Episode 145: Tequila Today With David Suro Piñera

Our March/April 2026 issue is out, and it’s filled with a celebration and exploration of Mexico’s signature spirit, tequila. David Suro Piñera opened his Philadelphia restaurant, Tequilas, in 1986. And since that time he’s become one of the country’s more notable supporters of the spirit. His book, Agave Spirits: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals (co-authored with Gary Paul Nabhan), shares some of the promises and challenges facing tequila and other agave spirits; his company, Siembra Spirits, imports tequilas from some of Mexico’s best producers; and the non-profit he founded, the Tequila Interchange Project, continues to work to protect tequila and its culture. For this episode, we talk with Suro Piñera about his own love of tequila and how our understanding of the spirit has changed over the years, and about some of the challenges currently facing this immensely popular spirit.

Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid culture, exploring the people, places, and flavors of the drinkscape through conversations about cocktails, coffee, beer, spirits, and wine. Keep up with us on Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. And if you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you join us—click here to subscribe. 

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Paul Clarke

Hey everybody, welcome back to Radio Imbibe from Imbibe Magazine. I’m Paul Clarke, Imbibe’s Editor-in-Chief.

And today is a very good day, because today we’re introducing our brand new issue of Imbibe for March-April 2026. There are lots of things to get excited about in this issue. But let’s start with the topic that’s right there on the cover, tequila. We’ve been big fans of tequila for many years at Imbibe. And we’re regularly sharing recipes and suggestions about great places to drink tequila all across the country.

But for this issue, we wanted to dig deep beneath tequila’s surface, to share some of its history, some aspects of the beauty of biology that go into tequila, some of the tradition coupled with some of the innovation taking place in the tequila category today, some of tequila’s cultural significance, and also to share some of the concerns and questions that relate to tequila as this signature spirit from Mexico soars in popularity all around the world. 

We’ll be bringing you more information on tequila in the weeks ahead, here on the podcast, as well as on our website, imbibemagazine.com.

But to get things started, we’re sharing a conversation with one of the most passionate voices about tequila today, our longtime friend, David Suro. David helped get the quality tequila ball rolling back in the 1980s when he opened his restaurant, Tequilas, in Philadelphia. Tequilas is still going strong, and in the years since, David has ventured in many other directions in the tequila field.

Launching his own brand and company, Siembra Spirits. Establishing the Tequila Interchange Project, a non-profit aimed at supporting tequila’s long-term sustainability and the health and welfare of the communities that make it. And co-authoring a wonderful book, Agave Spirits, The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals, with Gary Paul Nabhan. While working on our main tequila feature for this issue, I turned to David Suro to share some of his perspectives and insight into this amazing spirit, and some of the reasons he continues to find both joy and concerns about his future. 

Before we get into this conversation, this episode is sponsored by Charleston Wine and Food, taking place this week in Charleston, South Carolina. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026, this Charleston-based festival is known for incredible food and drink experiences, a stunning setting, and thoughtful programming you won’t find anywhere else. Imbibe is a proud annual media partner, and beyond the festivities, Charleston Wine and Food is a non-profit dedicated to strengthening our culinary and hospitality community through education, workforce development, and meaningful community support. I’ll be talking tequila in a session this Thursday at the Mills House. Please come and say hello if you’re attending the festival. And you can find out more about this year’s festival at chswf. org. 

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Paul Clarke

David, welcome to Radio Imbibe. 

David Suro Piñera

Hello, Paul. Great to be with you. 

Paul Clarke

Absolutely. Thanks so much for being here, and I’m so happy you had time to talk, because right now at Imbibe, we’re talking tequila, and one should not talk about tequila these days without talking to you. to the work you’ve done on many different levels, through your restaurant in Philadelphia, through your tequila lineup, and through the spirits you import, as well as through the book that you wrote several years ago.

Before we get into tequila today, I’m hoping we can talk a little bit about tequila’s past. Tequila, of course, is an agave distillate, and has its own history that goes back for many generations, just like other agave distillates like mezcal and raicillia. But tequila has a core identity and definition that puts it in its own kind of class and category. How did this happen, and how did tequila first differentiate itself from the other mezcales in Mexico? 

