THE KITCHEN ACTIVIST
THE KITCHEN ACTIVIST podcast will give you bite-size action steps in each episode you can implement NOW in your kitchen, the most effective place to grow well-being for people and our planet. The host is the award-winning author of EAT LESS WATER and Kitchen Activist Florencia Ramirez.
THE KITCHEN ACTIVIST
The True Cost of Tequila (you don't need to like tequila to listen): A Chapter Reading for Cinco de Mayo
Dive into the fascinating world of sustainable tequila production as we explore a chapter from my book "Eat Less Water" titled "Tequila and Water."
Did you know that one liter of tequila requires 65 gallons of water to produce? With America's love for margaritas driving massive tequila imports, our collective consumption represents nearly 10 billion gallons of water annually – enough to fill almost 18,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Meet Don Adolfo Murillo, founder of award-winning Tequila Alquimia and pioneer of organic tequila production. Through his story, we uncover the stark contrast between conventional agave farming, with its heavy reliance on chemicals and unsustainable water practices, and Don Adolfo's regenerative approach rooted in his grandfather's wisdom: "If you treat the earth well, it will treat you well." His innovative methods include using Limousine cattle for natural weed control, practicing dry farming techniques that preserve precious groundwater, and transforming vinaza waste into nutrient-rich compost instead of dumping it into rivers.
The environmental impact of our drinking choices extends far beyond what meets the eye. Conventional tequila production often leaves behind degraded soil, depleted aquifers, and polluted waterways, while concentrating chemicals that might contribute to those notorious tequila hangovers. Yet Don Adolfo's international gold medals prove that sustainable practices can create superior products while protecting vital water resources. Whether you're a tequila enthusiast or someone who cares about environmental stewardship, this episode connects the dots between our consumption choices and their ripple effects on soil health, water resources, and the people who depend on them.
Are you curious about making your own sustainable margaritas? Join our Kitchen Activist Collective or follow @eatlesswater on Instagram for Don Adolfo's simple, additive-free recipe!
Visit Alquimia Tequila to have it shipped to you or find a bottle near you.
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Join us inside the Kitchen Activist Collective. Learn more here.
Get a copy of the EAT LESS WATER book.
Reach me at info@eatlesswater.com
Hi there, I want to read to you a chapter from my book Eat Less Water called Tequila and Water. But before I do that, I wanted to just back up a little bit and give you some context. I thought it was a fun average on Cinco de Mayo, and it's the most consumed cocktail in the country, not just on Cinco de Mayo, so I wanted to spend some time on tequila. But even if you are not a tequila drinker or someone who reaches for margaritas when you are at a bar or restaurant, this is something for everyone, because it helps us to connect the dots between our food choices and the impact it makes, both good and bad, in the environment and, specifically in this story, the impact it makes on soil health, groundwater levels in Mexico and rivers the health of rivers. The farmer you're going to hear about in this chapter is Don Adolfo, the first generation tequila maker, and I didn't travel to Jalisco, which is where his farm is located, to interview him when I wrote this chapter, but rather traveled to his home, which is just minutes from mine in Oxnard, california. And I just went back to his home in Oxnard and interviewed Don Adolfo last Saturday and interviewed Don Adolfo last Saturday, and it was so interesting to revisit many of the topics that I talk about or you're going to listen to in this chapter, and that interview is for people who are inside the Kitchen Activist Collective and, if you missed it and you are inside the collective already it's a brand new thing. I'm really excited about the collective because it helps us to start building a community of people who want to make a difference and connect the dots between our food choices, our drink choices and the rivers and streams and soil that's attached to it, and the people and the people, because conventional agriculture, as you're going to listen to in this chapter, is attached to exploitation of our natural resources and people. We're nature too. We are a natural resource. I really hope you can. You'll enjoy this chapter and if you want to go even further, you can listen to or watch the interview that I had with Don Adolfo and also a fun I took a segment of that piece, or actually it was live on Instagram. You can also see that on Instagram at eatlesswater, where Donatoful takes us through answers some more questions around food additives in most of our tequila that you'll find at the grocery store or at the bar, and also except not his, which is Tequila Arquimia, and will take us through a demonstration of how to make tequila or margaritas without the margarita mix. And it is delicious, you're going to love it. And what's funny is at the very end of squeezing the tangerine and lime and adding the agave syrup and ice, and he forgot. And adding the agave syrup and ice, and he forgot almost forgot the tequila shot, but I was there to remind him. That was the very best part. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and if you have the book, eat Less Water, the recipe for margarita that he makes, that Don Adolfo makes, is inside.
