There are so many things that we just do. We don't know where did they start or why do we do them . Pure social inertia. 

Sharing drinks at a bar, at least for me, is one of those things.  Many people in other places socialize or party differently. But in the West, cheering over cocktails,  beers, or mezcalitos, if you are lucky, is the norm.

In this conversation with Kraig Rovensky we explore the many ways in which the spirits industry, and the places where we party and socialize, are changing. And we speculate on how they may look once we recognize that drinking ethanol is not the only way to play with our moods and vibes.

In this episode with Fabiola Santiago, President and Executive Director at Mi Oaxaca (an NGO which aims to “preserve Oaxaca’s indigenous food and beverage cultures through narrative change, education and collaboration with compatible organizations across borders”) we talk about so many things that I believe are critical for the future of mezcal. Things like how terrenos comunales work, the impact of mezcal in Santiago Matatlán, how, in a perfect world, should mezcal be presented to consumers and the many ways in which this spirit is more than a commodity.

If you want to learn more about Fabiola’s work you can find her on Instagram  as @mi.oaxaca or on the internet as mioaxaca.org. 

It  is undeniable that mezcal has become a poster child in the alcohol world. A spirit that in a way brings us hope, because it is a reflection of many biocultural legacies. , Those  beautiful relationships that are slowly formed between humans and their environments if both sides decide to respect and enhance each other. Yet, as pretty as all of this sounds, sharing mezcal is an incredible challenge. Even more so if you want to convince people to drink it slowly and patiently. Please welcome Sofía Barrera from Salón de Agave, and her very  wise mantra: A besitos es mejor. 

If you feel like exploring a vast number of agave and dasylirion spirits do consider booking a tasting in Salon de Agave. You’ll surely have a blast nerding with Sofía and Megs. And to fill that belly after copious amounts of spirits there are some chicken soups really close called Ricos Caldos de Gallina Don Luis, that will get you back in shape to keep on partying. 

Feliz Navidad y nos vamos al rato. 

Methanol is one of the scariest things I can possibly imagine. We’ve all read stories about people getting intoxicated. Losing their sight and sometimes even their lives. And with all of that as a backdrop I’ve always wondered: why is it that after sampling hundreds of agave and dasylirion spirits that have never been tested, have I never had any problems with this? 

That answer belongs to a longer, more convoluted discussion, but for now, let’s start exploring methanol from a medical standpoint, which involves the vast wisdom of Mr. Ryan Aycock.

Let’s dive in!

Spirits are quite a weird thing. They are everywhere; you engage with them constantly at bars, concerts and restaurants and yet, it is rather difficult to share your thoughts and ideas about them. People get shy and weird when you try to dissect the origin, flavors or implications of a spirit.

- Why can’t you just shut up and have fun! - 

I’ve been shouted at many, many times. 

That is why I find tremendous joy in the little but great community of mezcal and sotol enthusiasts that I’ve encountered in Mexico City. It is a tiny one, but with these gentle souls I get to talk about cities that most people have never visited and I get to refresh my memory and re-spark my curiosity about things that I missed when I visited this or that producer. 

In this conversation with Megs Miller, mastermind behind Salon de Agave in Mexico City, we try to go through all our memories connected to Chihuahua and beautiful spirits we found there. 

I hope you enjoy this one!

In this episode on Heritage Mezcal, I had the opportunity to have a delightful conversation with Eric Zandona. He is an incredibly booze-informed gentleman, and the organizer of the ADI’S International Spirits Competition, which, if you were to ask me, offers a great chance for brands of all sizes to break into the US market. Especially if you have something that may shock the nerds. They are not sponsoring this episode, but after being invited a few times as a judge, I can say that I’ve never met a group of people that cared about and loved spirits with such passion. 

That being said, this episode covers a lot of ground, but was originally inspired by a petition published in Change Org by Pepe Tequilas titled: “Highlighting the Importance of Protecting Agave’s Biocultural Heritage”. 

I prefer not to throw any major spoilers in this introduction, but let's just say that both Eric and I would love for agave spirits' beauty to prevail for at least another thousand years. 

Agaves and humans have always had an intimate relationship  but, believe it or not,  a significant part of if has nothing to do with booze. As we've discussed before in this podcast agaves provided to our ancestors with many charms; from clothing to nourishment. But given the fact that many of these relationships have disappeared, this wider understanding of agave is quite hard to imagine. That is why Marcela Sandoval has been researching how and why and with which consequences did humans domesticated agave. While most of us keep on speculating how agave fields looked a few decades ago,  she gets to inspect traces that go back thousands of years.  Please welcome Marcela and the incredible agave-stories that  she has to share. 

Pox, the quintessential Chiapas spirit, is probably the most mysterious Mexican drink that I've encountered in my life. It was a big part of my early 20's, but I never truly understood its technicalities or cultural relevance. Happily, thanks to Javier Oroz, who I just interviewed a few weeks ago (go check the Bacanora episode), I got to meet Zury Guindi.

Zury started bottling bottling Pox back in 2011 under the umbrella of "Siglo Cero". When even mezcal was just starting to happen, he decided to dedicate his life to corn, panela and wheat instead of worshipping agave. In this episode we try to cover as much as we can about this fascinating and delicious drink. Hope you enjoy it!

This episode was recorded at Som, Zury's bar in Mexico City. Nested in the heart of Condesa I can't emphasize enough how fun is to go through all their menu. You'll get to try Pox, rum, raicilla, mezcal, tequila and many other bizarre and lovely Mexican spirits. 

This is the beginning of a series where both Roy and Chava go around the many venues that hold agave collections that they think are pretty and tasty. Some may be the usual suspects but others may be hiding in plain view, just like Tahona Mezcal Room. Join Chava and Julie Mann Wharton in a conversation that includes tips on how to party when in Brazil, the different types of cachacas you should look for and how this tasting room came to be. Saludcita!

Vinasse, which are maybe the most offensive byproducts when making mezcal or tequila, can be neutralized in a number of ways. Scientists are always trying to offer more efficient and cost effective options to neutralize this nasty stuff, and one of  those experiments was brought to our attention by our brilliant medical correspondent, Ryan Aycock (aka Cocktail MD).  

The technical specifics of how Titanium Dioxide nanoparticles can neutralize vinasse is not really the main focus of this episode, but we decided to delve into what would happen if this approach were to be adopted by the industry at large. What would all that Titanium Dioxide could possibly mean to the health of those applying it to the vinasse or those in the vicinity of the distilleries?  It all may sound very sci-fi and complicated, but this conversation tries to show that every decision has repercussions that may not be incredibly evident right away and that fighting one type of pollution may create other challenges.  

Finally, this is the full citation of the article mentioned in the episode:

Alicia Rodriguez Arreola, Marciano Sanchez Tizapa, Florentina Zurita, Juan Pablo Morán-Lázaro, Rocío Castañeda Valderrama, José Luis Rodríguez-López & Alejandra Carreon-Alvarez (2018) Treatment of tequila vinasse and elimination of phenol by coagulation–flocculation process coupled with heterogeneous photocatalysis using titanium dioxide nanoparticles, Environmental Technology.