David Suro Piñera

Yes. Yes. Well, you know, if we put it in a historical context, we have to remember that all agave spirits, at one point, it was not deserved that many attention, either domestically or internationally. It was a beverage that has lots of question marks around. As far as quality, and the tequilas and mezcales that were available outside of Mexico, they were really not representative of the uh, quality quality that these spirits could provide to consumers.

And in Mexico, it’s a very uh, it’s a very classist society. They had the tendency, or or at least they used to have the tendency, to put down everything that was related to indigenous origins. So uh, it was not until some are very sad or not, they saw the potential to commercialize this product, this vinos mezcales de tequila. And they started to work and try to distance themselves from the mezcales from all over, from all the regions in Mexico other than Tequila and Jalisco.

So that’s how we see these, uh, you know, the tequileros, they define these differences by uh, linking their origins to something that really is hard to find enough evidence that tequila was the result of this uh, royalty, royalty marquis that arrived to Mexico with instructions from the king of Spain to teach indigenous people how to distill agave. Obviously, now the category of all agave spirits is in a completely different position and perception.

And, uh, the more that we start to truly invest time in research, we find out that there is a lot more in the history of agave spirits that we never knew. And, um, I, I know it’s a very intense debate right now on the origins, if the origins took place before the arrival of the Europeans or after, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a very tasty, delicious, complex debate, as good as the spirits that that debate represents. So I see enough evidence, I read enough papers from both sides, the, the believers and the nonbelievers that, uh, I think the true origins of agave spirits are dated, uh, way earlier. And way before Europeans influenced the tequila category, as we know.

Paul Clarke

Right, right. Now you’ve done so much to introduce tequila to people in the United States, starting with your restaurant, Tequila’s in Philadelphia. How did you first fall for tequila? And what was the tequila landscape back then when you first opened your restaurant and first started introducing this to people? 

David Suro Piñera

It was embarrassing to mention the word tequila. You know, it’s the story that I always tell people is I, being such a young, green, and naive immigrant, when I opened tequilas back in 1986, I was in my early twenties when I opened the restaurant. And, um, being from Guadalajara, being an immigrant, have such a, you know, the, the, the, everything culturally that was linked me to my country of origin.

Everything that I was trying to project in the restaurant was the culture. And the only culture that I know when it comes to food, um, spirits of Mexico. So I decided to use the name of the most emblematic spirit of Mexico to, to, to call the restaurant. And, um, you know, I learned very soon after I opened that it was not a good idea of the misconceptions.

The people automatically react in the very negative way, sometimes very offensive when I, when I say that the name of the restaurant was tequilas, but then also soon after I opened the restaurant, I figured out why was that connotation so negative. I figured out that, um, the only tequilas that were available in the United States back then, they were very, very questionable tequilas. They were not even tequilas as I consider tequila, which is a spirit made of a 100% agave.

So that became our mission for the restaurant and our program, not just to emphasize on the culinary aspect of the, of our project, but also on the agave spirits that we want to introduce to American consumers and, uh, it’s been a great journey, but you see compared 1986 to 2025. It’s kind of like a dream come true, you know, to see people like yourself, Paul, I mean, you know, take alcohol beverages, uh, in a very serious way. And the number of consumers, they appreciate how how incredibly complex, beautiful, magical are these spirits from It is a dream come true for me.

Paul Clarke

And you know, today, of course, there’s scores of brands of tequila, and it’s a major global industry, I don’t know, but this kind of popularity does come with a cost. A nonprofit organization that you founded and that continues to run, The Tequila Interchange Project, established in a way to try and address some of these costs and bring some light to them. and I’d like to touch upon a few of those costs. First off, because they’re very much a part of the tequila industry today. Since we have a spirit that is legally defined, legally required to be made from a single type of agave, what kind of situation has that created in terms of biodiversity and sustainability for the agave? 

