Alvin has the following qualifications and background experience regarding the Oaxaca mezcal tours he offers:
Author of over 80 articles about mezcal, pulque, sustainability and Mexican craft beer;
Author of an additional 250 articles about Oaxacan life and cultural traditions for both local and international magazines and newspapers, as well as travel websites;
First Canadian to be certified as a Master Mezcalier by Asociación Pro-Cultura de Mezcal, A.C.;
Contributing Writer for Mexico Today, a program of the Mexican Government’s Marca País – Imagen de México;
Owner of Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca (www.mezcaleducationaltours.com), and first person in the state of Oaxaca to be granted permission by the federal government to offer mezcal tours;
Trained and licensed by the Government of Mexico to teach aficionados, novices, bartenders and bar owners, as well as restauranteurs about the culture of mezcal and pre-Hispanic fermented drinks (i.e. pulque);
M.A. in social anthropology (York University, Toronto) in addition to a J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School;
Author of Mezcal in the Global Spirits Market: Unrivalled Complexity, Innumerable Nuances, expanded third edition with portraits section (available by email or when visiting Oaxaca);
Extensive travel throughout the central valleys of Oaxaca since 1991, and a permanent resident since 2004;
Student of Oaxacan fermented drinks and distilled spirits since 1993;
Oaxaca “Destination Expert” for an international travel website (www.tripadvisor.com);
Special assistant to on-site production team, Echo Entertainment, Inc., for Veria Network’s Oaxaca segments of its sustainable living television series entitled Under the Sun;
Locations consultant for UK television series Mexican Food Made Simple (hosted by Thomasina Miers of Wahaca Restaurants in London), produced by Blink Films UK;
Fixer, Interpreter and on-camera bit performer in a program produced for French and German television by Petit Dragon, Ltd., Happiness in the Plate, centering upon the food and drink (i.e. mezcal and pulque) of Oaxaca centering upon Chef Pilar Cabrera;
Fixer for Patterson & Murphy Public Relations, sourcing best locations and attending with crew photographing street food locales for the book, Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico;
Consultant to numerous foreign interests regarding mezcal and pulque;
Former director of CANFRO (Canadian Friends of Oaxaca Inc.), a registered charity for the benefit of needy Oaxacans (www.canfro.ca);
Personal collection of more than 600 different mezcals;
Director of Fondo Guadalupe Musalem, a charity for the benefit of bight young indigenous women(www.fondoguadalupemusalem.org)
Co-author of the most comprehensive, full color bilingual mezcal tasting wheel.
Randall has the following qualifications and background experience regarding the Oaxaca mezcal tours he offers:
“I enjoy sharing my love of Oaxaca and mezcal with travelers to the region, both international and domestic visitors alike. The families we visit on our mezcal excursions are beautiful, kind, hard-working people. Whenever I see them it brings a smile to my face …. and to the faces of the clients we welcome into their fascinating worlds of mezcal, agave and sometimes pulque.” (Randall Stockton, 2018)
Randall Stockton holds a social sciences degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Randall was a mezcal aficionado prior to relocating permanently to Oaxaca, having first visited the city in 2003. By that time he was already an integral part of the Austin bar scene. In 2001 he inaugurated his flagship venue Beerland. At one point he owned nine Austin bars and restaurants, some with a significant offering of cocktails featuring the agave spirit. For the past dozen years his King Bee Lounge has been renowned for its broad selection of quality mezcal:
King Bee made it a goal to have the most complete and best collection of mezcal available in any Austin bar. (The Austin Chronicle, 2015)
King Bee has been touted as having some of the rarest mezcals in the city. “Somehow they manage to find the smallest, most obscure batches...you’ll get the best mezcal in Austin.” (Mezcal Reviews, 2016)
Randall regularly explores the central valleys of Oaxaca and beyond, continually seeking out different artisanal (and ancestral) family owned and operated mezcal distilleries (palenques), so as to ensure unique and diverse experiences for clients of Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca. The Starkman/Stockton team are firm believers in ethical mezcal tourism, as their clients come to learn and appreciate in the course of a day’s learning, photographing, interacting, imbibing, and buying if so inclined.
Randall is federally licensed by the government of Mexico to teach both novices and industry professionals about the culture of mezcal and pre-Hispanic beverages such as pulque. He assists prospective exporters of the spirit with their business plans. Randall also trains restaurant and bar owners, waiters and bartenders to help them better promote and sell mezcal in and for the benefit of their establishments.