Speaker 1:Let's dive into the chapter Tequila and water. One liter bottle of tequila equals 65 gallons of water. Blanco tequila is the color of water, too young to absorb the color of oak. It's the favorite choice for margaritas, the most popular tequila drink. The US imports two-thirds of all tequila produced. Liters of tequila with a water footprint of nearly 10 billion gallons, enough to fill 17,845 Olympic-sized pools.
Speaker 1:I swirled a clear liquid in my shot glass. Absent are wedges of lime and shakers of salt used to soften the sharp burn of tequila. Tequila alchia the Spanish word for alchemy, is made to sip. Dr Adolfo Murillo, owner of Tequila Alquimia, hands me a second taster. Notice the color of the gold. Anejo directs Adolfo. Its color comes from oak barrels. We took minerals deep in the earth, rainwater from the sky and energy from the sun and created liquid gold. Gold medals, prominently displayed in glass cases, decorate the dining room in Adolfo's Oxnard California home. His tequilas Blanco, reposado, anejo and Extra Anejo won 40 international gold medals. Won 40 international gold medals.
Speaker 1:Do judges know your tequila is organic? No, it's a blind taste, otherwise it would be a small competition. There are only four certified USDA organic out of 1,150 brands, adolfo says. His thick black mustache lifts with his smile. Do you think organic agave improves the flavor of your tequila? My grandfather taught me, if you treat the earth well, it will treat you well. So yes, how we grow the plants improves the flavor of the tequila.
Speaker 1:He shows me photographs of his agave ranch in Agua Negra, jalisco, one of five states that can cultivate tequila according to Mexican laws. The 125-acre ranch is adjacent to land that once belonged to Adolfo's grandfather. Dozens of photographs show the spiny blue agave plants growing in obedient straight lines. The strong, sharp spines reach for the sky in a sun salutation. Photos of cows foraging between the tight rows of blue agave enter the screen. The cattle are weed control, adolfo says. They increase the microbiological material of the soil with the manure they leave behind. Don't the cattle damage the agave plants? No, they avoid the spines. I chose the limousine cattle, originally from France, because of their superior foraging. The cattle help remove the quillotes every spring.
Speaker 1:What are quillotes? He leads me out through the sliding glass door near the kitchen and points upward Blue agave border, the patio of his home. My vision travels up along a thick stalk bursting from the center of one plant. Its top reaches the eaves of the second story. Clusters of coral-like flowers sprout from branches. When you grow agave for tequila, you want the juice concentrated in the piña or core. Guillotes, he motions to the flower high above us, extract significant juice from the plant. So we'd spend hours removing them by hand every spring. The cows began eating the flowers straight from the plant as soon as they figured out how sweet they taste. They do the work for us. Do other agave farms use cattle? No, but the word has gotten out about our cows who eat quillotes. We considered renting them out, but we prefer that our cows eat only organic plants.
Speaker 1:How long does agave grow? Standing beside one plant. I touched the point of its leaf with the tip of my finger. Agaves grow for 6 to 10 years. It depends on the timing of the harvest. The length of the growing season makes organic even more important. Most conventionally grown crops like lettuce or celery are cultivated in a single season, but the exposure to pesticides for agave spans years.
Speaker 1:Agave farms depend on the steady application of chemicals to kill weeds and eradicate pests like the pucudo bug or weevil. The glossy black insects with horn-shaped snouts feast on the sweet sap inside the leaves. Once inside the cavity of the plant, the picudo leaves its larva behind, making the plant useless for distillation. Chemical fertilizers leave a residue of salts and heavy metals that collect in the soil after each use, adolfo says. Eventually the land becomes less productive, causing the grower to use even more fertilizers. You end up with sterile soil that cannot sustain life. Adolfo works to reverse the trend towards sterile land in Mexico. On his frequent trips to his ranch, he regularly mentors Mexican farmers on transitioning to organic farming.