David Suro Piñera

Well, that is a very clear proof that how little we know about the agro industry that the tequila production, we have to understand the origins of these regulations, and, um, yes, we do have a denomination of origin. But, um, if we see have we been using this denomination of origin or how we’ve been focusing the real factors that the denomination of origin is supposed to be, which is protect, promote, and develop social and economical benefits for the people who own the denominations, in the case of tequila and mezcal and agave spirits, I, I really don’t think the denominations of origin and the norms that who are in place for recognize these spirits are really focused on protecting the the cultural and ecological aspects of the categories.

I think they are more designed to marketing and to promote sales with that really, uh, consider the consequences in such a delicate, uh, ecosystems that these plans develop. And, um, we’ve been screaming about this and, um, I think right now we really are looking at the consequences of not acting in the right way to make regulations, regulations, to revise regulations, and to improve the impact of the regulations it can have in the, environmental applicable and social and economical aspects. I, I think we have a lot of work to do in those aspects. 

Paul Clarke

And one thing in particular I was wondering about, I was in Jalisco a few months driving through the agave fields and, and, and talking to some of the producers and, and reproduction of the the blue agave. You know, it, a plant. It can reproduce sexually through pollination and disseminating its seeds. But commercially, agave is primarily grown by transplanting the rhizomal offshoots of, of the plant. what does this mean for agave’s genetic diversity? I know this can seem limiting, or can be limiting in terms of the genetic diversity. What concerns are there and what can be done, or is being done to offset that? 

David Suro Piñera

These species of agave is into a limit where, you know, they’re the mechanisms of reproduction are developed in a way to survive and survive a very hostile environment. So, the plants develop the two methods of reproduction. You know, when the plants are under stress, or when the plants are, in a vulnerable positions, they aromatically shoot shoot, hijuelos, the upshoots, and guarantee reproduction, and don’t have to wait for the entire cycle of reproduction, which is at the, at the end of the live expectancy of the plants, know, which is when they flower.

The tequila industry especially, also now on, on, on mezcal, unfortunately. But the tequila industry, they find that this was a very, they take advantage of these methods of reproduction, of these asexual methods of reproduction in terms of time. So instead of for us to wait an extra few years for the plants to give us seeds and start from zero, we take advantage of the reproduction, of the asexual reproduction, and take the upshoots from the mother plant and save a couple years of use of the land.

But obviously, you know, these, these reproductions are used as a mechanism of reserve and to how to, you know, guarantee a next generation. But not necessarily is the best way to reproduce. So what we’ve been doing with these methods of reproduction, which in the case of tequila, is 100% of the reproduction of the raw material is done via upshoots. We’ve been draining the genetic information of the plants, making these plants extremely, extremely vulnerable to disease that it goes with the ecosystems. So the plants, they depend in almost 100% of pesticides, herbicides, and methods that we have to apply chemically to to guarantee the next generation. So the plants that we have to apply chemically to the plant, you know, the use of the plant, you know, the in plantations use of agave, the soil is losing losing the nutrient content.

It’s a very serious studies that they show us that the health impact on chemically to the human, you know, the contact to have the chemically to the plant in contact with these very dangerous and aggressive pesticides and herbicides. It shows in some studies that they’ve been very difficult difficult to obtain. But there is papers by the University of Guadalajara where proved that the levels of cancer in chemically to the uh, human, you it is a topic uh, is the big elephant in the room, you know, the impact of the lack of reproduction via cross-pollinization. We need to increase the reproduction and the genetic information and diversity on the plants in order to minimize the the dependency of agrochemicals on agave plantations. 

Paul Clarke

Right. You mentioned this as the elephant in the room, but I think there are a couple of other elephants in there as well. And one of them— 

David Suro Piñera

They are. Unfortunately, yes, they are. It’s a very crowded room of elephants, yes. 

Paul Clarke

And one of them is, agave is a very long-lived—it takes a long time to mature. Even the blue agave, which matures typically a little bit faster than some of the other agaves you find in mezcal, still we’re talking a number of years, for full maturity. The enormous demand for tequila has led to this situation where on occasion there’ll be an agave shortage, followed several years later by an agave glut, this kind of back-and-forth phase.

