SACRED

And that wraps an additional 4,000 agave seedlings to this season, bumping the totals distributed since 2017 past 110,000!

We received this year a beautiful, unexpected gift from our 1% For The Planet partners Authentico Tequila. It arrived at exactly the right time: Telesecundaria El Manantial, the middle school in Zaachila that has since 2017 sold us the seedlings that we distribute to mezcaleres in Oaxaca, had a failure-to-launch issue. We’d already sent them US$4,000 for the first 4,000 seedlings and we had intended to send them an additional US$6,000 to finish our allocation for 2026. But the seeds simply didn’t germinate — those that did were too small to distribute. So we had to source the 10,000 seedlings from an alternative source, which meant paying (again) for those first 4,000 seedlings. The gift from Authentico more than covered that. And now, months later, those immature seedlings at Telesecundaria El Manantial have grown to where they can be distributed — which is happening at this moment! This brings our total to date over 110,000 agave seedlings distributed! Thanks to everyone who has supported this program this year, in years past, and for the years to come, and thanks to Authentico Tequila for saving us from what could have been a significant stumble in our most consistent program! And thanks as ever to Barbara Lazcano of Cultures de Paz for managing the program!

Authentico®
1% for the Planet Culturas de Paz Babar Lazcano

Beverage writer NC Stevens is coming to Chicago next week in support of his new book, The Complete Guide to Mexican Beverages: From Atole to Zambumbia (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026). He’ll be presenting at two free events:

“Mexican Independence is Rooted in its Vineyards”
Monday, September 21, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Mi Tocaya Antojería
2800 West Logan Boulevard, Chicago

In this hour-long talk, Nic tells the story of the story of Miguel Hidalgo, the father of Mexican Independence. Don Hidalgo became disillusioned with Spanish rule when he was denied the right to grow grapes. Spain jealously guarded w**e production for producers on the Iberian Peninsula, so residents of New Spain had to buy imported w**es that crossed the Atlantic. In 1810, Spanish soldiers burned Hidalgo’s grapevines—the same year he would give his legendary cry for independence: el Grito de Dolores.

“History of Mixology in Mexico”
Tuesday, September 22, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Cruz Blanca Taquería + Brewery
904 West Randolph Street, Chicago

Every bartender knows that the cocktails in Mexico are exemplary today, but where has this incredible industry come from? Stevens will discuss mixology in Mexico from 1850 until today, tracing the layered history of drinks through the Mexican-American War, the French invasion, the Mexican Revolution, and the more recent renaissance of high-end mixology. Throughout the talk, surprisingly familiar drink stories will emerge like the Tom & Jerry or the Cuba Libre. Others, like the Berta or the Changuirongo, may be new to even the savviest bartenders.

Come meet Nic, hear his stories, and share some drinks with friends!

DrinkingFolk
Mi Tocaya Antojería
Cruz Blanca Taquería + Brewery
Bloomsbury Publishing

🇲🇽

It may be Labor Day in the USA, but in Las Palmas, in the municipality of La Concepción, Oaxaca, they’re doing the adobe two-step! Last year, SACRED was invited by HELP ME CHANGE YOUR LIFE, a registered charity in Mexico, to participate in fundraising in support of the building of a community kitchen in Las Palmas, a community of several dozen people who make delicious agave spirits. Our friends at 818 Tequila stepped up and the project is well underway. The photos and videos here feature architect Serafín Luna, Áurea Velázquez, the Trujano brothers, and other community residents involved in *tequio,* and Dirceu Fernández, executive director of HELP ME CHANGE YOUR LIFE. This project is coming together, quickly, as the community comes together to make this happen!

818 Tequila | Eight Reserve by 818

Help Me Change Your Life

Mistakes are good — or *can* be good. We can learn from mistakes. And sometimes mistakes can highlight strengths.

Back in 2022, mezcalero Jose Garcia was looking for support to dig a well to bring water security to his community of San Isidro Guishe, in Miahuatlan, Oaxaca. That project was funded by Pensador Mezcal and came to life that same year, with Jose leading a team of local workers in digging the well and building it from pre-formed concrete sections.

When I visited the project in 2025, Jose expressed some serious concerns about the project. They’d located it next to a riverbank, and in order to reduce the depth of drilling, they’d dug out the bank about twenty feet. Now the cliff they’d made was threatening to fall on the well. And torrential rains would cause the river to swell above the well.

We consulted with a couple of experts about solutions. They’d both suggested digging a new well, about 90 feet away from the embankment. So … start over.

