Category: Chapter

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S2.C9: Bartender Work Program – with Cate Czerwinski

In this chapter we are joined by Cate, a tequila nerd and wonderful conversation partner. She gave us some insight into her experiences at the Fortaleza bartender program last year – a trip that let her experience the hard work, craftsmanship and arts of creating Agave spirits first hand. (If you want to learn more about Fortaleza, you can listen to our episode with Don Guillermo here.) She also shared some amazing spirits from her personal collection with us, one of them a “dusty bottle” of Herradura which gave Diego some serious goosebumps. Enjoy!

Photos from the recording:

Diego, Albert, Cate & our silent contributors
  • The suitcase
  • Geeking out before the recording
  • Cate’s coa
  • Our flight (it was first class)

Photos from Cate’s trip:

  • Don Guillermo at his estate
  • Fiona attacking a maguey plant
  • Out in the fields
  • Fortaleza tahona
  • Blending
Pictures from the trip

Explore further:

Fact checks:

  • Fortaleza uses their own family yeast and no accelerators
  • Herradura was purchased by Brown-Forman Corporation in 2007
  • El Tesero: “Don Felipe” is Carlos, Lily, Jenny, and Felipe’s grandfather, not father. Theirs Dad’s name was also Felipe, but he wasn’t “Don Felipe”.

Not mentioned on the Show:

Reach out:

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S2.C8: Join a guided tour of Oaxaca – with Fernando Bolaños

Albert, Fernando & Diego (and some Oaxacan spirits)

Fernando – co-owner of our Berlin’s most favorite Mezcal bar “La Tentación” – has planned a spectacular trip to his birthplace Oaxaca from September 1st to September 10th 2020. When we read about it, we wanted to create some more awareness of this tour to our listeners and asked Fernando if he can walk us through the schedule. So we could learn more about the Mecca of Mezcal and you can decide if you want to join this trip. You can contact Fernando directly ( fernando@tentacionmezcalothek.de )

La Tentanción:

https://www.facebook.com/tentacionbeer/
http://www.tentacionmezcalothek.de/
https://www.instagram.com/tentacion_de/

Get in touch with us!

https://twitter.com/ElixirPodcast
https://www.facebook.com/elixirofthegods/
https://www.https://www.elixirofthegodspodcast.com/
https://www.instagram.com/elixirpodcast/

Schedule:

Tuesday, September 1st

  • 15:00 – 17:00 Oaxacan Buffet
  • 18:00 – 21:00 Mezcal tasting at In Situ
  • 21:30 – 22:30 Tacos for dinner!

Wednesday, September 2nd

  • 07:00 – 14:00 (3. Sep)Visit to Paranubes (Oaxacan Rum and prizewinning as the product of the year at the BCB)

Thursday, September 3rd

  • 15:00 – 16:30 Traditional food at the Hotel
  • 09:30 – 22:30 Oaxacan Craft Beer & Mezcal tasting + Dinner + Surprise

Friday, September 4th

  • 08:00 – 09:30 Traditional oaxacan breakfast at the hotel
  • 10:30 – 14:00 Hierve el agua + Mitla
  • 15:00 – 17:30 Palenque Gracias a Dios (Mezcal & oaxacan gin) + Traditional food
  • 19:30 – 22:30 Mexican cantina + dinner

Saturday, September 5th

  • 07:00 – 08:00 Traditional Breakfast at the Hotel
  • 11:00 – 16:00 Visit to a Miahuatlan Palenque + Mezcal tasting + Food
  • 18:00 – 19:59 Mezcal tasting at Neta
  • 20:00 – 22:00 Tacos for dinner

Sunday, September 6th

  • 09:00 – 10:00 Traditional Breakfast at the hotel
  • 11:00 – 15:00 Visit to Teotitlan del Valle + Tlacolula Market + Food at the market
  • 16:00 – 18:00 Santo Domingo Museum
  • 19:00 – 22:00 Slow food dinner + Mezcales at La Biznaga

