Latest Raicilla Podcast Episodes
A Game of Chicken With the Mexican Police
Agave Road Trip - December 07, 2023 07:00 - 20 minutesMaybe you were speeding. Maybe you weren’t. Either way, the Mexican police have pulled you over. Question now is, what are you gonna do, punk? Do you feel lucky? It’s a dirty, hairy episode of Agave Road Trip! Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx b...
How Not to Bring Mezcal Back From Mexico
Agave Road Trip - November 30, 2023 07:00 - 27 minutesI 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! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heri...
Giving Tuesday
Agave Road Trip - November 23, 2023 07:00 - 31 minutesOn this Day of Thanks, I ponder why Giving Tuesday isn’t Giving Thursday — why we aren’t giving thanks on Thanksgiving. It’s a thankless episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links at agaveroadtrip.com Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network...
The Beautiful Inconsistencies of Coffee and Mezcal
Agave Road Trip - November 16, 2023 07:00 - 25 minutesIt's impossible with coffee beans to get consistency in flavors and aromas from one harvest to the next. Add in the processing of those beans into that morning drug that starts most of our days and … still more barriers to consistency. Which reminds me so much of the things that I love about aga...
How to Welcome the Mezcal Curious
Agave Road Trip - November 09, 2023 07:00 - 22 minutesWith all the press, all the talk, all the social-media posts, there are always people looking to find out what this Mezcal thing is all about. So what’s the best way to introduce them to these spirits? It’s a welcome-to-the-newbies episode of Agave Road Trip! Find extra photos and related links...
The Church of Our Lady of Tequila
Agave Road Trip - November 02, 2023 06:00 - 21 minutesA preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive, on Mayahuel, nicotine, and the temptations of maguey. I’ve heard that all sorts of things in the world of agave spirits are sacred and should be treated with respect. But that begs the question, what does it mean to respect something? Or, mor...
Mexican Hand Gestures in a Mezcaleria
Agave Road Trip - October 26, 2023 06:00 - 13 minutesI’m accustomed to people making hand gestures at me, whether in the USA or Mexico. And I’m generally able to understand those gestures in my home country. But just as I don’t understand the spoken language in Mexico, I’m a bit lost on these gestures, too. Luckily, on this specific Agave Road Tri...
Should You Worry About Plastic in Your Water-Bottle Mezcal?
Agave Road Trip - October 19, 2023 06:00 - 24 minutesThe best stuff is always in plastic water bottles — that’s a thing I hear from a lot of Mezcal geeks. But lately I’ve been reading a lot of stories in the news about how most of us have plastic in our blood stream. And that’s got me wondering … is the stuff brought back from Mexico in plastic wa...
The Best Mezcals for Mixing, According to Agave Road Trip
Agave Road Trip - October 12, 2023 06:00 - 32 minutesPrice certainly has to be a factor when considering which Mezcals you stock in your well. And flavor, of course. But what about the environmental impact? Here are six lower-priced Mezcals (and a Bacanora and a Sotol) that you can use for high-volume cocktails that won’t break the bank and don’t ...
The CRT Loses Their Tequila Monopoly
Agave Road Trip - October 05, 2023 06:00 - 32 minutesBack in May 2021, Chava and I recorded an episode titled “The Birth and Death of the CRM.” Alberto Esteban Marina, former Director General of the NOMs for the Mexican government, had provided us with court papers that documented the end of the CRM’s monopoly on certifying Mezcal. Now Alberto’s c...
Espresso Martinis Are a Lie
Agave Road Trip - September 28, 2023 05:41 - 14 minutesThe espresso martini is quickly becoming the go-to cocktail at bars. But is it really an espresso martini? Or are they using cold brewed coffee? What’s the difference? And is cold brew really the ideal way to make coffee? It’s a caffeine-fueled episode of Agave Road Trip, featuring Aaron Campos ...
How the Hijuelos Killed Tequila
Agave Road Trip - September 21, 2023 06:00 - 29 minutesThere are three different natural methods agaves use to reproduce, but only one of those methods promotes genetic diversity: growing from seed. And that’s how much agave is grown around Mexico. But Blue Weber agave? The only kind of agave you can use to make Tequila? No one is growing it from se...
The Contagious Patience of Mezcal
Agave Road Trip - September 14, 2023 11:37 - 17 minutesThe best agave spirits require a lot of patience. It takes an awful lot of time for the agave to mature, it can take a lot of time to get to the mezcaleros who make the best spirits, and you won’t taste the full complexity of those spirits without taking your sweet time sipping them. Ismael Gome...
Fast Mezcal and Slow Bars
Agave Road Trip - September 07, 2023 06:00 - 12 minutesThe amount of time that mezcaleros take to make their spirits is an essential ingredient in the process. But it’s also in stark contrast to the amount of time that gringx bartenders have to share those agave spirits with their guests. What does that mean for those guests? And the future of those...
The Bartender’s Guide to Skittles
Agave Road Trip - August 31, 2023 06:00 - 15 minutesI’ve been reading lately that Skittles are being banned in parts of Europe. That made me think of all the bottles of vodka I’ve seen in bars in the USA that are being infused with the colorful candy. So is this a way to make alcohol even more dangerous? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspond...
