.
Making sense of the Filipino still
When people talk about stills in Mexico, you hear “Filipino” and “alambique” a lot … “Mongolian” a little. And it’s been suggested that the Filipino still was the first to arrive the Americas’ What makes it Filipino? How did it get here? And what’s it got to do with coconuts? Food writer Nic Stevens joins me this week to talk about that plus vino de coco, vino de cana, and the origins of distillation in the Americas!
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 NC Stevens!
Making (non)sense of 2025 spirits sales
For the first time in a decade, we’re paying less per liter for Tequila/Mezcal, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US. The most expensive cordials are growing in sales faster than anything. We’re not drinking less, we’re drinking differently. And those are just three of the insights we gain from the latest DISCUS annual report! If numbers are your thing, this is your 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 special guest Marissa Paragano of The Tequiladies with numeric wisdom provided by DISCUS.
You pay more for Tequila
A few years ago, the story all over the news was that Tequila outsold whiskey and was on pace to outsell vodka. But that was just journalists misreading the annual reports of DISCUS, the Distilled Spirits Council of the US. Now DISCUS has released final numbers for 2024, so I take my own shot at misreading the latest numbers! My big takeaway? Ounce-for-ounce, you pay more for Tequila than any other alcohol. But what does that mean, in the broader context? It’s another by-the-numbers 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 special guest Marissa Paragano of The Tequiladies with numeric wisdom provided by DISCUS.
The problem with the InsideHook article about 2023 Tequila sales
A couple weeks ago, I threw the Washington Post under the bus for failing to recognize that food journalism is — or should be — journalism. This week I throw myself under the bus for an article I wrote for InsideHook. Not because it fails as journalism — I’ll let someone else make that claim. But because I think it misses the most relevant point about the story of Tequila sales in the USA in 2023. And I attempt to rectify that here, in this mea culpa 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 special guest Arturo Lamas of Lost Lore Tequila.
Mezcal sales in 2022 were … terrific? Daunting? What, exactly?
The Distilled Spirits Council of the US released their 2022 report detailing who sold what, how that changed from the previous year, and suggesting where the market is going. Such great information! So Chava and I went through the report separately and each identified three facts in the report. In this episode of Agave Road Trip, we bicker over what those facts mean, what they don’t mean, and where we really think everything is headed
You Think Tequila is Better if you Pay More for It
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States released their 2020/2021 report and … good lord, you people are drinking a lot. But the real news here is, you’re also paying a lot more for what you drink. So does that mean you’re getting better tequila? Or just more expensive tequila? We dissect the numbers in this episode of Agave Road Trip!