Monday, September 7th

  • 07:30 – 08:30 Traditional Breakfast at the hotel
  • 11:00 – 15:00 Visit to Real Minero & Proyecto LAM
  • 15:30 – 16:30 Traditional food at Conchita
  • 17:00 – 19:00 Mezcal tasting at Ocotlan with Mr. Santaella
  • 20:00 – 22:00 Mezcal tasting at La Mezcaloteca
  • 22:30 – 23:30 Tlayudas for dinner

Tuesday, September 8th

  • 09:00 – 10:30 Tacos de guisado at La Abuela
  • 11:30 – 16:00 Cooking class + visit to the market by Rodolfo Castellanos (Mexico’s Top Chef 2016)
  • 16:01 – 18:01 Cocktail class
  • 18:01 – 23:59 Day off so you can do some tourism at the city center

Wednesday, September 9th

  • 07:00 – 08:00 Traditional Breakfast at the hotel
  • 09:30 – 14:00 Monte Alban
  • 15:00 – 16:00 Nieves (Oaxacan Ice cream) at La soledad Church
  • 16:30 – 17:30 Traditional food at the Pasillo de Humo
  • 18:00 – 19:00 Aguas de Casilda
  • 19:01 – 23:59 Day off (With some recommendations)

Thursday, September 10th

  • 08:30 – 09:30 Traditional Breakfast at the hotel
  • 11:00 – 15:00 Visit to “Los Danzantes” palenque + Mezcal tasting + Food(To be confirmed)
  • 15:01 – 16:01 Last toast of the trip
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S2.C7: Bars: “Crazy Pedro’s” with Adam Wilson

This bar episode takes us to Manchester. Already in July 2019 and only equipped with a tiny microphone (so please excuse the sound quality) Albert met with Adam to discuss the love for Agave based spirits in Northern England. Crazy Pedro´s mixes Pizza and Agave, so it is not a classical Mezcaleria, however their range of spirits is excellent. No matter if you like your spirits in pure form or in a cocktail, Crazy Pedro’s can fix you up in three locations. We have marked all of them in our custom map for you.

Down the stairs.
  • Entrance Manchester NQ
  • Adam and the bar
  • In conversation
  • The drink we shared

Get in touch with “Crazy Pedro’s:”

https://crazypedros.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/CrazyPedros/
https://www.instagram.com/crazypedros/
https://twitter.com/CrazyPedros/

Get in touch with us!

https://twitter.com/ElixirPodcast

https://www.facebook.com/elixirofthegods/
https://www.https://www.elixirofthegodspodcast.com/
https://www.instagram.com/elixirpodcast/

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S2.C6: Bars: “The Barking Dog” with Carl Wrangel

Carl and Albert took a walk through Berlin to talk about our favourite topic! A couple of days before Carl made an experiment in Berlin’s La Tentancion Mezcaleria where he served the same drink three times, but each time with a different Agave spirit, showing how little details can make a big impact. Albert wanted to know more about his approach towards mixing spirits that are not predictable and about his history with Tequila and Mezcal.

You can find “The Barking Dog” and other great European bars on this custom map:

The Barking Dog on Social Media:
https://twitter.com/BarkingDogCPH
http://facebook.com/barkingdogcph
thebarkingdog.dk

Get in touch with us!


https://twitter.com/ElixirPodcast

https://www.facebook.com/elixirofthegods/
https://www.https://www.elixirofthegodspodcast.com/
https://www.instagram.com/elixirpodcast/

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S2.C5: The Ambassadors – with Roberto Artusio and Cristian Bugiada

Albert, Diego, Cristian and Roberto during a busy BCB

Roberto Artusio and Cristian Bugiada are Italian Mezcal legends. Roberto is the owner of Jerry Thomas Speakeasy and Cristian Bugiada is a partner of Freni e Frizioni. Together they created La Punta Expendio de Agave in Rome, which is a Mezcaleria, only dedicated to Agave spirits and offers more than 600 expressions.

La Punta Expendio de Agave

Their passion for Agave did not go unnoticed by Mexico’s official regulatory board for Mezcal (CONSECO REGULATOR DE MEZCAL or CRM ) and it officially declared them “Mezcal Ambassadors”, an honor which at the time of our interview only five people outside of America have received.

