84: The Story of Dakabend Rum and Aguardiente de Caña in Oaxaca's Sierra Norte with Elisandro Gonzalez Molina
In this episode, we sat down with co-founder Elisandro Gonzalez Molina to learn all about Dakabend Rum — an aguardiente de caña made in the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca in Mexico. We discussed:
The journey Elisandro and his cousin, Edgar Gonzalez Ramirez, took from building their own mezcal palenque and brand (Mezcal Tosba) over the last 20+ years to getting into rum production
The culture of aguardiente de caña and sugarcane in his region of Oaxaca
Dakabend's unique production process (which includes a continuous fermentation that never stops during harvest season)
The wider category of Mexican rum (and what the future might look like)
The history of sugarcane in Oaxaca
How the presence of Mezcal Tosba and Dakabend has impacted his hometown, San Cristóbal Lachirioag
The story behind the name Dakabend
Early experiments in aging Dakabend and what their aging program might look like going forward
And much more!
If you want to learn more about Dakabend and Elisandro, check out these links:
The 2014 episode of NPR's Planet Money that featured the story of Mezcal Tosba
Mezcal Review's article about their trip to San Cristóbal Lachirioag (which has some info on Dakabend in addition to Mezcal Tosba)
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
