La herencia del mezcal (The Mezcal Inheritance)
Jan 22, 2020
Yola grew up watching her grandfather make mezcal. When he died, she took up the mantle. But how would she transform her grandfather’s hobby into a mezcal for the masses?
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hi everyone I'm Martina the host and executive producer of the Duolingo Spanish podcast before we begin we just want to say how grateful we are for you our listeners so much so that we'd like to feature you in a special episode of the podcast do you have any questions about the show like how we choose our storytellers or how we produce the episodes are there specific stories you loved and want to know more about send us your questions and I'll answer them in an upcoming
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► 00:00:57lying on his bed in Oaxaca Mexico 84 year-old Luis Jimenez was about to die
► 00:01:06his family had come from around the world to be by his side in the home where they spent so many Summers growing up
► 00:01:16you're Daniel 23 Sonya's Nosotros estamos muy cerca knows your llama La muchacha he messantia muy triste that's Yola Jimenez she could see her grandfather's body was weak but his mind was strong
► 00:01:36Mia well hello estaba Museum in a seesaw La misma pregunta a todos ustedes que quieres que today what would you like me to leave you your last grandfather whispered in her ear a last-minute promise of inheritance yo Le dije my gustaría la fábrica de mescal
► 00:02:01hell no Seema Rai gnawa Kajol Ava I believe are so inclusive surreal
► 00:02:09her grandfather asked for a pen and paper yeah well o escritorio can you have you here esta es Mi nieta Jolla to lock our noses Asia Korea said algo con El Mezcal or for our usual
► 00:02:27Mezcal is a Mexican liquor kind of like Tequila's smokier cousin Louis had long owned a little Mescal Factory and have you heard was the man in charge of running it two days after her grandfather passed away Lola asked her dad to accompany her on a mission
► 00:02:47Nosotros vamos dos Horas as the burrito don't let me away hello Daniel so fabric Alamos calc when she knocked on the door all she had was that handwritten note from her grandfather handing off the entire Mescal Factory to her Bienvenidos and
► 00:03:16come to the Duolingo Spanish podcast I'm Martina Castro every episode we bring you fascinating true stories to help you improve your Spanish listening and gain New Perspectives on the world the Storyteller will be using intermediate Spanish and I'll be chiming in for context in English if you miss something you can always get back and listen again we also offer full transcripts I'd podcast Duolingo.com
► 00:03:49for as long as you Le can remember she and her family of traveled every summer from Mexico City to Oaxaca where her grandparents lived it's about a five-hour drive once she got there Yola would tag along with her Abuelo everywhere
► 00:04:05I mean Megan Tava bear Emil Whalen who Gondola me no con sus Amigos downlod has seen exception and ceremonia Cornelius después De La Siesta a la casa de La Plaza I possible orders yours
► 00:04:25they're in the Town Square on the table next to the Domino's something else was always present a bottle of Mescal her grandfather's drink of choice
► 00:04:40oh Matt Mescal is parte de la Vida in Oaxaca his Kamal vodka bottle of Rousseau's who held a paralyzing molasses Davos Lotto man Lewis didn't just enjoyed drinking Mescal he was also involved in its production and the late 60s he had bought a piece of land that included a small Mescal Factory but omiya Wala na CL Miss culpable en el dinero hell
► 00:05:09Sia come on Harvey
► 00:05:15the factory was run by a man named Javier said who was known as the master Mezcal maker he had a son also named Javier who was around you has aged every summer yo has grandfather picked one day to take your led to his Factory May and Gandhara been told well proceso De obligación Bill Mezcal primero que Jose recollect Avant la la la después like it Devon Los Ojos cool machete
► 00:05:45economic sólo El corazón de la planta Agave is a type of succulent plant with a thick sharp leaves they cook it for three days in underground ovens filled with burning hot rocks they cover them with a heavy rug and a layer of dirt then a donkey is tied to the long wooden handle of a stone mortar as the donkey walks in circles juice squeezes out of the cooked Agave this Bliss
► 00:06:15Nia all about the final Del proceso ye-es don't understand el Secreto the color Maestro Mescalero inner surface a survey and processor the destination I can't even wear work levels also fermentation
► 00:06:37you're loved watching the process from beginning to end table and processor is artisanal yo messantia party there's a familiar Mescalero a craft Mescal Factory is known as a Palenque it's usually a rudimentary form where a whole family lives and works your lower met have years family when she was nine years old the first time she went to her grandfather's Palenque love Amelia
