June 25, 2026 • 60 mins
This liquor made with (mostly) blue agave has a complex set of rules and regulations – and a near-mythical history. In the final episode of the series, Anney and Lauren say ‘salud’ with the science and stories behind tequila.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hell no, and welcome to Saber Prediction of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Reese.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode
for you about tequila.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes. Was there any particular reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes? Uh so, Hi, hi friends, this is our final episode.
We we love you, We're sorry, it's the last one,
and that's that's what it's going to be, but we
hope that's going to be a really fun one. I
was thinking about this for our last episode because okay,
(00:44):
like our first episode ever was about sparkling wine and champagne,
and so I was like, wouldn't it be cute if
like we ended on like a digestive related episode. And
I was looking at all of these different end of
meal kind of spirits and none of them I didn't
want to do any of them as much as I
wanted to do Tequila because it's a really interesting story.
(01:08):
And then I was like, you know what you're at,
your your end of meal can be whatever you want
it to look like. So let's do it.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Let's do it, let's do it. Yes, yes, this is
us coming to the end, and we thought it would
be a nice like cheers and nice send off. Yeah
for the show and to all of you who have
really made it what it is by writing in and
(01:41):
participating and listening.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yep and so yes, cheers, cheers to all of you.
And I guess, on a vaguely related note, drink responsibly.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yes, as always, I do love me some tequila. I
love me Oh yeah, some margarita's. It's one of my
go to's.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
They're nice.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
They're nice, especially like the not too sweetened ones. Yes, yeah,
I have had that tequila song stuck in my head
for quite a while during this research.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh, I don't think I've had any tequila related songs
stuck in my head. But I've been after Anthony Stwart
had passed. I've been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So
I've just got a bunch of Nerve Herder in my
head now, which is a separate issue.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
It is indeed, would Giles have liked a margarita?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, there we go, important question, answered Giles.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It might not have been his go too, but he
was a fellow who liked a good time.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Okay, all right, Well, certainly we've done several related episodes
to oh to tequila. A lot of our like cocktail episodes,
I think, just because Marguerite is.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Related, sure our other liquor related episodes, probably our also
our wine episode. I mean, does anything that involves barrel aging?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, yeah, so go check all of that out.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, we didn't write down a list, and as we
frequently say, we don't know what we've covered off the
top of our heads. So y'all tell us.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Yeah, let us know. Just because this might be our
last episode, the email will be active. So oh yeah,
just right in. Well, I guess that does bring us
to our question. Sure tequila, what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, tequila is a type of distilled spirit made primarily
from the juice of a specific variety of the agave plant.
That variety, blue agave, is a big, spiky, succulent and
to get this juice, you cook and crush just the
heart of the plant, and then you ferment that juice
(04:21):
and distill out the alcohol and flavors that you want.
So tequila can have flavors from the plant, from the
cooking process and from the fermentation process, sort of fruity, green, caramel,
funky flavors that are sometimes developed further by aging in
oak barrels, adding some like smooth vanilla smoke sort of flavors. Unaged,
(04:44):
the final product will be clear in color and a
little bright or even like abrasive in flavor, and with
aging it'll mellow and take on a more golden amber
kind of coloration. People drink it all kinds of ways,
straight or over ice or mixed into cocktails. And given
it's like range of personalities, it can go with a
(05:06):
lot of different flavors and circumstances depending. Tequila is like
it's like sharing a belly laugh with a good friend.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah. I have a very fond memory of teaching my
mom to take a tequila shot. Oh, she didn't know,
like the way we typically do it in America.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, like the whole like a koutrement with the like
the salt in the lime. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, And so I taught her how to do it,
and she just looked at me, like where has this been?
But yeah, it is because it's a very warming cocktail. Yeah,
and you get those slavers. Yeah, if you get a
good tequila, it's a very nice experience.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Oh yes, it can. It can be a very poor
experience as well, but but may if you drink. May
all of your liquor be of just decent quality at
least you know that's a that's a cheers for the
ages and hydra. Oh my gosh, hydrate stock up on
some electrolytes. I don't know anyway. Uh tequila is a
(06:17):
variety of mescal, mescal being the broader name for distilled
alcohols made from agave. Uh Tequila is actually a protected
designation of origin, the same way that champagne is. There
are rules about how and where it can be made.
So let's break down the process, all right, Starting with
(06:39):
the plant agave. Agave is a genius of succulents adapted
for hot, dry environments. They look similar to aloe plants,
though they're they're in different botanical families. Agaves tend to
grow these large, spiky, fleshy green leaves in a rosette
off of a sort of short main stem. They'll grow
shallow rhizomes underground to help store up water and nutrients
(07:02):
for like lean seasons, off of which their true roots grow,
and they tend to spend several years growing like sturdy
and mature enough to flour, and will usually die off
after producing a single bloom. The variety of agave used
to produce tequila is called again the blue agave, and
(07:22):
that's because it has like a silver blue kind of
tinge to its spikes. It's also called the Weber agave,
after the botanist who described the variety in the early
nineteen hundreds. The blue agave is grown through clonal propagation
using cuttings, traditionally from offshoots that spring up from the
rhizomes and are allowed to develop for a couple of
years in the field into a citrus sized ball, but sometimes,
(07:46):
especially these days, cuttings or cultures from mature plant tissue
are used. The plant can reach like four to six
feet tall, that's like one point two to one point
eight meters. They're just as wide as they are tall
as well, or sometimes will like sprawl wider as their
spikes fan out, and they form this thick pile or
(08:08):
like heart in the center of the leaves. The spikes
do have barbs along their edges and a thorn at
the end, so if you ever find yourself in an
agave field, don't get too handsy. It takes a blue
agave like eight to twelve years or more to mature
to harvest. Readiness. You know it's ready because it'll start
(08:30):
sending up its one flower stalk. In nature, these suckers
can grow some twenty feet tall, that's like six meters
what okay, and it'll bear like many tiny blooms that
are pollinated by this local species of bat. But in
(08:50):
making tequila, you don't actually want to let the plant
bloom because once it starts doing that, it'll, you know,
pour all of its stored resources in to blooming, and
those resources are also what we're interested in, So you
cut the flower stalk off early. Producers will watch like
each individual plant for signs of ripeness. You know. Some
(09:13):
producers prefer like slightly less mature, more vegetable agaves, some
like riper sweeter agaves. It depends on the vibe you're
going for. Once the farmers have identified that a plant
is ready, skilled day laborers called himagrees will use the
special tool to cut off the thick, spiky leaves, leaving
(09:33):
just the big, roundish oblong heart of the plant. The
skin on the leaves is bitter, so like you don't
want to leave too much of them on the heart,
which is also called a pina, which means like pine
cone or pineapple, which is indeed what the heart looks like,
except it's like big, like like really big, like one
hundred and fifty pound pineapple that's like seventy kilos. They
(09:56):
can be smaller or larger, that's like somewhere in the middle.
But yeah, So the humidor cuts the pinia off at
the base and then it is transported to the distillery
where it's cleaned off and probably cut into like halves
or quarters because again that's BIG's that's difficult to manage
for the next step being production. So the initial step
(10:18):
in tequila production is that the penias are cooked traditionally
low and slow steam cooking for like up to a
day and a half, after which they're rested but allowed
to like continue cooking from residual heat for another day
or so. Modern distilleries may use faster working autoclaves you
know like pressure cookers to speed up the process. And
(10:40):
cooking is necessary as a first step because the type
of complex carbohydrate that agave produces is called inulin, which
is not fermentable, but heating it breaks it down into
fruit tose and other carbs and stuff the yeast can eat,
which is important and Furthermore, we'll introduce some some flavors
(11:02):
from caramelization. Cooking also helps soften all the fibrous parts
of the heart for the next step, which is a
crushing and or shredding the cooked pinias to get all
of that juice and syrup out of them and rinsing
them with water to like really really get them washed out.
After that, it is time for fermentation. You add yeast
or allow a wild fermentation process to happen, and or
(11:25):
add fermented juice from a previous batch. That fermentation can
take from a few days to a couple of weeks,
depending on all kinds of circumstances, resulting in a fruit
beer or a light wine that's like four to six
percent alcohol, alcohol of course being a type of yeast pool. Finally,
(11:47):
you come to distillation. You'll use stills to separate out
different components by their boiling point, retaining the alcohol and
flavors that you want and discarding or redistilling the rest.
Quila must go through at least two distillations, and some
copper has to be involved in the still. It doesn't
have to be an all copper still. It's a whole thing.
(12:10):
It's rare that producers do a third distillation because usually
that had come out to bland tasting. But yeah, so
then you have tequila, and next you can choose to
do some aging, because aging, or the lack thereof, is
where your main categories of tequila come into play. Blanco
repisado and anjejo okay blanco meaning white, also called silver tequila.
(12:35):
This is a clear tequila that's bottled, usually without being
aged in barrels at all. Can be aged for like
up to two months, but yeah, it's typically aged either
in bottles or steel tanks for at least a couple months,
and can be held longer in those containers to help
control like the overall supply of tequila. Then repisoto, meaning rested,
(12:57):
is tequila that's golden in color from been aged from
two months to a year in oak barrels that may
be toasted or charred, but it's not required. The barrels
for tequila can be newly made oak barrels from North
America or Europe, or can be repurposed barrels from like
whiskey or wine or whatever if you want to add
some of those flavors in there. On. Yeho, meaning aged
(13:21):
is tequila. That's amber in color from having been aged
in small oak barrels for one to three years, getting
a lot more of that kind of oak stuff in there. Yeah,
there's a new category called extra and yeho that means
that tequila has been aged for over three years in oak,
and one called joven or sometimes oro, meaning youth or gold,
(13:46):
and this indicates a blend of blanco and aged tequilas.
Tequilas are bottled between thirty five percent and fifty five
percent alcohol by volume for the export market and towards
the low end of that for the local market, and
all of this is managed by Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council.