Chill Filtering: Threat or Menace
Agave Road Trip - August 24, 2023 06:00 - 21 minutesAlmost all alcohol goes through some kind of filtering, and chill filtering has been one of those methods for … well, forever. But recently, some folks have been flagging this as an unacceptable practice. And if it’s considered unacceptable, you know I want to give it a try. It’s an anything-but...
Mezcalarrhea: Some People Think it’s Funny, But it’s Really Hot and Runny
Agave Road Trip - August 17, 2023 06:00 - 18 minutesThere are often-repeated inaccuracies that cause the general public to greatly misunderstand Mezcal. I call them “mezcalarrhea.” You know, like Mezcal + diarrhea? Because it’s usually people talking out of their butt. And because it makes me laugh. It’s a hot-and-runny episode of Agave Road Trip...
The Differences Between Tequila and Whiskey
Agave Road Trip - August 10, 2023 05:00 - 28 minutesI’m asked all the time what the difference is between Tequila and Mezcal. But, for my money, the more interesting questions is … what’s the difference between Tequila and whiskey? It’s a grains-versus-succulents grudge match in this episode of Agave Road Trip featuring Jay West of Whiskey Raider...
Chocolate and Coffee Are Antioxidants, but What Does That Mean?
Agave Road Trip - August 03, 2023 11:21 - 22 minutesFor years I’ve heard that cacao and coffee are antioxidants, but I’m left wondering … what exactly does that mean? Are they healthy? Is there a limit to how much you should consume? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Ryan Aycock, breaks it down in this free-radical episode of Aga...
Tequila is Doing Fine but Mexican Beer is Killing it
Agave Road Trip - July 27, 2023 05:00 - 18 minutesThere’s been a lot of talk about the environmental damage being done to Jalisco and Oaxaca as a result of global demand for Tequila and Mezcal. Hell, we’ve been doing a lot of that talking. But … man, have you read about what beer is doing? You’re gonna want to set down that Modelo Especial for ...
Spirits as Landscapes
Agave Road Trip - July 20, 2023 05:00 - 15 minutesIn this conversation with Eric Zandona we try to address one of the elephants in the room: can mezcal flavor be powerful enough to convert a non-believer? Are these plants communicating a full culture through a glass or is this just a blatant exaggeration? Eric has been lucky enough to have tast...
Rules of the Road Trip
Agave Road Trip - July 06, 2023 06:00 - 57 minutesThis week’s episode marks the third anniversary of Agave Road Trip! Chava and I celebrate by sharing the many rules we’ve learned for making a great road trip — and we get schooled by road-trippers Ben Schroder (Pensador Mezcal), Craig Thompson, Dalton Kreiss (Maguey Melate), Ismael Gomez (Mezca...
S5.C7 - The Wrap Up with Esteban Garibi
Elixir of the Gods - June 30, 2023 14:25 - 42 minutes ★★★★ - 4 ratingsIt's a wrap. On the drive back to Guadalajara, Esteban, Cate and Diego reflect on their journey and all the places they visited, but didn't have the opportunity to record.
S5.C6 - Lobo
Elixir of the Gods - June 30, 2023 14:23 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 4 ratingsEl Lobo is a legend. Soft spoken, much like his products, he uses a philosophical approach to create unique flavors. You will always immediately know a Lobo expression when you try one.
S5.C5 - Benito
Elixir of the Gods - June 30, 2023 14:20 - 40 minutes ★★★★ - 4 ratingsUnlike most other maestros in this season, Benito's family doesn't have a long tradition of distilling. His scientific approach, love for the plants, and approach to leadership, however, make him a rising star. His products are exciting and innovative.
Every Agave Landscape Tells a Bigger Story
Agave Road Trip - June 29, 2023 06:00 - 15 minutesGringx bartenders like to tell the bigger story of mezcal, the story that goes beyond the delicious spirit to explain why it’s delicious — the thing that gives it that pulse. One of those things is the landscape from which the agave comes from. Eating to Extinction author Dan Saladino prods us t...
Never Use Espadin Mezcal to Make Cocktails
Agave Road Trip - June 22, 2023 05:00 - 19 minutesThere’s this idea that’s been circulating around USA bars that you should only ever use espadin mezcal to make cocktails. But there’s this idea that’s been circulating around in my head that we should never use espadin mezcal to make cocktails. It’s yet another contrarian episode of Agave Road T...
Some Drinks Don't Travel -- Pulque with the Hadza
Agave Road Trip - June 15, 2023 08:51 - 24 minutesPulque is a drink of place — something you have to have near or where it is made. It doesn’t travel. But it’s not the only such drink in the world. Eating to Extinction author Dan Saladino compares pulque to a drink made by the Hadza hunter-gatherers. It’s a cross-cultural episode of Agave Road ...
1% for the Bats
Agave Road Trip - June 08, 2023 10:33 - 21 minutesOur friends at Bat Conservation International have teamed with a number of other organizations to launch “We Belong Together,” a campaign in support of their Agave Restoration Initiative. The goal is to redevelop the foodways that allow bats to migrate from the southern USA to southern Mexico. S...
To Keep Community Viable, You Have to Save the Water
Agave Road Trip - June 01, 2023 05:00 - 21 minutesDan Saladino has traveled the world documenting the stories of our most endangered foods. He would argue that we need to protect them, for our future food security, for the good of the planet, and for the good of our own health. And Chava and I are all for that — but we’re also all for another p...