In times of shortage, some producers have resorted to harvesting agave before they’re fully mature. Because they’re in a rush to meet the demand. It’s also led to processing the agave via diffuser, which is a very modern contemporary way to do it. And if you want to be as efficient as possible in wringing all of the sugar that you can out of the plant, then the diffuser is very, very good at that job. But a diffuser also has some drawbacks. What have been some of the costs of these approaches? What has this done to tequila in this rush and in this use of this technology? 

David Suro Piñera

The efficiency on these machines is incredibly high. We cannot deny that. Even some people say that they are environmentally friendly. Right now, I don’t know. Efficiency I don’t know, efficiency is linked to profit. And uh, unfortunately, when you put those uh, elements together, we’re going to have to pay the invoice, organoleptically speaking, for that. And I think, yes, we can have these spirits produced with the latest technology and became very efficient.

But um, one of the things that we are not going to be able to avoid is the lack of flavors and aromas. So why we’re going to use this incredibly know, gifted, resilient and flavorful raw material? Why we’re going to put it into a process that is going to erase basically every single aroma and flavor that it takes years to produce? We should drink vodka in that case, you know, and save Mother Nature a lot of headaches. So, I just think that when we have these a massive productions of tequila that are aimed to fulfill a niche of consumers, they really don’t understand what are the consequences culturally, um, environmentally, culturally, socially.

We really, yes, we are growing the category. Yes, we are getting more popular. But the price that we’re paying, I think it’s we’re losing what makes tequilas and agave spirits so unique. You know that the length of time that Mother Nature asks us in order to change the raw material. When you have tequilas, when you have tequilas or mezcales, agave spirits they produce in the right way, they really give us a gift. And usually those tequilas, they still lean to small producers who are still lean to small communities who are lean to a cultural know, roots that I think that’s why tequilas and mezcales are respected and appreciate in the first place.

For us to maintain that whole cycle of cultural, historical, environmental, uh, complex, unique flavors, we have to think more in terms of probably drink less and pay more. You know, it’s extremely expensive to prepare for a liter of tequila, a liter of mezcal. Expensive not just economically, but it’s expensive from the labor, the knowledge, the generational transmission of knowledge, how to take care of these plants, how to maintain process. So when we go into the diffuser mass production, we really are ignoring and erasing everything that is being alive for thousands of years, for millennia.

We have to be very careful because if we love tequila, if we love mezcal, if we love agave uh, spirits, going in that direction is a very dangerous road in terms of the future of this spirit. It doesn’t help the the people who are directly linked to production. It benefits a corporation that is cashing out outside of Mexico. Probably benefits a celebrity that invests in this thing, but it is sustainable in the long term? Absolutely no. Absolutely no. This is in the very short period of time, we already seen that these brands and these companies have been taking a toll on jimadors, on family who owns tequila companies and mezcal companies. 

Paul Clarke

And there’s one other thing, you know, there’s one other elephant we need to address before we move on. And that is, and this is much more recent, over the past year or so, we’re in a situation where a number of class action lawsuits have been filed against some of the major producers alleging that tequilas labeled as 100% agave don’t actually meet that requirement, and in fact may fall far, far short of that. Everyone will have their day in court on this, but what’s the deeper concern? Not just to consumers, is that, you know, what you’re buying isn’t what you actually think you’re buying, but what does it mean for some of those communities in Mexico that you’re talking about, that make their living and base their economies on growing and harvesting agave for tequila? 

David Suro Piñera

Well, you know, first of all, I don’t think this is an elephant. This obviously it’s a big blue whale in a little fish tank. You know, I’m being surprised of how little noise this talks in the big spectrum of tequila. You know, in Mexico, a lot of my friends in Mexico when I went to Mexico last few trips, and say, you know, so what do you think about these companies who were caught cheating on the percentage of agave? And everybody’s like, you know, so what happened? You know, it was very successful.

They can sweep under the rug this topic, which is probably, you know, the biggest committee by the industry in the history of the industry. I mean, we’re talking about two mega companies with four brands who are iconic. And, and in terms of the percentage in the sales, global sales are big, big, really big. And it has no consequences at the level of know, industry, government, regulatory agencies, verification agencies. It really tells you how powerful these companies are. We make a statement on TIP about this.