(14:07):
Tequila is yes, a protected designation of origin in Mexico,
meaning a spirit that's made of at least fifty one
percent alcohol, distilled from blue agave and produced in either
the state of Jalisco or in particular parts of four
other states. Tequilas that are made with a mix of
agave and other alcohols are called mixtos and are considered
(14:31):
like less desirable. Producers that only use a gave will
label their tequila one hundred percent agave. Anything else is
almost definitely a mixtol. However, producers are allowed to add
up to one percent flavor or color additives to any
tequila except for blanco, without mentioning it on their label. Also,
(14:55):
if you really super want to get into the tear
war of tequila, you can. You can look for tequilas
from the two main regions of Jalisco, being the highlands
and the lowlands. That is, Los Altos and al Valier.
Los Alto's tequilas tend to be sweet and fruity. Alvalier
tequilas tend to be more earthy and spicy. This is
(15:16):
categories that I didn't know existed until basically right now,
and I'm like, oh, I shall look into that. Indeed,
same Yeah. Scientific research has been done into the flavor
profiles of tequilas and it is found that the primary
(15:36):
flavor components common like most common to most tequilas include banana, candy, beeswax, apple, grape, rose, honey, clove, funk, malt,
and vanilla.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Fuck.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I'm like summarizing, but what they It's like it's like
an odor molecule or like a sorry, a flavor molecule
that basically means funk.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Okay, I think I know what you're talking about. Yeah,
I just haven't. I'm going to have to reevaluate my
my tequilas, right, I wasn't picking up on any funk.
I don't think.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Oh I've had some funky tequilas for sure. Okay anyway, Yeah,
ostensibly a food show. Yeah, so, younger, paler tequilas are
good and like light, bright mixed drinks where you might
otherwise think about like other clear alcohols like a vodka
(16:41):
or gin or light rum. The darker and more aged
that you go, the more you're gonna want to think
of the tequila as being like an analog to a
whiskey or dark rum or maybe like a brandy.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And you can put those into any cocktail that you want.
I mean, like, I certainly can't stop you. But the
mood of those cocktails is usually like richer and heavier.
The most aged tequilas should probably be enjoyed alone or
like with a little bit of ice or water to
loosen them up, because they've probably got lovely nuance all
on their own.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yes, yes, indeed, Well what about the nutrition drink responsibly? Yeah,
we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
We do okay, So there are pinias on record that
weighed some four hundred pounds, that's one hundred and eighty kilos. Also,
it takes about fifteen point five pounds of pina to
produce a leader of tequila. Outside of Mexico, fifty eight
(17:51):
other countries also legally protect the definition of tequila. I
think Canada was the first country to do so in
nineteen seventy nine. Huh yeah. As of twenty twenty four,
which is the most recent year that we have good
data from, Mexico was producing nearly four hundred and ninety
six million liters of tequila from some one point eight
(18:13):
million tons of agave. This varies year to year, you know,
with lots of factors, because it's a natural product and
farming isn't a guaranteed thing that occurs. At that time
twenty twenty four, the market was valued at around fourteen
billion dollars total. The industry at that point comprised over
(18:38):
forty two thousand agave producers and two hundred and six
tequila distillers, working with nearly three thousand tequila brands.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Three thousand tequila brands. Mm hmm, yep, whoa oh okay?
Speaker 2 (19:02):
The brand Jose Cuervo produces the most. Uh. Mexico itself
consumes around ninety three million liters of tequila a year
and exports the rest. The US imports by far the most,
over three hundred million liters. Other major importers do include Spain, Germany,
and France. And Okay, between twenty four and twenty twenty four,
(19:28):
shipments of tequila to the US increased by volume by
two hundred and seventy one percent. Revenue during that period
increased five hundred and nine percent, ending in six point
five two billion dollars in sales in the United States
(19:52):
in twenty twenty four. And I will also say that
sales of higher end varieties of tequila increased wildly during
that time.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Wow, okay, yeah, that's quite the increase. That's quite the increase.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah, it is. It has been a boom, one would say.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
One would say that, and many have, uh and and
many have looked into why said boom might have happened.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Oh yeah, oh sure, And we are going to get
into that history. But first we are going to get
into a quick break for a word from our sponsors,
and we're back.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay, So tequila's origin
is the cause of a lot of disagreement. The general
consensus is that its earliest iteration dates back to two
hundred to three hundred CE and meso America, when indigenous
peoples fermented a gave juice to make a sort of
(21:09):
wine called pulk ca. At the time, agave plants were
highly prized, and so was the beverage. It was used
spiritually and medicinally. Other historians suggest that this drink goes
back much further, and certainly the method or similar drinks
(21:29):
do mystery's history. A gave itself originated in meso America
at least ten thousand years ago, possibly up to twelve
thousand years ago. Archaeological evidence suggest that hunter gatherer groups
in the area were using it that far back, so
(21:54):
it's been kicking around.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, yeah, and not always as a food stuff or
drink stuff. People also used agave plants for their fibers
for making things like rope, cloth and paper.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yes, jumping ahead. When Spanish colonizers invaded what would become
Mexico in the early fifteen hundreds, they reportedly were not
fans of this agave wine, so they started testing out
different local ingredients and distilling. Eventually they arrived at a
(22:30):
product they liked from distilled fermented agave they called vino
de mescal. As part of their efforts, the Spanish did
introduce distilling and copper stills to Mexico, though there are
alternate theories that distilling had been introduced are pioneered earlier
in Mesoamerica. Historians believe that within a decade of the
(22:54):
arrival of the Spanish, something very similar to our modern
day tequila was being distilled in the area. Jalisco, Mexico,
was a hub of production, with the first known written
reference of tequila being made there going back to sixteen
oh eight. The production of these agave are mescow wines
(23:20):
grew in sixteen hundreds, particularly in the Jlisco town Tequila
and its surrounding area. The spirits they produced were high
quality enough that they became the gold standard for these
types of wines, and a large scale distillery was built
to meet demand.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, and it's actually interestingly hard to say whether what
they were producing at that time was more like wine
or more like liquor, partially because Spanish law did not
approve of liquor production in its colonies at this early time.
So like, I'm not totally sure whether colonists used the
term wine to kind of get around that, or whether
(24:03):
they were producing like really low alcohol distillates that would
have been closer to wines than to liquors in what
we in the definitions that we would use today.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yes, yes, okay, So here's where we get some family
drama and disputes and a lot of myth peddling. I
have to say right up front this is I can't
back any of.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Those, of course. Yeah, so much of this comes directly
from these myths, these legends that the distilleries have come
up with around their own origins.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
So absolutely, but okay, these myths. In seventeen fifty eight,
the Quervo family, led by patriarch Jose Quervo, started commercially
producing tequila and yes at Quervo. The Silvza family followed
suit in eighteen seventy three, leading to an intent competition
(25:00):
between the two families. Allegedly, Don Seinobio Souza identified the
blue agave as superior when it came to making tequila,
and Quervo follows suits. So both brands started cultivating blue
agave and expanded their production until they were able to
export to the US in eighteen fifty two. But let's
(25:24):
break down some of this mythical drama, because my own my.
According to the National Geographic the families exchanged insults and bullets,
and the children of the opposing families were prohibited from
interacting with each other. Okay, this sounds like a movie, right.
(25:45):
But then a third generation Salza named Javier went to
college in Chicago, where he met a Quervo relative and
secretly married her.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh cale Romeo and yes.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
And this did not sit well with his father when
he found out. So, as legend goes, he shot a
member of the Quervo family to death, and he banned
his son from the company, like kicked him out completely.
So to make ends meet, Xavier worked as a Mexico
(26:22):
city tour guide and took on various odd jobs until
he was allowed back into the company in nineteen forty six.
His father died soon after, and so he was like
he kind of amalgamated in after his dad died, right,
Oh my gosh. So Javier tried to boost the reputation
(26:45):
of tequila, offering more premium products, specifically trying to combat
competing spirits coming out of Japan. In nineteen seventy six,
he sold the company and it eventually ended up under
the ownership of Japanese owned company Beam Suntory. Wow, this
(27:06):
is what a drama I would watch.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yoh right, yeah, all right, what a tragedy that you're right?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Oh my gosh. Like I said, this is largely from
a national geographic piece that I found. I'm not sure
how true it is, but I would watch that show. Yeah,
that's what I'm saying. Yeah, absolutely, all right, exiting that
(27:40):
and stepping back a bit. By the eighteen seventies, tequila
had made it to the US and Europe. By the
eighteen nineties, the name mescal had been swapped out for
tequila after the town when referring to the agave based
spirits made in the Hollisco region.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, and this was based on a number of specifications
that producers in the area were really leaning into, including
using this specific variety of blue agave and the way
that they cooked it in above ground steamer ovens versus
the traditional for other Mezcals method of pit cooking or
(28:23):
clay ovens heated with charcoal or hot stones.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yes, and then many Americans were first introduced to tequila
at the eighteen ninety three Chicago World's Fair, and its
popularity grew over the next few decades after that.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yeah, the tequila in question, made by Salza apparently won
the Colombian Exposition Brandy Award. So I mean it's based
on a quote unquote fruit.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Sure, sure, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah. Botanist Franz Weber arrived in Mexico around this time
and surveyed the native plants. He described blue agave in
nineteen oh two, giving it the taxonomical name agave tekilana
tequilana to kilena. I didn't look it up, and it's
too late now. There's no internet where we live there.
(29:19):
We're not on the internet right now, so we only
exist in your minds. Actually, oh no, I didn't know
it was going to be a Saint elsewhere. Ending of
the podcast. Okay, wow, do I mean.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We gotta at the end, we gotta leave it up
for interpretation. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Perfect?