► 00:07:07career Adam will probably be bien de la Cultura 10 young guy Gina's equal to1 sus propios alimentos cuando Jewel-Osco No SI las mujeres De La Familia de la vierge service TN contract that they wanna El traje typical the Frida Kahlo German Amore Asia's forget and Moya Molly's the Palenque was two hours from Oaxaca
► 00:07:37in San Juan Del Rio a small village with a population of around 1,200 for a little girl from the big city it was quintessential Mexico and Yola loved it
► 00:07:50as more than a friend a la ciudad de Mexico assume Pueblito Pequeno get to the VM and DNA told us last tradition has de la Cultura Mexicana La Gente que Vive aquí es muy trabajadora edges relevant and Allah says the LA Mañana yes done total Leah and El Campo
► 00:08:15in places like San Juan Del Rio women take on traditional roles as mothers and wives they cook they clean they raise their children and help their husbands Les Pasa Behavior Teresa is suika Eran Las Mas trabajadora has a just super V7 according oven Todo en El Palenque the me welcome the women took the reins around the Palenque Angela could see that they were working very hard but the one who managed all of their money
► 00:08:45was have yet Javier respect Ava mucho a las mujeres de Su Familia pero La tradition this year kale umbrella kasih banyak approve are really narrow las mujeres no recipient neither dinero por Su trabajo de todos es yeah a Travis Behavior yo pensaba que esto no le Maria Selassie at a young age
► 00:09:15age Lola was already getting a valuable lesson and what life is like for working women in rural Mexico Joey huija unless you have a Mexico eBay yeah I me Mama yatras mujeres Sal Khan has Mi Familia is received by the mouse me Mama Siempre for movie feminista immigrants media does the movie pequeña June 2010 the airport get a different and asanas Rudolph
► 00:09:45then we face
► 00:09:50when she was 17 Yola chose to leave Mexico first she moved to London then Paris to study philosophy and feminist film from there she moved to New York she was away from me he go for eight years until finally she began to feel the pull of Home Joe we asked to the air for a little bass combo Dias Amigos muchos and tienen que tienen que El Vira Mexico was Tobias Moses David Amanda he knows otros
► 00:10:20Gideon most recupera algunas tradicion es de Nuestra Cultura polyester resin geodesy recupera la fábrica de mariscal de Mi abuela four entrances were no major modern para decirme que él estaba muy enfermo when you're less grandfather agreed to leave her the Mescal Factory he gave her three warnings who know no bus R&R NADA de Dinero
► 00:10:50those total said I must defeat you or get es Una Mujer Joven eat dress no tengo ningún papel para mostrar que la fábrica as Mia it common in rural Oaxaca for property ownership to be based on Purely verbal agreements yala's grandfather paid for the Mescal Factory decades ago the family living there accepted the agreement with a handshake and that was it he had no official
► 00:11:20proof of ownership
► 00:11:25your Levi here Amia Willow Kelly has a Year tradition the Mezcal he Ki bang Contra La Manera de hacer Lo Poco después we have well Mario those D has mastered a to free a visit our help Alan Kay con El mensaje Que me away lo la vie escrito Xavier when she showed up at the Palenque it was a big moment for Yola
► 00:11:52Joe no idea you know I belong kit and a news forgive me away lo que estaba be hito yell no Eva a menudo as he can start moving our we also have you heard son also named Javier answered the door he had taken over the farm from his aging father and right behind him was his wife Guadalupe and his kids they invited her in and whipped up a typical oaxacan dish for her
► 00:12:22Javier and papa is was Balsa Teresa también es Devon I swear muy emocionante will lose the spoils the Tanto Tiempo problem was mucho is recording Muslims be hosting a impose phone momentum muy Lindo important but I mean it was important because Yola had shown up with a very different mindset than her grandfather's she didn't just want to sip Mezcal on the weekends she wanted to sell Mescal and maybe even start
► 00:12:52ordering it yo Korea for polymerase Transformer and mezcal the me away low and productive commercial a lady here Xavier yo Creo que él tiene el estado de trabajar con Migo so we began the process of commercially producing Mescal it took two years of hard work until they were ready to go to market el nombre de lady
► 00:13:21Amos album and mezcal KC Moss where la palabra for an origami a well oh yes Mañana de trabajar en el plank todos Asia respect and opens up Gordo's the palabra seeming Home Depot the contractor escrito