As you mentioned, the direct and indirect consequences to the people to depend on this industry are devastating. I mean, the agave process, as you see right now, they collapse, you may know, I mean, just two years ago, we were at the peak. We were paying almost $2 per kilo. Now we’re paying about $0. 10 per kilo. These cycles of of nonsense prices in a commodity is the reflection of this type of dirty maneuvers.

Because when the big industry were in a position where they were paying $2 per kilo, and even if you use the most efficient methods of production, a diffuser, you’re still going to need about three kilos of agave to produce one liter of tequila. And the prices that you see in the market, I was just laughing because you see bottles of one liter of tequila selling for under $20 are in the shelves.

And you talk to people in the industry. I have the fortune to be involved in the full cycle from production to the commercialization. And you go to an accounts all over those of the United States and Europe. You see that the, on top of being such a cheap prices for tequila, there were also abundance of incentives for restaurants, bar programs to get even better deals. The only way that you can do that is by adulterating tequila and adulterating tequila hits directly the producers who are doing the things in the right way. And typically producers are the small companies who still have close links to farmers, close links to their producers. I work with producers that they have four or five generations of families working in the same distillery.

But it makes it almost impossible to compete. And the environmental cost of this, this is incredible. So no consequences on these type of uh, machiavellian, dirty, corrupted practices is frightening. It should be at least a couple uh, executives at the government or at the regulatory agencies to cease from their work. But it’s been zero consequences. 

Paul Clarke

It’s easy to get bogged down in all of this or to feel crowded by the elephants. But. you love tequila. You work with tequila. you, you sell tequila on your own label. You bring tequila into the United States. What still brings that love for you for tequila and the enthusiasm and the excitement about the expressions that you bring in and the brands that you work with? 

David Suro Piñera

It’s people. You know, the, the people behind you know, an honestly produced tequila, mezcal, agave spirit, they are cultural institutions. You know, it’s not easy to make good tequila or to make good mezcal. It’s not an easy product to, to produce if you’re going to do it the right way. And uh, to see the resilience of families who still are proud of uh, making a product that it has such a relevance on, on Mexican culture, it adds so much in, in, to the category. the complexity of the raw material. There is no other raw material on the world of alcohol beverages that is so complex and demanding. There is no other alcohol beverage in the world that demands so much labor intensity. It is one of the truly, uh, ambassadors of Mexican culture. that means, uh, the, of American culture.

I think it speaks a lot about who we are as a culture, as an individuals. I think Mexican people is as resilient as agave spirits. We are people who are extremely proud of our ancestors. They’re extremely proud of our culture. And we are extremely proud of doing things that they’re not done anywhere else in the world, we do. So my love and, uh, interest on working and I got a spirits. it’s very personal. It’s not economical incentives. I think selling enchiladas, beans and rice is less work and more profitable. But, it is the spirit worth it to protect and to promote and to continue to tell this story of what is all about it. 

Paul Clarke

David, thank you so much for coming on and for sharing all of this with us and, and for walking us through Tequila. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you. 

David Suro Piñera

It’s my pleasure. And thank you, Paul, for taking agave spirits into your conversation. It’s very important to, to have somebody who I know you are very professional. You’re very passionate about what you do too. So I really appreciate that you take the time to talk about agave spirits. 

Paul Clarke 

Thank you. 

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Paul Clarke

You can find out more about David Suro’s work at siembraspirits.com. And if you happen to be in Philadelphia and in the mood for tequila, then check out his restaurant, Tequilas Casa Mexicana. You can find them online at tequilasphilly.com. We’ve got those links for you in this episode’s notes. 

And once again, this episode is sponsored by Charleston Wine and Food, taking place March 4th through March 8th in Charleston, South Carolina. Find out more about the 2026 festival at chswf.org. 

And that’s it for this episode. Subscribe to Radio Imbibe on your favorite podcast app to keep up with all our future episodes. You can find plenty of articles and recipes on our website, imbibemagazine.com. Keep up with us day to day on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Threads. And if you’re not already a subscriber to the print and or digital issues of Imbibe, then here’s your opportunity to change that. Just follow the links in this episode’s notes and we’ll be happy to help you out. I’m Paul Clarke. This is Radio Imbibe. Catch you next time.