Speaker 1 (29:42):
So this brings us to prohibition. Every every alcohol episode
we do, we have to talk about prohibition.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
So with prohibition in the nineteen twenties, American smugglers were
bringing in tequila, but at the same time, Americans with
me means were visiting places like Tijuana in Mexico and
having tequila there. After prohibition was repealed, the trip to
Mexico to enjoy tequila was no longer required, and many
(30:13):
Mexican bars that had relied on that traffic from Americans
suffered and eventually closed. It's estimated the number of these
bars dropped from one hundred and fifty to nine or ten.
One of the ones that remained was a place in
Tijuana run by an irishman named Madden that was known
(30:36):
for a drink called the Tequila Daisy. In nineteen thirty six,
James Graham, who was the owner and editor of Iowa
was the Mobille Mail newspaper. He and his wife visited
this bar owned by this irishman in Tijuana after i
(30:59):
recommendation from their taxi driver. Graham tried the Tequila Daisy
and was quite taken with it, or he was at
least curious about it. It's not clear if he actually
tried it, but the story is that he probably did,
but he did not say specifically that he did. Graham
later went on to write about this drink. Whatever the case,
(31:22):
in his paper, which was distributed in a town with
a population of nine hundred and seventy five people. He wrote,
I entered the joint and told mister Madden my curiosity
was aroused regarding the daisy. Mister Madden was not the
most talkative of men, but eventually he was persuaded to
(31:45):
admit that the drink's creation was a mistake. In mixing
a drink, I grabbed the wrong bottle, and the customer
was so delighted that he called for another and spread
the good news far and wide. There's so many things
I love about this.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yeah, I feel like this is like every legendary cocktail
story in one. Because you've got you've got like the
obscure press reference. Yes, you've got the accidental creation. Yes,
you've got the like what bar like.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Okay, I love the taxi driver suggesting it. That's great. Yeah,
But there's something about it. This guy from Iowa, who
has a paper that reaches nine hundred and seventy five people,
perhaps writing about this drink that he may or may
(32:44):
not have tried in Tiuanna, and people tell the story
is if he put it on the map of the
United State. Yeah, yeah, Well, I love it. I don't
know how true it is, but it's got a lot
of the elements of these stories for sure, Yes, that
(33:05):
we tell on here. The Spanish word for daisy is margarita.
And yeah, while Graham he never specified but was in
the cocktail, A lot of historians think that it was
essentially a brandy daisy, which was a popular pre prohibition drink,
(33:27):
but they just swapped out the tequila. They swapped out
the brandy for tequila. Yeah, yeah, which makes sense. That
makes sense to me, sure, And as always with these cocktails,
it's likely multiple people came up with a similar idea
around the same time or earlier. The basic mix of
citrus and a spirit is an old one. A lot
(33:50):
of Mexican bartenders are probably offering a similar version.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, it's what they would have had around so yeah, exactly.
Stepping back from the margarita into tequila in general. Throughout
the mid nineteen hundreds, the introduction of industrial equipment to
different parts of the tequila making process, you know, cooking, shredding,
(34:16):
and mashing, stuff like that really sped up production. And
Mexican regulation of tequila also shifted during this time, Like
early standards from like legal standards from the nineteen forties
set only one hundred percent agave products as real tequila.
As demand and especially foreign demand grew throughout the sixties
(34:40):
and seventies, that loosened to seventy percent agave and finally
today's fifty one percent. Regulations also opened up to allow
bluagave produced in states other than Hallisco.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
And speaking of regulation, in nineteen seventy four, the Mexican
government made moves to protect the name tequila the established
rules of distillation, declared that it had to be produced
in Mexico, and named the world Tequila itself as part
of Mexico's intellectual property. At the same time, the Tequila
(35:17):
Regulatory Council was founded. They had two main goals during
this period, quality assurance and product promotion, and they needed
it because a lot of the tequilas available for purchase
in the United States in the eighties and nineties were Mixto's,
(35:39):
as Lauren mentioned, mixes of neutral grain and an agave spirit,
and this didn't do tequila's reputation a lot of favors.
But there was a concerted effort to bring in higher
quality products to course correct this whole thing. On top
(36:00):
of that luxury tequila like Patron. Patrone launched in nineteen
eighty nine. At first though, I find this really interesting.
The brand didn't use tequila in their marketing. Instead, it
was marketed as the world's greatest spirit. Wow, Yeah, distancing
(36:24):
themselves from tequila. Yeah. The branding painted this picture of
a luxurious lifestyle with Patron's brand that attracted consumers that
may have previously been uninterested in tequila. Like, look at
this lifestyle you could have.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Yeah, this is aspirational when it involves the world's greatest spirit.
What is tequila? Yes? This this worked. It created a
boom in the nineteen nineties that actually led to a
supply shortage of blue agave, with demand driving prices for
(37:06):
pinas up some sixteen hundred percent. Farmers started planting a
lot more agave, though of course these crops wouldn't mature
for several years.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah. And as a part of this, around two thousand
and four, the Tequila Regulatory Council allowed for flavored tequilas
to be labeled as tequila, except in the case of
one hundred percent agave tequilas. Because of the demand in
the pricing, they.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Were like, you know, what you know what, Sure, Sure's
let's go. In two thousand and six, UNESCO named the
area where blue agave is grown and tequila is produced
to their World Heritage List.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
In the twenty tens, in the US, craft bars re
embraced tequila and at Mescal creating their own cocktails are
new spins on old ones. Varieties of marguerite has exploded,
and there are just so many popular cocktails that involve tequila.
(38:16):
Yeah yeah, also celebrity brands. In twenty thirteen, George Clooney,
alongside Randy Gerber, launched Casamigos. It was sold to Diagio
for reported one billion dollars. This yeah, yep, and this
(38:39):
sparked conversations about making tequila a brand. Who was getting
the attention, the credit, the money, all those things. From
a celerity kind of steps into a existing yeah, well
historical existing, right, yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
The market for tequila was still changing. The export of
one hundred percent agave tequila overtook that of mixed dose
for the first time in twenty nineteen. As of today,
about fifty eight percent of exported tequilas are one hundred
percent a goave.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
But as always, when we see something experience such a
growth in popularity, there has been there are problems. Ye, yes,
So with all of this growth and popularity, this motivation
to increase supply, the Tequila Regulatory Council has an ion
(39:39):
sustainability in terms of water consumption, carbon footprint, and potential deforestation.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah. Environmentalists are also concerned about, like the popularity of
tequila in particular over other agave based beverages because of
that restriction that tequila be made only from this one type,
this this blue agave. Because as we've talked about before
(40:08):
on the show, monocultures are generally bad. And by bad
I mean like both endangering to the environment because they're
not a friendly way to support a diverse ecosystem and
endangering to themselves because like a single disease or pest
could wipe them out. Also, I have to add here,
(40:31):
like won't anybody think of the bats. This one species
of bat that pollinates blue agave, and all of this
blue agave is being grown and not allowed to produce
pollen or nectar. You know what the bats are actually
eating when they're spreading pollen. Think of the bats.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
The bats are cool.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
The part is cool. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
When I was reading this, I was like, wait, you're
telling me there are specific bats.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Yeah, just fun basically.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
That's that's cool.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Oh weird environmental silver lining. Agaves are really good at
growing in dry, hot weather, so they might be really
well adapted to the forces of climate change that are
predicted to hit like the south end of North America,
(41:27):
so they might do surprisingly well considering climate change that's
coming for us in the future. I don't know how
great I feel about that, but.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Dicky Well listeners as always right in let us know
if you've if you have any cocktails, go to cocktails,
or if you like toward the area.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Oh yeah, oh absolutely, yeah, I've never I've never been
that far south, and it seems really cool.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
It does, it does, and it's been an interesting at
least for me. It's been interesting going from college where
I feel like tequila was viewed in the United States
as like a cheap, cheaper thing. Yeah. Now it's a really.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
It is like a popular and even premium category. Yeah,
which is cool. Yeah, I yeah, I mean, oh, I'm
so curious about all the different different regions now and
I want to look more into it.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Yes, yes, well, that is what we have to say
about tequila for now it is.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
But yes, we would love to hear from you, and
we already have some listener mail for you and we
are going to get into that as soon as we
get back from one more quick break for a word
from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with list nun. Yeah. Yeah, that was a
good one. That was a good one, good flourish good.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Yes, yes, as we've said, the email will still be
open after this. We are hoping to come back in
some capacity every now and then. Maybe. Yeah, if we don't,
(43:59):
then I think this is a good a good final episode.
But just no, like you know, stick around.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Yeah, don't delete the show off of your feed yet
you know, yeah, yeah not yet.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
And I have been you know, this is a kind
of emotional thing for us as well. So I've been
lax in answering your listener. But I will.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
Oh, I think everyone forgives you, dude, like yeah that
I It's on my calendar, Like I promise you.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
No, I promise. So if you if your email never
gets read, if we don't get to come back, just no,
I will respond to you. Yeah. Yes, So Dan wrote, hi,
all so sorry to hear the show is winding down.
(44:54):
I wasn't going to write, but decided to in the end.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Here.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
My wife introduced me to your show back when your
very first episode on Champagne came out. If I remember right,
the next episode was Pineapple. We seriously haven't missed an
episode since. We've listened to them all from day one,
and it's always been a great listen in the car
on commutes, are while grinding out miles during marathon training.
(45:20):
Running makes me hungry and listening to your show always
gets me thinking about what I can't wait to eat afterwards.