Jose had a different idea: Just buy a bunch more of those pre-formed concrete sections and make that well a tower. The consultants agreed that it should work and was an innovative solution. And a whole lot less expensive than a new well.

It also reinforces our idea that there’s great value in letting the communities identify their own problems and develop their own solutions to those problems. Our role at SACRED is to help them acquire the resources they need to implement those solutions. In this case, those resources again came from our friends at Pensador Mezcal. These spirits that are made by these mezcaleres are *an* expression of their multi-generational wisdom. But they have so much more to express than just what we get exported in these 750ml bottles. This project is a great demonstration of that.

These pictures show the before and the after. The well is safe again, thanks to Jose’s ingenuity and Pensador’s generosity.

PENSADOR

Heads up ! Repost from 1910 Cantina | Mexican Bar & Restaurant
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Agave Masterclass strikes again and this time we welcome Mijenta Tequila and Tres Tribus Mezcal to 1910 Balham for an afternoon of Tequila and Mezcal discovery 🙌🏽

🗓️ Wednesday 5th August | 2pm-5pm

Enjoy a guided tasting session hosted by Anna Parsons as she shares her expert knowledge on the spirits, and tuck into some authentic Mexican nibbles from our kitchen.

You’ll receive a welcome cocktail on arrival and the bar will be open after the masterclass serving a special cocktail menu crafted around the spirits you tasted.

Tickets are via donation with all proceeds going to SACRED: Saving Agave, improving the quality of life in rural Mexico where heritage agave spirits are produced 🙏🏽

Spaces are limited to get in quick!
🎟️ Tickets available via link in bio

📍 1910 Balham: the home of agave spirits in South West London

This week, our friends in Chacala, Jalisco, have been working diligently to prepare for the arrival of their biodigester—organized by Greg Finca 18 built and installed by Dr. Edwin Alfonso Zelaya Benavidez of Biodigestores ARQUEA, and funded by 818 Tequila | Eight Reserve by 818 . This is the third such system we’ve been able to fund this year — the second courtesy of our friends at 818 Tequila. With these three biodigesters (one in San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca, another in Rio de Parras, Michoacan, and this, in Chacala, Jalisco), we’re helping to divert 1,500 liters of vinasse per day from these communities! And in that diversion, we’re also helping to mitigate the trees that would be used for cooking, thanks to the biogas generated, as well as the expense of fertilizer, a result of the bio-fertilizer generated. We’re grateful to everyone for welcoming us to participate, including the folks doing the heavy lifting in those photos:

Misael Saldaña (Pumba)
Gustavo
Dominic (Doma)
Alexis Sigue (Chevy)
Heladio Rodríguez (Borrego)
Omar Alejandro Cruz Rodriguez

and to 818 for making the funding available!

Last year, SACRED was invited by HELP ME CHANGE YOUR LIFE, a registered charity in Mexico, to participate in fundraising in support of the building of a community kitchen in Las Palmas, Oaxaca, a community of several dozen people who make delicious agave spirits. We made the rounds, asking funders if they’d contribute, and we received (another) beautiful green light from our friends 818 Tequila | Eight Reserve by 818 — the funds have since been received and reverted down to HELP ME CHANGE YOUR LIFE and the project is well underway. Plans have been drawn, adobes are being crafted (with byproducts from the process of turning agave into spirits), and everyone is getting excited! The photos and the post below are from our friends at HELP ME CHANGE YOUR LIFE:

*Inicio el Programa Biovivienda con tú ayuda en Las Palmas, Oaxaca*

Hoy no solo iniciamos un proyecto. Hoy sembramos esperanza.

En Las Palmas, Oaxaca, el *Programa Biovivienda* inicia gracias a la suma de corazones y voluntades. Esto no sería posible sin el respaldo de *Fundación SACRED*, el compromiso de *Lou Bank* y el apoyo de *Tequila 818*, quienes decidieron creer que una vivienda digna, sustentable y en armonía con la tierra es un derecho, no un privilegio.

A cada persona que puso su tiempo, su conocimiento y su corazón en este sueño: gracias. Gracias por ver más allá de los muros y entender que una biovivienda es refugio, es salud, es arraigo y es futuro para las familias de esta comunidad.

A nuestros aliados que entendieron que su huella debe ir más allá del negocio: su apoyo hoy se convierte en techos seguros, en espacios que respiran con la naturaleza y en sonrisas que regresan al hogar.

Este es el inicio. Que cada adobe que se coloque nos recuerde que cuando trabajamos juntos, el cambio sí florece.
*Gracias por ayudarnos a construir futuro.*

HELP ME CHANGE YOUR LIFE