We took the chance to speak to Roberto and Cristian during BCB. We dug deeper into their passion for everything Maguey, their other projects and the connection they feel – as Italians – to Mexico. Our interview with them also starts our long announced series of European bar recommendations.
We had to do this interview in a noisy environment, please excuse the not so optimal sound quality

You can find our evolving European Map of Mezcal bars here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ld6xDBs1V40TuyybiTJpGy3_JwUNOOlm&usp=sharing

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your recommendations.

Connect with us: Mail: elixirofthegodspodcast@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elixirofthegods/
Instagram: @elixirpodcast
Twitter: @elixirpodcast

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S2.C4: Tequila – with Don Guillermo Erickson Sauza from Fortaleza

We took advantage of BCB to speak to Don Guillermo Erickson Sauza, an absolute legend in the industry. Of course we talked about his brand “Fortaleza” but the conversation went deeper into family and why Guillermo’s heart is in Mexico.

Diego, Albert and Don Guillermo at the “Cantina Mexico” BCB booth
The Fortaleza products from left to right with the individual images from the farms

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S2.C3: Mezcal & Tequila – with Sergio Mendoza from Derrumbes and Don Fulano

Our guest Sergio “Cache” Mendoza takes us to Mexico with his poetic words and his passion. In a conversation respectful to the brothers Tequila and Mezcal we also learned that there used to be five levels to describe the maturity of agave plants. Recorded at Bar Convent Berlin (please excuse the background noise).

Diego, Albert and Sergio (Cache)
Cache with Don Fulano and Derrumbes bottles
Cache and Esteban (his partner in Derrumbes, who was in our episode “The limitations of denominations”
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S2.Bonus – BCB introduction

The BCB map

We went to BCB to meet with some very respected people in the Agave industry. This intro-episode is just a quick warm-up before we go deep. We were able to have conversations with Sergio “Cache” Mendoza (Don Fulano, Derrumbes), Don Guillermo Ericsson Sauza (Fortaleza) and from Rome’s famous “La Punta” Mezcaleria: Roberto Artusio and Cristian Bugiada (they are involved in many other things too).

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S2.Ch2: Oaxaca – with Axel Huhn from Mezcaleria Berlin

In this episode we are welcoming Axel Huhn who is one of the true Agave pioneers in Germany. Many years ago life brought him to Oaxaca and in return his continuously bringing back some excellent spirits which you can order at mezcaleria.de. While our intention was to talk mainly about the state of Oaxaca our conversation drifted into more general subjects like sustainability and the impact that the Mezcal boom has on the regions. Enjoy this episode responsibly.

Barro negro pottery

Teotitlán (and the rugs)

Rufino Tamayo

More info on Francisco Toledo who unfortunately passed away shortly after we recorded this episode.

The 2006 protests in Oaxaca

Alfredo Harp Helú and his foundation http://www.fahho.org/

Sergei Eisenstein

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Season 2, Chapter 1: Jalisco – with Christian Schrader Goette from Agavera

Our guest today is Christian Schrader Goette from Agavera, an online shop around Mexican culture.

He comes from Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco and we are using this opportunity to talk about spirits from this region – which is so much more than “just” Tequila.

Christian is also the organizer of Agave Hub, which will take place in Berlin on October 8th.

Correction: During our conversation we made a mistake while talking about the aging of Tequila and Mezcal (they have the same regulation): Blanco: unaged Reposado: at least 2 months and until one year in contact with wood Añejo: more than 1 year in contact with wood

And in the case of Tequila there is an extra category called “extra añejo” which requires more than 3 years in contact with wood.

Christian & Diego

The spirits we tasted

Show Notes

The evolution of Agave in Jalisco

New machinery

Movies

Ismael Rodriguez: Nosotros los pobres & Ustedes los ricos

Book

AGUA DE LAS VERDES MATAS, Jose Luis Vera Cortes

https://www.gandhi.com.mx/agua-de-las-verde-matas-tequila-y-mezcal

Tutsi

Ancestral distilled from Wixarika Culture, traditionally made for ceremonies, rituals and festivals. For the Wixarikas, the Tutsi is not just a drink, it is an entity that is given life.