I joke, not really that I run so I can eat. Unfortunately,
she was also finishing up her chemotherapy at the time
at the start, and you were always there to keep
her company. You all were even here for the birth
(45:42):
of our son, who is six now, and he loves
as well to learn about food. He is a huge
food fan as well, and actually just had to re
listen to your SpongeBob food episode because you just discovered
that show and you inspired us to make our own
Krabby Patti's the other day, and yes, he helped. You
(46:05):
all have been a huge part of our lives over
the past few years, sparking many fun conversations at home
about things like gooey Duck, rice and HEE'SOOO. Unfortunately, in
twenty twenty four, cancer returned very quickly and aggressively, and
I was left at thirty nine to raise our five
year old alone. We never stopped listening, though, and he
(46:28):
still knows this was his mom's favorite podcast. Because of that,
we're always really excited whenever our new episode drops. Hearing
you say goodbye is genuinely painful for us, but we
understand that everything has its time and life moves forward.
Thank you for all your hard work, humor, and fascinating
information over the years. We wish you both the very best,
(46:52):
and hopefully we'll hear from you again somewhere in the
podcast verse in the future. Ps. I just went to
Louisville last weekend for the first time and re listened
to your Derby episode. If you're in town, the Hot
Brown is not to be missed. Probably three thousand calories
of pure bliss.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
Yes, yep, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
One of my favorite memories of traveling with you guys
is that, like because that was like our first trip basically,
and like you and Dylan's faces when two plates of
hot brown hit the table, and it was immediately just like, oh,
we have made a mistake. We have made a tactical error.
Speaker 1 (47:40):
Yeh, yes, oh my gosh, we did have them. They
were frightening in their portion size, and it's been warn
and I were discussing, you know, I was planning what
I'll do to cheer myself up after this, and I
(48:00):
was thinking, you know, I've enjoyed watching a World Cup
fans react to our food, and I have to say, like,
so many of them are about portion sizes. I also
am shocked by portion sizes. Yes, it's not just you.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
No, Oh my goodness. Yeah. If anyone who's traveling for
the World Cup right now is listening to this show,
yeah know that you're not alone. Like Americans get horrified
by that guy.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
You can't predict it. I had a friends stay over
the other night and we were ordering from from a
place we'd never gone to before to get delivery, and
all they offered was small and large, and I was like,
how big is the large?
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Small? What's going on?
Speaker 1 (48:50):
So large was humongous. I'm going to be eating that
for five days and she ate it.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Too, so yes, delicious problem to have, but yes, uh yeah, no,
there's those those hot browns. Also, just oh, my goodness,
thank you so much for this email. What what an
incredible story. I am so glad that we could have
(49:18):
been part of your lives, especially through a lot of
weird hard times. I I don't know if I've ever
talked about it out loud on the show before. I
think there's been hints here and there. But I was
eight years old when my mom passed away from cancer
and leaving my dad a single father, to raise me
(49:39):
and to try to I mean, you know, it helped
that he was like in the restaurant industry, but you know,
like a lot of what are a lot of our
bonding was definitely through food. So it is incredibly touching, uh,
to to hear all of this. And if if I
know that my sarcasm voice sounds a lot a lot
(50:00):
like my regular voice that was in no way sarcasm,
but holy heck, thank you.
Speaker 1 (50:08):
Yes, and I'm glad that you're sharing this and that
you made Krabby patties. Yes, yes, so thank you. Yeah,
thank you for listening, for sharing, and for taking the
(50:28):
time to write us.
Speaker 2 (50:31):
Yes, oh my goodness, Christine wrote, I hope the long
no I left on Instagram adequately summed up my feelings
on the news that my podcast feed will be savorless soon.
You never fail to make me laugh and think, and
I've learned so much from you. If ever, either of
(50:52):
you are coming down under, please let me know so
I can introduce you to the delights of Lamington's fairy bread,
meat pies, prawn toast, and good coffee. I'm writing this
eating fancy smashed avo toast, in other words, guacamally toast.
We have an abundance of avocados even though it's winter,
so I'm making the most of it. However, you're now
(51:12):
in summer, and I understand it gets hot and humid
at Atlanta, so I thought i'd share my favorite avocado recipe,
chilled avocado soup, no cooking, and aside from the avocado
and the stock, there's no set measurements for the soup.
It is about the vibe. The ensuing recipe is a
little bit long, so we're not going to read it out,
but email us if you were interested, because sounds amazing. Okay,
(51:38):
coming back, Also, Annie, I owe you a long standing
in heartfelt apology when I got cross with you calling
the Cybertron all Spark the all Life. I didn't know
that Transformers was not an intrinsic part of your nerd DNA,
so the mix up is easy enough to make, so
(52:00):
I apologize for what was an unwarranted chastising, unlike a
certain mister Ben Bolan, who still hasn't issued an on
air apology for calling the X Men's blackbird jet the
x Wing. For pet tax, I have included a picture
(52:22):
of Empowa Samson snowshoe to Munificent. He had just employed
an ankylosaurus attack on my feet to force me to
abandon the Ottoman. He was very upset that I would
not give him any guacamole. Trying to explain to him
that the amount of garlic, onion and chili in the
guacamole made it unsafe for empa Wa Khitas was unsuccessful
(52:47):
in reducing his bad mood. Ankylosaurs are the ones with
the club on their tails, and they are my second
favorite type of dinosaur. In the spirit of fun, feasting
and fellowship, hopefully not farewells. And yes, there is attached
pet tax of the aforementioned Embella looking earnestly very cross
(53:15):
photo is of a chocolate, chocolate and white cat with
like a cute little white bib and little little white
socks and like kind of like it's like he was
thinking about going for a Siamese point concept but sort
of abandon it halfway through. But yeah, it's the kind
(53:35):
of look that a cat only gives you when it's
mad that you're not giving it food right now.
Speaker 1 (53:43):
Yeah, it's a very it's an intense kind of attention. Yeah,
of I am staring at you, and I cannot believe
you do not understand the issue here.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
I frequently wish that I could explain in English that
like I'm sorry, I understand, but I'm still not doing it.
Like it's not that I don't get it. I get it.
Your point is being made, but it still but there
are garlic factors beyond my control here, right.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
Oh I love it. I love it.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
Yeah, Oh my goodness, oh yeah. Yeah. And I've never been.
I've never been to Australia, but I but I certainly
hope to certainly hope to get to visit sometime.
Speaker 1 (54:45):
I've been and it was the best time. It was
so fun. And I mentioned in our episode we did
on avocado. That was one of my first experiences seeing
it in more places than I.
Speaker 2 (54:58):
Would normally see. Right, yeah, totally in the United States.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
So I am very excited about this chilled avocado soup. Yes,
the vibe. I'm into it, and thank you for your apology.
It's accepted. And Ben Bolan does have a lot to
(55:25):
answer for.
Speaker 2 (55:27):
He does. I mean, come on, big right, the least
you can do geez.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
The X Wing. He knows X Men and he knows
Star Wars. Yes, I didn't know Transformers. This is a
great We need to confront him, Yeah, and get some answers.
Speaker 2 (55:58):
Yeah, putting adding it to the list, yeah, yeah, little
bits of savor unfinished business.
Speaker 1 (56:12):
That's right. We've got a couple of things we've got.
I have like a list of topics that got away
that I'm really sad.
Speaker 2 (56:20):
Coconut.
Speaker 1 (56:22):
Coconut is my big one. I really wanted that. And
then we were gonna do the filled the stuffed crust
different stuff crusts around the world. Right now that the
World Cup is happening, and I wish I could just
weigh in on this. Oh sure, yeah, but we could.
(56:42):
We could contact Bolwin, we could we could try to
move this along.
Speaker 2 (56:50):
Yeah, see see what we can do. I'm not gonna
harass him, you know, but just but just you know
a little just a little nudge, a little nudge.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
Yeah, we're we're attempting to get our D and D
crew back together. So yeah, and bowing is a part
of it. We can try to.
Speaker 2 (57:10):
Just it's gentle, gentle push.
Speaker 1 (57:12):
Gentle gentle push. A reminder. Yes, well, thank you so
much to all of you listeners over all of this time,
and you have made the show. We have loved hearing.
Speaker 2 (57:28):
From you, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
Yes, yeah, and thanks to all of the producers who
have helped get it made.
Speaker 2 (57:37):
Oh yeah, oh gosh, I meant to make a list,
and then I didn't. So many, so many humans. And yeah,
thanks to you Annie for always always being here and
doing the weird stuff.
Speaker 1 (57:53):
Thanks to you Lauren for always being here and doing
the and for trusting a little told me who is
in Texas trying to get the best barbecue and being
like you.
Speaker 2 (58:06):
Know what it's like. No, this lady is serious.
Speaker 1 (58:13):
Yes, well, as we said, we are hoping that maybe
we'll get to pop in here and there, yeah on here,
But if we don't we do have other projects. I
will be on stuff when I never told you, and
we've already discussed with Lauren. You should come on and
(58:37):
we can talk about women and food, oh.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
Yeah yeah, or very various pop culture things. See abovy.
I've been rewatching Buffy and I have opinions. I have
big old opinions. I was back, I was on Sminty
back before it was you and Sam hosting talking about Buffy,
and I had opinions and I've got very stronger ones now.
Speaker 1 (59:04):
Or revisit perhaps.
Speaker 2 (59:06):
Yeah yeah, yeah right, but yeah, yeah, so check out stuff.
Mom never told you. I am currently on a show
called brain Stuff, which is a short form science and
history podcast that's just me talking into a microphone. I
try to keep it really all ages, so like like savor,
(59:26):
and there's not going to be any like cussin or
too many shenanigans.
Speaker 1 (59:32):
I was about to say, we do get up to
some shenanigans, but.
Speaker 2 (59:35):
A few shenanigans, just just a handful, just a handful. Look,
it's not our fault that cultures thought that everything was
an aphrodisiac. Yes, for millennia, that.
Speaker 1 (59:49):
Was absolutely not on us. No, uh but yeah, thank you.
So much to everyone listening, who has listened, whenever you
came in, from the getting from whenever, to the producers.