Speaker 1:Why are your plants resistant to pests without chemicals? When you use pesticides, the plant relies on the chemical instead of itself. Our plants build their own defenses. Plants, unlike animals, have no immune system. The plant equivalent is a combination of structural, chemical and protein-based defenses against pathogens. Nutrient imbalances compromise the plant's innate defense mechanisms and lower pest resistance, inviting the need to use chemicals to protect susceptible crops.
Speaker 1:The distillation process concentrates the chemicals absorbed by the plant over a decade. I believe it's why tequilas earn the reputation for terrible hangovers. I don't need to worry about a hangover. I take another sip of tequila from the shot glass I carried outside. No, but just like any alcohol, we all have our limits. I bring down the glass from my lips, unwilling to test mine. We return to the photos on the laptop.
Speaker 1:The town of Agua Negra receives little rainfall. Close-ups of the ground reveal brittle sandstone. The water for irrigation comes primarily from underground. 80% of large distilleries purchase agave from contract farmers. Once the aquifer runs dry, leased land is abandoned, leaving limited water for small farms of the region.
Speaker 1:Adolfo's agave is dry farmed using no irrigation after the plant is established. How can you dry farm? During the rainy season, we fence the cattle out of the agave to let the weeds grow. The weeds protect the topsoil and help store water. After the rainy season passes, we mow the weeds, leaving the root systems intact. We leave the mowed weeds on the ground too. The decomposing plant material helps the soil absorb moisture for the plants.
Speaker 1:In the dry months, adolfo's farm collects millions of gallons of water under the parched rocks. My grandfather would invite the townspeople to use water from the spring on his land. I think it brought him a sense of pride to share water with his community. Do you know what's happened to the spring? The last I heard? It's nearly dry, I imagine the water is polluted with herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. His tone softens when speaking about his grandfather's land. A picture of his two daughters holding machetes appears on the screen. My daughters have become experts at using a machete, laughs Adolfo.
Speaker 1:Tequila is harvested by slicing off the leaves with machetes to expose the torso of the agave plant called the piña, named so because it resembles an overgrown pineapple. Mules carry the ripe piñas weighing between 80 to 200 pounds, more than three times the average weight of plants from surrounding farms. The sugar content, or bricks of the piña, adds to the complexity of flavor. Adolfo's bricks is more than double the average. The images move from the farm to a tequila distillery located on a river. Ancient alchemists invented distillation, adolfo tells me. Agave is cooked until it's soft and tastes like sweet potato. Next it is shredded to release the juice from the plant fibers. Juice from the plant fibers Natural yeast eats the sugar and digests them, creating alcohol in fermentation tanks twice Adolfo's height. The fermentation will take 7 to 10 days. When you let it follow its natural course, as we do, many tequila companies prefer the faster method of three days, using supercharged yeast. That's essentially chemical fertilizer. The heavy metals and salt present in the supercharged yeast is concentrated during distillation.
Speaker 1:Tequila production leaves behind vinasa, a liquid that holds high concentrations of chemicals, heavy metals, salt and nitrogen. What happens to the vinyasa? I asked, afraid of the answer. Well, the common practice of vinyasa disposal is to pour it untreated into rivers. We look at photos posted on the internet of rivers tainted with tequila's byproduct. The river water is the color of rust. The Mexican government discourages the practice of dumping untreated vinasa by imposing fines. Most distilleries opt to pay the fines rather than building costly treatment plants. Every one liter bottle of tequila generates 10 liters of vinyasa.
Speaker 1:Adolfo devised a solution for vinyasa disposal On the land behind the distillery. We turn the vinyasa into compost. We pour vinyasa over a layer of clay and piña fiber. He shows me a picture of weeds and flowers growing out of a mound of soil. With a little bit of effort, vinyasa can support life instead of stripping the rivers of Mexico of their ability to sustain life. One last sip of tequila remains. I raise my glass and Adolfo joins in To tequila alquimchemia. Thank you for preserving fresh water supplies and protecting rivers. Our glasses chime in agreement. So that ends the chapter of tequila and water. Thank you for listening to that. There is power in the collective. Be well.