#010: Agave Spirits: Mezcal Cultivation & Conservation - Doug Smith
In this episode we are joined by Anthropologist turned coffee & mezcal Entrepreneur Doug Smith. Doug is the co-owner of the Exo Roast Company and the El Crisol Mezcal Bar in Tucson, AZ. Doug earned a Ph.D. in Cultural and Social Anthropology from Stanford University, conducting major investigations into agricultural history in several states in Mexico. He taught Anthropology for ten years in several universities, finishing as an Associate Professor at Western Oregon University before returning to Arizona in 2008 to begin Exo’s coffee roastery.
Doug's first experience with mezcal, during a fiesta patronal in a village in Guerrero, initiated a long engagement with cultures of agave. Many research trips to Sonora have put Doug into contact and relationship with Bacanora producers in the Rio Sonora and Rio Moctezuma valleys. His current interest is to explore agave cultures in Arizona-Sonora and reestablish relationships between people and the plant. El Crisol mezcaleria, which opened in 2017, aims not only to introduce guests to mezcal, but to educate people on the spirit, its production, and its cultural history. Additionally, Doug serves on the board of Native Seed Search and the Borderlands Restoration Network, working on conservation and community building initiatives throughout the greater Arizona/Sonora region.