Cheers to all of you, and we do hope that
(01:00:09):
we hear from you soon. We do yes, and you
can email us at Hello atsavorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at Savorpod. We do hope to
hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
(01:00:41):
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
Hell no, and welcome to Saber Prediction of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Reese.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode
for you about tequila.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes. Was there any particular reason this was on your mind? Lauren?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes? Uh so, Hi, hi friends, this is our final episode.
We we love you, We're sorry, it's the last one,
and that's that's what it's going to be, but we
hope that's going to be a really fun one. I
was thinking about this for our last episode because okay,
(00:44):
like our first episode ever was about sparkling wine and champagne,
and so I was like, wouldn't it be cute if
like we ended on like a digestive related episode. And
I was looking at all of these different end of
meal kind of spirits and none of them I didn't
want to do any of them as much as I
wanted to do Tequila because it's a really interesting story.
(01:08):
And then I was like, you know what you're at,
your your end of meal can be whatever you want
it to look like. So let's do it.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Let's do it, let's do it. Yes, yes, this is
us coming to the end, and we thought it would
be a nice like cheers and nice send off. Yeah
for the show and to all of you who have
really made it what it is by writing in and
(01:41):
participating and listening.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yep and so yes, cheers, cheers to all of you.
And I guess, on a vaguely related note, drink responsibly.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yes, as always, I do love me some tequila. I
love me Oh yeah, some margarita's. It's one of my
go to's.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
They're nice.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
They're nice, especially like the not too sweetened ones. Yes, yeah,
I have had that tequila song stuck in my head
for quite a while during this research.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Oh, I don't think I've had any tequila related songs
stuck in my head. But I've been after Anthony Stwart
had passed. I've been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So
I've just got a bunch of Nerve Herder in my
head now, which is a separate issue.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
It is indeed, would Giles have liked a margarita?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, there we go, important question, answered Giles.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
It might not have been his go too, but he
was a fellow who liked a good time.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Okay, all right, Well, certainly we've done several related episodes
to oh to tequila. A lot of our like cocktail episodes,
I think, just because Marguerite is.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Related, sure our other liquor related episodes, probably our also
our wine episode. I mean, does anything that involves barrel aging?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, yeah, so go check all of that out.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, we didn't write down a list, and as we
frequently say, we don't know what we've covered off the
top of our heads. So y'all tell us.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Yeah, let us know. Just because this might be our
last episode, the email will be active. So oh yeah,
just right in. Well, I guess that does bring us
to our question. Sure tequila, what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, tequila is a type of distilled spirit made primarily
from the juice of a specific variety of the agave plant.
That variety, blue agave, is a big, spiky, succulent and
to get this juice, you cook and crush just the
heart of the plant, and then you ferment that juice
(04:21):
and distill out the alcohol and flavors that you want.
So tequila can have flavors from the plant, from the
cooking process and from the fermentation process, sort of fruity, green, caramel,
funky flavors that are sometimes developed further by aging in
oak barrels, adding some like smooth vanilla smoke sort of flavors. Unaged,
(04:44):
the final product will be clear in color and a
little bright or even like abrasive in flavor, and with
aging it'll mellow and take on a more golden amber
kind of coloration. People drink it all kinds of ways,
straight or over ice or mixed into cocktails. And given
it's like range of personalities, it can go with a
(05:06):
lot of different flavors and circumstances depending. Tequila is like
it's like sharing a belly laugh with a good friend.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah. I have a very fond memory of teaching my
mom to take a tequila shot. Oh, she didn't know,
like the way we typically do it in America.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, like the whole like a koutrement with the like
the salt in the lime. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, And so I taught her how to do it,
and she just looked at me, like where has this been?
But yeah, it is because it's a very warming cocktail. Yeah,
and you get those slavers. Yeah, if you get a
good tequila, it's a very nice experience.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Oh yes, it can. It can be a very poor
experience as well, but but may if you drink. May
all of your liquor be of just decent quality at
least you know that's a that's a cheers for the
ages and hydra. Oh my gosh, hydrate stock up on
some electrolytes. I don't know anyway. Uh tequila is a
(06:17):
variety of mescal, mescal being the broader name for distilled
alcohols made from agave. Uh Tequila is actually a protected
designation of origin, the same way that champagne is. There
are rules about how and where it can be made.
So let's break down the process, all right, Starting with
(06:39):
the plant agave. Agave is a genius of succulents adapted
for hot, dry environments. They look similar to aloe plants,
though they're they're in different botanical families. Agaves tend to
grow these large, spiky, fleshy green leaves in a rosette
off of a sort of short main stem. They'll grow
shallow rhizomes underground to help store up water and nutrients
(07:02):
for like lean seasons, off of which their true roots grow,
and they tend to spend several years growing like sturdy
and mature enough to flour, and will usually die off
after producing a single bloom. The variety of agave used
to produce tequila is called again the blue agave, and
(07:22):
that's because it has like a silver blue kind of
tinge to its spikes. It's also called the Weber agave,
after the botanist who described the variety in the early
nineteen hundreds. The blue agave is grown through clonal propagation
using cuttings, traditionally from offshoots that spring up from the
rhizomes and are allowed to develop for a couple of
years in the field into a citrus sized ball, but sometimes,
(07:46):
especially these days, cuttings or cultures from mature plant tissue
are used. The plant can reach like four to six
feet tall, that's like one point two to one point
eight meters. They're just as wide as they are tall
as well, or sometimes will like sprawl wider as their
spikes fan out, and they form this thick pile or
(08:08):
like heart in the center of the leaves. The spikes
do have barbs along their edges and a thorn at
the end, so if you ever find yourself in an
agave field, don't get too handsy. It takes a blue
agave like eight to twelve years or more to mature
to harvest. Readiness. You know it's ready because it'll start
(08:30):
sending up its one flower stalk. In nature, these suckers
can grow some twenty feet tall, that's like six meters
what okay, and it'll bear like many tiny blooms that
are pollinated by this local species of bat. But in
(08:50):
making tequila, you don't actually want to let the plant
bloom because once it starts doing that, it'll, you know,
pour all of its stored resources in to blooming, and
those resources are also what we're interested in, So you
cut the flower stalk off early. Producers will watch like
each individual plant for signs of ripeness. You know. Some
(09:13):
producers prefer like slightly less mature, more vegetable agaves, some
like riper sweeter agaves. It depends on the vibe you're
going for. Once the farmers have identified that a plant
is ready, skilled day laborers called himagrees will use the
special tool to cut off the thick, spiky leaves, leaving
(09:33):
just the big, roundish oblong heart of the plant. The
skin on the leaves is bitter, so like you don't
want to leave too much of them on the heart,
which is also called a pina, which means like pine
cone or pineapple, which is indeed what the heart looks like,
except it's like big, like like really big, like one
hundred and fifty pound pineapple that's like seventy kilos. They
(09:56):
can be smaller or larger, that's like somewhere in the middle.
But yeah, So the humidor cuts the pinia off at
the base and then it is transported to the distillery
where it's cleaned off and probably cut into like halves
or quarters because again that's BIG's that's difficult to manage
for the next step being production. So the initial step
(10:18):
in tequila production is that the penias are cooked traditionally
low and slow steam cooking for like up to a
day and a half, after which they're rested but allowed
to like continue cooking from residual heat for another day
or so. Modern distilleries may use faster working autoclaves you
know like pressure cookers to speed up the process. And
(10:40):
cooking is necessary as a first step because the type
of complex carbohydrate that agave produces is called inulin, which
is not fermentable, but heating it breaks it down into
fruit tose and other carbs and stuff the yeast can eat,
which is important and Furthermore, we'll introduce some some flavors
(11:02):
from caramelization. Cooking also helps soften all the fibrous parts
of the heart for the next step, which is a
crushing and or shredding the cooked pinias to get all
of that juice and syrup out of them and rinsing
them with water to like really really get them washed out.
After that, it is time for fermentation. You add yeast
or allow a wild fermentation process to happen, and or
(11:25):
add fermented juice from a previous batch. That fermentation can
take from a few days to a couple of weeks,
depending on all kinds of circumstances, resulting in a fruit
beer or a light wine that's like four to six
percent alcohol, alcohol of course being a type of yeast pool. Finally,
(11:47):
you come to distillation. You'll use stills to separate out
different components by their boiling point, retaining the alcohol and
flavors that you want and discarding or redistilling the rest.
Quila must go through at least two distillations, and some
copper has to be involved in the still. It doesn't
have to be an all copper still. It's a whole thing.
(12:10):
It's rare that producers do a third distillation because usually
that had come out to bland tasting. But yeah, so
then you have tequila, and next you can choose to
do some aging, because aging, or the lack thereof, is
where your main categories of tequila come into play. Blanco
repisado and anjejo okay blanco meaning white, also called silver tequila.
(12:35):
This is a clear tequila that's bottled, usually without being
aged in barrels at all. Can be aged for like
up to two months, but yeah, it's typically aged either
in bottles or steel tanks for at least a couple months,
and can be held longer in those containers to help
control like the overall supply of tequila. Then repisoto, meaning rested,
(12:57):
is tequila that's golden in color from been aged from
two months to a year in oak barrels that may
be toasted or charred, but it's not required. The barrels
for tequila can be newly made oak barrels from North
America or Europe, or can be repurposed barrels from like
whiskey or wine or whatever if you want to add
some of those flavors in there. On. Yeho, meaning aged
(13:21):
is tequila. That's amber in color from having been aged
in small oak barrels for one to three years, getting
a lot more of that kind of oak stuff in there. Yeah,
there's a new category called extra and yeho that means
that tequila has been aged for over three years in oak,
and one called joven or sometimes oro, meaning youth or gold,
(13:46):
and this indicates a blend of blanco and aged tequilas.
Tequilas are bottled between thirty five percent and fifty five
percent alcohol by volume for the export market and towards
the low end of that for the local market, and
all of this is managed by Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council.