► 00:13:42by that point you let decided to take an important step forward she and two girlfriends opened a bar and Miss galatea in Mexico City they called it Lachlan this Tina
► 00:13:55Anna um but muy pequeño munawwara epic as messes it was a bit of a hole in the wall the kind of place with no sign outside that gets Popular by Word of Mouth inside it was vibrant and cool fall of young Mexicans and expats Georgia ba la palabra but idea for Primera base in maybe cuenta de aquellos clientes Les gusta mucho
► 00:14:23at the crowded bar under bottles of all types of craft Mescal on the wall Yola chatted people up including some famous patrons and Lachlan this Tina you're gonna see a legally una cantante swagga the Indie pop Mufasa también conocida Gina Corral at vat19 Chef important the California I just couldn't face another Scannell Mezcal in Assisi most Miami has
► 00:14:52one day you'll have decided to take her new friends lucky and Gina to San Juan Del Rio the check out her Palenque wonderful atom per Primera base they just say no more on the lure the Palenque is already too low the Javier is to Famiglia after several visits to the Palenque they had no doubt about what they had to do Nosotros Vamos a hacer algo junta's either see demons Transformer La fábrica Que todavía
► 00:15:22phones you know about the Manila artisanal en una verdadera Impreza Korea must honor in America but I'm base are a producer Mezcal come on projects are you rest of the cell and I expand awareness empezar exporter but you expand they would have to change a few things nosotras Leslie he must hurry home yeah well the Looper career motion blur a las mujeres De La Familia Korea musketry
► 00:15:52the mass media most Dallas Su propia swellow swellow means salary for Yola Nikki and Jeana economic independence for the more than 20 women who worked in the balangay including Guadalupe her daughter and some of her friends with a primary concern they just accept our own is emotional on mucho I just nunca are we on recibido Consuelo and sus vidas Alamos
► 00:16:22yeah Muslims making us the Palenque in screams lamarca empezamos El proceso para poder exported product as in Osseo Jolla Mezcal at first you're like was met with skepticism when she said her company would empower the women who worked with them muchas personas knows the CN not Egan case on tourism Harris porque nadie last bottom are and this area but your lawyer didn't
► 00:16:52care what people said she was on a mission to promote women and honor her grandfather's Legacy regardless of everyone else's expectations she became convinced that what they were doing was revolutionary nosotras trabajemos muy Duro Durante hoi news you're not okay numbe so be Familia Malaysia estas Loca Jolla yeah they high so but are you happy aprendido the Xavier is familiar case necesario
► 00:17:22tener mucho paciencia so your life at bureaucracy and machismo to reach her goal of making her Mescal Factory financially sustainable she knew that if she just worked long enough she could do it llamas difícil para la cucaracha Los papeles Ito local area Castle parallel processor the exportation but Yola wasn't going to stand around waiting for their
► 00:17:52export license in the meantime she and her partner's stuffed their Mescal bottles in their purses and took them to parties in the US every chance that they got you let Ava approve our ambassador Mescal a la Gente Alamos Joel is this year Clara maass negocio de mujeres de las personas Center 7 mucho yes omarama Strava cable pulling one Camino
► 00:18:21Mescal continued to gain popularity and momentum you all are became the first woman in Mexico to head a Mescal Factory today 13 years after she and her partner's started the company the factory is run by Guadalupe and many of their 20 employees are her friends you'll transfer me a little the me away low and an Impreza can also raise gotta Una de las tradicion es más importantes de Mexico cynic
► 00:18:51también tiene sentido feminist Creo que me a willow Astoria more videos your lamb is Kyle is now based in Los Angeles California and they distribute from the factory in Mexico to New York and Stockholm
► 00:19:14Eula Jimenez lives part-time in Mexico and part time in LA
► 00:19:22the story was produced by Thalia Goldman a journalist and writer based in Buenos Aires Argentina we'd love to know what you thought of this episode send us an email with your feedback at podcast at Duolingo.com and if you liked this story please share it you can find the audio and a transcript of each episode at podcast dot Duolingo.com you can also subscribe at Apple podcasts or your favorite listening app so you never miss an episode with over
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► 00:20:13the Duolingo Spanish podcast is produced by Duolingo and other on the media and the executive producer Martina Castro gracias por escuchar