What Makes Experience Agave Different?
Experience Agave is an educational tour company that connects beverage and culture through immersive tequila and mezcal tours in Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Colima. When we launched our tequila tours in 2009, this type of multi-day educational tequila tour didn’t exist. We modeled our tours on the experiences we had been stitching together ourselves for years to learn about tequila in the agave fields, distilleries, labs, and communities throughout the region.
Over the past 17 years, our team has grown, and the tequila landscape has changed dramatically—literally and figuratively. Tequila’s popularity has exploded, creating droves of aficionados and self-proclaimed experts. Would-be visitors to the tequila region now have multiple options for planning a trip—including tours offered by social media personalities, influencers, and other newcomers.
In this new tequila environment, we get a lot of questions about what our tours are like, who they are for, and how we compare to other options. So, we wanted to take this opportunity to share a bit about ourselves and our approach to learning and teaching about tequila on the ground in Jalisco. Our hope is that this will help you decide if Experience Agave is a good fit for you.
Who are we?
We are a team of dedicated, full-time, tequila, tourism, and hospitality professionals. On average, everyone on our team has 20 years of experience in tourism, hospitality, and Latin American spirits. We are from the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Those of us who are immigrants feel fortunate and proud to have made Mexico our home.
All of our tour hosts and coordinators live in Mexico and have lived here for years. Agave is our calling. Senior tour coordinator Kami Kenna has a Master of Arts in food studies from NYU, while founder Clayton Szczech is a sociologist, Ph.D. candidate, and the author of A Field Guide to Tequila. His doctoral dissertation focuses on distillers and agave farmers in rural Jalisco. In other words, this is not our hobby, a side hustle, or a recently discovered passion that we are exploring. Rather, it’s a true calling that, with luck and dedication, has become a lifetime profession.
We are all bilingual in Spanish and English, and have formally and extensively studied tequila’s culture and production for decades, complementing our unique life experiences in Mexico. We are active members in our communities, and bring our local perspectives as residents of Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Colima.
What are our tours like?
We offer “tours for folks who don’t do tours.” That is, our role is to help you safely and comfortably experience “the real Mexico.” We will visit communities where we have long-standing connections and deep friendships, allowing us to avoid the surface-level experience that is sadly common in today’s tequila tourism landscape. Instead, you’ll get an authentic introduction to the people who make tequila, as well as aspects of local culture that few tourists experience. Experience Agave will not insulate you from Mexico and Mexicans.
We present tequila, its culture, and the people who make it as part of the larger whole of Mexican society and history. We draw on our cultural competencies, education, and deep relationships in the tequila world to offer immersive and educational experiences that are far more than a typical “tour.” We’ll be exploring agave agriculture, distillation science, and the region’s history and political economy–while enjoying exemplary local food, music, and, of course, tequila.
Hospitality and safety are cornerstones of the experiences we create. As full-time residents of Mexico, we know traffic patterns, shortcuts, and back roads, and we always have a Plan B. We are fully covered by a tour operator insurance policy, although since we began in 2009, none of our guests has ever experienced an incident that required us to call upon it.
We also know where the best food and cleanest bathrooms are, where to get a cheap suitcase for those extra bottles, and where to pick up last-minute gifts for your kids.
Finally, we aren’t here to sell you bottles, barrels, a club membership, or anything else — and we don’t get commissions or kickbacks from brands. This is our calling, our profession, our trade, our livelihood. You aren’t paying for us to take our vacation alongside you — you hire us to guide you deep into the world of tequila culture.
Who are our guests?
Our guests are a highly diverse bunch–be it in terms of culture, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We celebrate that diversity and are enthusiastic about making everyone feel welcome and at ease.
We are likewise dedicated to accommodating different levels of tequila knowledge. Some of you are already the go-to tequila nerd in your social circle, while others come along for the ride a bit reluctantly, perhaps accompanying a tequila-obsessed partner or friend. By presenting an “agave orientation” on the first night of each tour, we get everyone comfortable and on the same page. We also make sure that our tours offer a well-rounded experience, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy – it’s not only about the tequila.
We do see a common trait in people who choose Experience Agave. You may hail from all over the world, but, like us, you tend to be curious and open-minded folks. Many of you are the type to ask us for a reading list before (or after) a tour, or are excited to practice your Spanish. You come to learn and experience new things, and that’s precisely why we’re here–we provide greater cultural context, while handling every aspect of logistics so you can safely and comfortably focus on relaxing and enjoying the best of Mexico’s tequila region.
If this sounds like you, and you think Experience Agave is a good fit, we look forward to creating your perfect tequila experience, whether it’s your first trip or your tenth. ¡Salud!