(14:07):
Tequila is yes, a protected designation of origin in Mexico,
meaning a spirit that's made of at least fifty one
percent alcohol, distilled from blue agave and produced in either
the state of Jalisco or in particular parts of four
other states. Tequilas that are made with a mix of
agave and other alcohols are called mixtos and are considered
(14:31):
like less desirable. Producers that only use a gave will
label their tequila one hundred percent agave. Anything else is
almost definitely a mixtol. However, producers are allowed to add
up to one percent flavor or color additives to any
tequila except for blanco, without mentioning it on their label. Also,
(14:55):
if you really super want to get into the tear
war of tequila, you can. You can look for tequilas
from the two main regions of Jalisco, being the highlands
and the lowlands. That is, Los Altos and al Valier.
Los Alto's tequilas tend to be sweet and fruity. Alvalier
tequilas tend to be more earthy and spicy. This is
(15:16):
categories that I didn't know existed until basically right now,
and I'm like, oh, I shall look into that. Indeed,
same Yeah. Scientific research has been done into the flavor
profiles of tequilas and it is found that the primary
(15:36):
flavor components common like most common to most tequilas include banana, candy, beeswax, apple, grape, rose, honey, clove, funk, malt,
and vanilla.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Fuck.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I'm like summarizing, but what they It's like it's like
an odor molecule or like a sorry, a flavor molecule
that basically means funk.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Okay, I think I know what you're talking about. Yeah,
I just haven't. I'm going to have to reevaluate my
my tequilas, right, I wasn't picking up on any funk.
I don't think.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Oh I've had some funky tequilas for sure. Okay anyway, Yeah,
ostensibly a food show. Yeah, so, younger, paler tequilas are
good and like light, bright mixed drinks where you might
otherwise think about like other clear alcohols like a vodka
(16:41):
or gin or light rum. The darker and more aged
that you go, the more you're gonna want to think
of the tequila as being like an analog to a
whiskey or dark rum or maybe like a brandy.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And you can put those into any cocktail that you want.
I mean, like, I certainly can't stop you. But the
mood of those cocktails is usually like richer and heavier.
The most aged tequilas should probably be enjoyed alone or
like with a little bit of ice or water to
loosen them up, because they've probably got lovely nuance all
on their own.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Yes, yes, indeed, Well what about the nutrition drink responsibly? Yeah,
we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
We do okay, So there are pinias on record that
weighed some four hundred pounds, that's one hundred and eighty kilos. Also,
it takes about fifteen point five pounds of pina to
produce a leader of tequila. Outside of Mexico, fifty eight
(17:51):
other countries also legally protect the definition of tequila. I
think Canada was the first country to do so in
nineteen seventy nine. Huh yeah. As of twenty twenty four,
which is the most recent year that we have good
data from, Mexico was producing nearly four hundred and ninety
six million liters of tequila from some one point eight
(18:13):
million tons of agave. This varies year to year, you know,
with lots of factors, because it's a natural product and
farming isn't a guaranteed thing that occurs. At that time
twenty twenty four, the market was valued at around fourteen
billion dollars total. The industry at that point comprised over
(18:38):
forty two thousand agave producers and two hundred and six
tequila distillers, working with nearly three thousand tequila brands.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Three thousand tequila brands. Mm hmm, yep, whoa oh okay?
Speaker 2 (19:02):
The brand Jose Cuervo produces the most. Uh. Mexico itself
consumes around ninety three million liters of tequila a year
and exports the rest. The US imports by far the most,
over three hundred million liters. Other major importers do include Spain, Germany,
and France. And Okay, between twenty four and twenty twenty four,
(19:28):
shipments of tequila to the US increased by volume by
two hundred and seventy one percent. Revenue during that period
increased five hundred and nine percent, ending in six point
five two billion dollars in sales in the United States
(19:52):
in twenty twenty four. And I will also say that
sales of higher end varieties of tequila increased wildly during
that time.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Wow, okay, yeah, that's quite the increase. That's quite the increase.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah, it is. It has been a boom, one would say.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
One would say that, and many have, uh and and
many have looked into why said boom might have happened.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Oh yeah, oh sure, And we are going to get
into that history. But first we are going to get
into a quick break for a word from our sponsors,
and we're back.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay, So tequila's origin
is the cause of a lot of disagreement. The general
consensus is that its earliest iteration dates back to two
hundred to three hundred CE and meso America, when indigenous
peoples fermented a gave juice to make a sort of
(21:09):
wine called pulk ca. At the time, agave plants were
highly prized, and so was the beverage. It was used
spiritually and medicinally. Other historians suggest that this drink goes
back much further, and certainly the method or similar drinks
(21:29):
do mystery's history. A gave itself originated in meso America
at least ten thousand years ago, possibly up to twelve
thousand years ago. Archaeological evidence suggest that hunter gatherer groups
in the area were using it that far back, so
(21:54):
it's been kicking around.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, yeah, and not always as a food stuff or
drink stuff. People also used agave plants for their fibers
for making things like rope, cloth and paper.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yes, jumping ahead. When Spanish colonizers invaded what would become
Mexico in the early fifteen hundreds, they reportedly were not
fans of this agave wine, so they started testing out
different local ingredients and distilling. Eventually they arrived at a
(22:30):
product they liked from distilled fermented agave they called vino
de mescal. As part of their efforts, the Spanish did
introduce distilling and copper stills to Mexico, though there are
alternate theories that distilling had been introduced are pioneered earlier
in Mesoamerica. Historians believe that within a decade of the
(22:54):
arrival of the Spanish, something very similar to our modern
day tequila was being distilled in the area. Jalisco, Mexico,
was a hub of production, with the first known written
reference of tequila being made there going back to sixteen
oh eight. The production of these agave are mescow wines
(23:20):
grew in sixteen hundreds, particularly in the Jlisco town Tequila
and its surrounding area. The spirits they produced were high
quality enough that they became the gold standard for these
types of wines, and a large scale distillery was built
to meet demand.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, and it's actually interestingly hard to say whether what
they were producing at that time was more like wine
or more like liquor, partially because Spanish law did not
approve of liquor production in its colonies at this early time.
So like, I'm not totally sure whether colonists used the
term wine to kind of get around that, or whether
(24:03):
they were producing like really low alcohol distillates that would
have been closer to wines than to liquors in what
we in the definitions that we would use today.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Yes, yes, okay, So here's where we get some family
drama and disputes and a lot of myth peddling. I
have to say right up front this is I can't
back any of.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Those, of course. Yeah, so much of this comes directly
from these myths, these legends that the distilleries have come
up with around their own origins.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
So absolutely, but okay, these myths. In seventeen fifty eight,
the Quervo family, led by patriarch Jose Quervo, started commercially
producing tequila and yes at Quervo. The Silvza family followed
suit in eighteen seventy three, leading to an intent competition
(25:00):
between the two families. Allegedly, Don Seinobio Souza identified the
blue agave as superior when it came to making tequila,
and Quervo follows suits. So both brands started cultivating blue
agave and expanded their production until they were able to
export to the US in eighteen fifty two. But let's
(25:24):
break down some of this mythical drama, because my own my.
According to the National Geographic the families exchanged insults and bullets,
and the children of the opposing families were prohibited from
interacting with each other. Okay, this sounds like a movie, right.
(25:45):
But then a third generation Salza named Javier went to
college in Chicago, where he met a Quervo relative and
secretly married her.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh cale Romeo and yes.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
And this did not sit well with his father when
he found out. So, as legend goes, he shot a
member of the Quervo family to death, and he banned
his son from the company, like kicked him out completely.
So to make ends meet, Xavier worked as a Mexico
(26:22):
city tour guide and took on various odd jobs until
he was allowed back into the company in nineteen forty six.
His father died soon after, and so he was like
he kind of amalgamated in after his dad died, right,
Oh my gosh. So Javier tried to boost the reputation
(26:45):
of tequila, offering more premium products, specifically trying to combat
competing spirits coming out of Japan. In nineteen seventy six,
he sold the company and it eventually ended up under
the ownership of Japanese owned company Beam Suntory. Wow, this
(27:06):
is what a drama I would watch.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yoh right, yeah, all right, what a tragedy that you're right?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Oh my gosh. Like I said, this is largely from
a national geographic piece that I found. I'm not sure
how true it is, but I would watch that show. Yeah,
that's what I'm saying. Yeah, absolutely, all right, exiting that
(27:40):
and stepping back a bit. By the eighteen seventies, tequila
had made it to the US and Europe. By the
eighteen nineties, the name mescal had been swapped out for
tequila after the town when referring to the agave based
spirits made in the Hollisco region.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, and this was based on a number of specifications
that producers in the area were really leaning into, including
using this specific variety of blue agave and the way
that they cooked it in above ground steamer ovens versus
the traditional for other Mezcals method of pit cooking or
(28:23):
clay ovens heated with charcoal or hot stones.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yes, and then many Americans were first introduced to tequila
at the eighteen ninety three Chicago World's Fair, and its
popularity grew over the next few decades after that.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yeah, the tequila in question, made by Salza apparently won
the Colombian Exposition Brandy Award. So I mean it's based
on a quote unquote fruit.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Sure, sure, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah. Botanist Franz Weber arrived in Mexico around this time
and surveyed the native plants. He described blue agave in
nineteen oh two, giving it the taxonomical name agave tekilana
tequilana to kilena. I didn't look it up, and it's
too late now. There's no internet where we live there.
(29:19):
We're not on the internet right now, so we only
exist in your minds. Actually, oh no, I didn't know
it was going to be a Saint elsewhere. Ending of
the podcast. Okay, wow, do I mean.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We gotta at the end, we gotta leave it up
for interpretation. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Perfect?
Speaker 1 (29:42):
So this brings us to prohibition. Every every alcohol episode
we do, we have to talk about prohibition.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
So with prohibition in the nineteen twenties, American smugglers were
bringing in tequila, but at the same time, Americans with
me means were visiting places like Tijuana in Mexico and
having tequila there. After prohibition was repealed, the trip to
Mexico to enjoy tequila was no longer required, and many
(30:13):
Mexican bars that had relied on that traffic from Americans
suffered and eventually closed. It's estimated the number of these
bars dropped from one hundred and fifty to nine or ten.
One of the ones that remained was a place in
Tijuana run by an irishman named Madden that was known
(30:36):
for a drink called the Tequila Daisy. In nineteen thirty six,
James Graham, who was the owner and editor of Iowa
was the Mobille Mail newspaper. He and his wife visited
this bar owned by this irishman in Tijuana after i
(30:59):
recommendation from their taxi driver. Graham tried the Tequila Daisy
and was quite taken with it, or he was at
least curious about it. It's not clear if he actually
tried it, but the story is that he probably did,
but he did not say specifically that he did. Graham
later went on to write about this drink. Whatever the case,
(31:22):
in his paper, which was distributed in a town with
a population of nine hundred and seventy five people. He wrote,
I entered the joint and told mister Madden my curiosity
was aroused regarding the daisy. Mister Madden was not the
most talkative of men, but eventually he was persuaded to
(31:45):
admit that the drink's creation was a mistake. In mixing
a drink, I grabbed the wrong bottle, and the customer
was so delighted that he called for another and spread
the good news far and wide. There's so many things
I love about this.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yeah, I feel like this is like every legendary cocktail
story in one. Because you've got you've got like the
obscure press reference. Yes, you've got the accidental creation. Yes,
you've got the like what bar like.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Okay, I love the taxi driver suggesting it. That's great. Yeah,
But there's something about it. This guy from Iowa, who
has a paper that reaches nine hundred and seventy five people,
perhaps writing about this drink that he may or may
(32:44):
not have tried in Tiuanna, and people tell the story
is if he put it on the map of the
United State. Yeah, yeah, Well, I love it. I don't
know how true it is, but it's got a lot
of the elements of these stories for sure, Yes, that
(33:05):
we tell on here. The Spanish word for daisy is margarita.
And yeah, while Graham he never specified but was in
the cocktail, A lot of historians think that it was
essentially a brandy daisy, which was a popular pre prohibition drink,
(33:27):
but they just swapped out the tequila. They swapped out
the brandy for tequila. Yeah, yeah, which makes sense. That
makes sense to me, sure, And as always with these cocktails,
it's likely multiple people came up with a similar idea
around the same time or earlier. The basic mix of
citrus and a spirit is an old one. A lot
(33:50):
of Mexican bartenders are probably offering a similar version.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, it's what they would have had around so yeah, exactly.
Stepping back from the margarita into tequila in general. Throughout
the mid nineteen hundreds, the introduction of industrial equipment to
different parts of the tequila making process, you know, cooking, shredding,
(34:16):
and mashing, stuff like that really sped up production. And
Mexican regulation of tequila also shifted during this time, Like
early standards from like legal standards from the nineteen forties
set only one hundred percent agave products as real tequila.
As demand and especially foreign demand grew throughout the sixties
(34:40):
and seventies, that loosened to seventy percent agave and finally
today's fifty one percent. Regulations also opened up to allow
bluagave produced in states other than Hallisco.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
And speaking of regulation, in nineteen seventy four, the Mexican
government made moves to protect the name tequila the established
rules of distillation, declared that it had to be produced
in Mexico, and named the world Tequila itself as part
of Mexico's intellectual property. At the same time, the Tequila
(35:17):
Regulatory Council was founded. They had two main goals during
this period, quality assurance and product promotion, and they needed
it because a lot of the tequilas available for purchase
in the United States in the eighties and nineties were Mixto's,
(35:39):
as Lauren mentioned, mixes of neutral grain and an agave spirit,
and this didn't do tequila's reputation a lot of favors.
But there was a concerted effort to bring in higher
quality products to course correct this whole thing. On top
(36:00):
of that luxury tequila like Patron. Patrone launched in nineteen
eighty nine. At first though, I find this really interesting.
The brand didn't use tequila in their marketing. Instead, it
was marketed as the world's greatest spirit. Wow, Yeah, distancing
(36:24):
themselves from tequila. Yeah. The branding painted this picture of
a luxurious lifestyle with Patron's brand that attracted consumers that
may have previously been uninterested in tequila. Like, look at
this lifestyle you could have.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Yeah, this is aspirational when it involves the world's greatest spirit.
What is tequila? Yes? This this worked. It created a
boom in the nineteen nineties that actually led to a
supply shortage of blue agave, with demand driving prices for
(37:06):
pinas up some sixteen hundred percent. Farmers started planting a
lot more agave, though of course these crops wouldn't mature
for several years.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah. And as a part of this, around two thousand
and four, the Tequila Regulatory Council allowed for flavored tequilas
to be labeled as tequila, except in the case of
one hundred percent agave tequilas. Because of the demand in
the pricing, they.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Were like, you know, what you know what, Sure, Sure's
let's go. In two thousand and six, UNESCO named the
area where blue agave is grown and tequila is produced
to their World Heritage List.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
In the twenty tens, in the US, craft bars re
embraced tequila and at Mescal creating their own cocktails are
new spins on old ones. Varieties of marguerite has exploded,
and there are just so many popular cocktails that involve tequila.
(38:16):
Yeah yeah, also celebrity brands. In twenty thirteen, George Clooney,
alongside Randy Gerber, launched Casamigos. It was sold to Diagio
for reported one billion dollars. This yeah, yep, and this
(38:39):
sparked conversations about making tequila a brand. Who was getting
the attention, the credit, the money, all those things. From
a celerity kind of steps into a existing yeah, well
historical existing, right, yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (38:57):
The market for tequila was still changing. The export of
one hundred percent agave tequila overtook that of mixed dose
for the first time in twenty nineteen. As of today,
about fifty eight percent of exported tequilas are one hundred
percent a goave.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
But as always, when we see something experience such a
growth in popularity, there has been there are problems. Ye, yes,
So with all of this growth and popularity, this motivation
to increase supply, the Tequila Regulatory Council has an ion
(39:39):
sustainability in terms of water consumption, carbon footprint, and potential deforestation.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah. Environmentalists are also concerned about, like the popularity of
tequila in particular over other agave based beverages because of
that restriction that tequila be made only from this one type,
this this blue agave. Because as we've talked about before
(40:08):
on the show, monocultures are generally bad. And by bad
I mean like both endangering to the environment because they're
not a friendly way to support a diverse ecosystem and
endangering to themselves because like a single disease or pest
could wipe them out. Also, I have to add here,
(40:31):
like won't anybody think of the bats. This one species
of bat that pollinates blue agave, and all of this
blue agave is being grown and not allowed to produce
pollen or nectar. You know what the bats are actually
eating when they're spreading pollen. Think of the bats.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
The bats are cool.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
The part is cool. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
When I was reading this, I was like, wait, you're
telling me there are specific bats.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Yeah, just fun basically.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
That's that's cool.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Oh weird environmental silver lining. Agaves are really good at
growing in dry, hot weather, so they might be really
well adapted to the forces of climate change that are
predicted to hit like the south end of North America,
(41:27):
so they might do surprisingly well considering climate change that's
coming for us in the future. I don't know how
great I feel about that, but.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Dicky Well listeners as always right in let us know
if you've if you have any cocktails, go to cocktails,
or if you like toward the area.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Oh yeah, oh absolutely, yeah, I've never I've never been
that far south, and it seems really cool.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
It does, it does, and it's been an interesting at
least for me. It's been interesting going from college where
I feel like tequila was viewed in the United States
as like a cheap, cheaper thing. Yeah. Now it's a really.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
It is like a popular and even premium category. Yeah,
which is cool. Yeah, I yeah, I mean, oh, I'm
so curious about all the different different regions now and
I want to look more into it.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
Yes, yes, well, that is what we have to say
about tequila for now it is.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
But yes, we would love to hear from you, and
we already have some listener mail for you and we
are going to get into that as soon as we
get back from one more quick break for a word
from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, and
we're back with list nun. Yeah. Yeah, that was a
good one. That was a good one, good flourish good.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Yes, yes, as we've said, the email will still be
open after this. We are hoping to come back in
some capacity every now and then. Maybe. Yeah, if we don't,
(43:59):
then I think this is a good a good final episode.
But just no, like you know, stick around.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Yeah, don't delete the show off of your feed yet
you know, yeah, yeah not yet.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
And I have been you know, this is a kind
of emotional thing for us as well. So I've been
lax in answering your listener. But I will.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
Oh, I think everyone forgives you, dude, like yeah that
I It's on my calendar, Like I promise you.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
No, I promise. So if you if your email never
gets read, if we don't get to come back, just no,
I will respond to you. Yeah. Yes, So Dan wrote, hi,
all so sorry to hear the show is winding down.
(44:54):
I wasn't going to write, but decided to in the end.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Here.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
My wife introduced me to your show back when your
very first episode on Champagne came out. If I remember right,
the next episode was Pineapple. We seriously haven't missed an
episode since. We've listened to them all from day one,
and it's always been a great listen in the car
on commutes, are while grinding out miles during marathon training.
(45:20):
Running makes me hungry and listening to your show always
gets me thinking about what I can't wait to eat afterwards.
I joke, not really that I run so I can eat. Unfortunately,
she was also finishing up her chemotherapy at the time
at the start, and you were always there to keep
her company. You all were even here for the birth
(45:42):
of our son, who is six now, and he loves
as well to learn about food. He is a huge
food fan as well, and actually just had to re
listen to your SpongeBob food episode because you just discovered
that show and you inspired us to make our own
Krabby Patti's the other day, and yes, he helped. You
(46:05):
all have been a huge part of our lives over
the past few years, sparking many fun conversations at home
about things like gooey Duck, rice and HEE'SOOO. Unfortunately, in
twenty twenty four, cancer returned very quickly and aggressively, and
I was left at thirty nine to raise our five
year old alone. We never stopped listening, though, and he
(46:28):
still knows this was his mom's favorite podcast. Because of that,
we're always really excited whenever our new episode drops. Hearing
you say goodbye is genuinely painful for us, but we
understand that everything has its time and life moves forward.
Thank you for all your hard work, humor, and fascinating
information over the years. We wish you both the very best,
(46:52):
and hopefully we'll hear from you again somewhere in the
podcast verse in the future. Ps. I just went to
Louisville last weekend for the first time and re listened
to your Derby episode. If you're in town, the Hot
Brown is not to be missed. Probably three thousand calories
of pure bliss.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
Yes, yep, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
One of my favorite memories of traveling with you guys
is that, like because that was like our first trip basically,
and like you and Dylan's faces when two plates of
hot brown hit the table, and it was immediately just like, oh,
we have made a mistake. We have made a tactical error.
Speaker 1 (47:40):
Yeh, yes, oh my gosh, we did have them. They
were frightening in their portion size, and it's been warn
and I were discussing, you know, I was planning what
I'll do to cheer myself up after this, and I
(48:00):
was thinking, you know, I've enjoyed watching a World Cup
fans react to our food, and I have to say, like,
so many of them are about portion sizes. I also
am shocked by portion sizes. Yes, it's not just you.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
No, Oh my goodness. Yeah. If anyone who's traveling for
the World Cup right now is listening to this show,
yeah know that you're not alone. Like Americans get horrified
by that guy.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
You can't predict it. I had a friends stay over
the other night and we were ordering from from a
place we'd never gone to before to get delivery, and
all they offered was small and large, and I was like,
how big is the large?
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Small? What's going on?
Speaker 1 (48:50):
So large was humongous. I'm going to be eating that
for five days and she ate it.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Too, so yes, delicious problem to have, but yes, uh yeah, no,
there's those those hot browns. Also, just oh, my goodness,
thank you so much for this email. What what an
incredible story. I am so glad that we could have
(49:18):
been part of your lives, especially through a lot of
weird hard times. I I don't know if I've ever
talked about it out loud on the show before. I
think there's been hints here and there. But I was
eight years old when my mom passed away from cancer
and leaving my dad a single father, to raise me
(49:39):
and to try to I mean, you know, it helped
that he was like in the restaurant industry, but you know,
like a lot of what are a lot of our
bonding was definitely through food. So it is incredibly touching, uh,
to to hear all of this. And if if I
know that my sarcasm voice sounds a lot a lot
(50:00):
like my regular voice that was in no way sarcasm,
but holy heck, thank you.
Speaker 1 (50:08):
Yes, and I'm glad that you're sharing this and that
you made Krabby patties. Yes, yes, so thank you. Yeah,
thank you for listening, for sharing, and for taking the
(50:28):
time to write us.
Speaker 2 (50:31):
Yes, oh my goodness, Christine wrote, I hope the long
no I left on Instagram adequately summed up my feelings
on the news that my podcast feed will be savorless soon.
You never fail to make me laugh and think, and
I've learned so much from you. If ever, either of
(50:52):
you are coming down under, please let me know so
I can introduce you to the delights of Lamington's fairy bread,
meat pies, prawn toast, and good coffee. I'm writing this
eating fancy smashed avo toast, in other words, guacamally toast.
We have an abundance of avocados even though it's winter,
so I'm making the most of it. However, you're now
(51:12):
in summer, and I understand it gets hot and humid
at Atlanta, so I thought i'd share my favorite avocado recipe,
chilled avocado soup, no cooking, and aside from the avocado
and the stock, there's no set measurements for the soup.
It is about the vibe. The ensuing recipe is a
little bit long, so we're not going to read it out,
but email us if you were interested, because sounds amazing. Okay,
(51:38):
coming back, Also, Annie, I owe you a long standing
in heartfelt apology when I got cross with you calling
the Cybertron all Spark the all Life. I didn't know
that Transformers was not an intrinsic part of your nerd DNA,
so the mix up is easy enough to make, so
(52:00):
I apologize for what was an unwarranted chastising, unlike a
certain mister Ben Bolan, who still hasn't issued an on
air apology for calling the X Men's blackbird jet the
x Wing. For pet tax, I have included a picture
(52:22):
of Empowa Samson snowshoe to Munificent. He had just employed
an ankylosaurus attack on my feet to force me to
abandon the Ottoman. He was very upset that I would
not give him any guacamole. Trying to explain to him
that the amount of garlic, onion and chili in the
guacamole made it unsafe for empa Wa Khitas was unsuccessful
(52:47):
in reducing his bad mood. Ankylosaurs are the ones with
the club on their tails, and they are my second
favorite type of dinosaur. In the spirit of fun, feasting
and fellowship, hopefully not farewells. And yes, there is attached
pet tax of the aforementioned Embella looking earnestly very cross
(53:15):
photo is of a chocolate, chocolate and white cat with
like a cute little white bib and little little white
socks and like kind of like it's like he was
thinking about going for a Siamese point concept but sort
of abandon it halfway through. But yeah, it's the kind
(53:35):
of look that a cat only gives you when it's
mad that you're not giving it food right now.
Speaker 1 (53:43):
Yeah, it's a very it's an intense kind of attention. Yeah,
of I am staring at you, and I cannot believe
you do not understand the issue here.
Speaker 2 (54:00):
I frequently wish that I could explain in English that
like I'm sorry, I understand, but I'm still not doing it.
Like it's not that I don't get it. I get it.
Your point is being made, but it still but there
are garlic factors beyond my control here, right.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
Oh I love it. I love it.
Speaker 2 (54:29):
Yeah, Oh my goodness, oh yeah. Yeah. And I've never been.
I've never been to Australia, but I but I certainly
hope to certainly hope to get to visit sometime.
Speaker 1 (54:45):
I've been and it was the best time. It was
so fun. And I mentioned in our episode we did
on avocado. That was one of my first experiences seeing
it in more places than I.
Speaker 2 (54:58):
Would normally see. Right, yeah, totally in the United States.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
So I am very excited about this chilled avocado soup. Yes,
the vibe. I'm into it, and thank you for your apology.
It's accepted. And Ben Bolan does have a lot to
(55:25):
answer for.
Speaker 2 (55:27):
He does. I mean, come on, big right, the least
you can do geez.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
The X Wing. He knows X Men and he knows
Star Wars. Yes, I didn't know Transformers. This is a
great We need to confront him, Yeah, and get some answers.
Speaker 2 (55:58):
Yeah, putting adding it to the list, yeah, yeah, little
bits of savor unfinished business.
Speaker 1 (56:12):
That's right. We've got a couple of things we've got.
I have like a list of topics that got away
that I'm really sad.
Speaker 2 (56:20):
Coconut.
Speaker 1 (56:22):
Coconut is my big one. I really wanted that. And
then we were gonna do the filled the stuffed crust
different stuff crusts around the world. Right now that the
World Cup is happening, and I wish I could just
weigh in on this. Oh sure, yeah, but we could.
(56:42):
We could contact Bolwin, we could we could try to
move this along.
Speaker 2 (56:50):
Yeah, see see what we can do. I'm not gonna
harass him, you know, but just but just you know
a little just a little nudge, a little nudge.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
Yeah, we're we're attempting to get our D and D
crew back together. So yeah, and bowing is a part
of it. We can try to.
Speaker 2 (57:10):
Just it's gentle, gentle push.
Speaker 1 (57:12):
Gentle gentle push. A reminder. Yes, well, thank you so
much to all of you listeners over all of this time,
and you have made the show. We have loved hearing.
Speaker 2 (57:28):
From you, Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
Yes, yeah, and thanks to all of the producers who
have helped get it made.
Speaker 2 (57:37):
Oh yeah, oh gosh, I meant to make a list,
and then I didn't. So many, so many humans. And yeah,
thanks to you Annie for always always being here and
doing the weird stuff.
Speaker 1 (57:53):
Thanks to you Lauren for always being here and doing
the and for trusting a little told me who is
in Texas trying to get the best barbecue and being
like you.
Speaker 2 (58:06):
Know what it's like. No, this lady is serious.
Speaker 1 (58:13):
Yes, well, as we said, we are hoping that maybe
we'll get to pop in here and there, yeah on here,
But if we don't we do have other projects. I
will be on stuff when I never told you, and
we've already discussed with Lauren. You should come on and
(58:37):
we can talk about women and food, oh.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
Yeah yeah, or very various pop culture things. See abovy.
I've been rewatching Buffy and I have opinions. I have
big old opinions. I was back, I was on Sminty
back before it was you and Sam hosting talking about Buffy,
and I had opinions and I've got very stronger ones now.
Speaker 1 (59:04):
Or revisit perhaps.
Speaker 2 (59:06):
Yeah yeah, yeah right, but yeah, yeah, so check out stuff.
Mom never told you. I am currently on a show
called brain Stuff, which is a short form science and
history podcast that's just me talking into a microphone. I
try to keep it really all ages, so like like savor,
(59:26):
and there's not going to be any like cussin or
too many shenanigans.
Speaker 1 (59:32):
I was about to say, we do get up to
some shenanigans, but.
Speaker 2 (59:35):
A few shenanigans, just just a handful, just a handful. Look,
it's not our fault that cultures thought that everything was
an aphrodisiac. Yes, for millennia, that.
Speaker 1 (59:49):
Was absolutely not on us. No, uh but yeah, thank you.
So much to everyone listening, who has listened, whenever you
came in, from the getting from whenever, to the producers.
Cheers to all of you, and we do hope that
(01:00:09):
we hear from you soon. We do yes, and you
can email us at Hello atsavorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at Savorpod. We do hope to
hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
(01:00:41):
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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