Author of over 80 articles about mezcal, pulque, sustainability and Mexican craft beer;
Author of an additional 250 articles about Oaxacan life and cultural traditions for both local and international magazines and newspapers, as well as travel websites;
First Canadian to be certified as a Master Mezcalier by Asociación Pro-Cultura de Mezcal, A.C.;
Contributing Writer for Mexico Today, a program of the Mexican Government’s Marca País – Imagen de México;
Owner of Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca (www.mezcaleducationaltours.com), and first person in the state of Oaxaca to be granted permission by the federal government to offer mezcal tours;
Trained and licensed by the Government of Mexico to teach aficionados, novices, bartenders and bar owners, as well as restauranteurs about the culture of mezcal and pre-Hispanic fermented drinks (i.e. pulque);
M.A. in social anthropology (York University, Toronto) in addition to a J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School;
Author of Mezcal in the Global Spirits Market: Unrivalled Complexity, Innumerable Nuances, expanded third edition with portraits section (available by email or when visiting Oaxaca);
Extensive travel throughout the central valleys of Oaxaca since 1991, and a permanent resident since 2004;
Student of Oaxacan fermented drinks and distilled spirits since 1993;
Oaxaca “Destination Expert” for an international travel website (www.tripadvisor.com);
Special assistant to on-site production team, Echo Entertainment, Inc., for Veria Network’s Oaxaca segments of its sustainable living television series entitled Under the Sun;
Locations consultant for UK television series Mexican Food Made Simple (hosted by Thomasina Miers of Wahaca Restaurants in London), produced by Blink Films UK;
Fixer, Interpreter and on-camera bit performer in a program produced for French and German television by Petit Dragon, Ltd., Happiness in the Plate, centering upon the food and drink (i.e. mezcal and pulque) of Oaxaca centering upon Chef Pilar Cabrera;
Fixer for Patterson & Murphy Public Relations, sourcing best locations and attending with crew photographing street food locales for the book, Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico;
Consultant to numerous foreign interests regarding mezcal and pulque;
Former director of CANFRO (Canadian Friends of Oaxaca Inc.), a registered charity for the benefit of needy Oaxacans (www.canfro.ca);
Personal collection of more than 600 different mezcals;
Director of Fondo Guadalupe Musalem, a charity for the benefit of bight young indigenous women(www.fondoguadalupemusalem.org)
Co-author of the most comprehensive, full color bilingual mezcal tasting wheel.
Randall has the following qualifications and background experience regarding the Oaxaca mezcal tours he offers:
“I enjoy sharing my love of Oaxaca and mezcal with travelers to the region, both international and domestic visitors alike. The families we visit on our mezcal excursions are beautiful, kind, hard-working people. Whenever I see them it brings a smile to my face …. and to the faces of the clients we welcome into their fascinating worlds of mezcal, agave and sometimes pulque.” (Randall Stockton, 2018)
Randall Stockton holds a social sciences degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Randall was a mezcal aficionado prior to relocating permanently to Oaxaca, having first visited the city in 2003. By that time he was already an integral part of the Austin bar scene. In 2001 he inaugurated his flagship venue Beerland. At one point he owned nine Austin bars and restaurants, some with a significant offering of cocktails featuring the agave spirit. For the past dozen years his King Bee Lounge has been renowned for its broad selection of quality mezcal:
King Bee made it a goal to have the most complete and best collection of mezcal available in any Austin bar. (The Austin Chronicle, 2015)
King Bee has been touted as having some of the rarest mezcals in the city. “Somehow they manage to find the smallest, most obscure batches...you’ll get the best mezcal in Austin.” (Mezcal Reviews, 2016)
Randall regularly explores the central valleys of Oaxaca and beyond, continually seeking out different artisanal (and ancestral) family owned and operated mezcal distilleries (palenques), so as to ensure unique and diverse experiences for clients of Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca. The Starkman/Stockton team are firm believers in ethical mezcal tourism, as their clients come to learn and appreciate in the course of a day’s learning, photographing, interacting, imbibing, and buying if so inclined.
Randall is federally licensed by the government of Mexico to teach both novices and industry professionals about the culture of mezcal and pre-Hispanic beverages such as pulque. He assists prospective exporters of the spirit with their business plans. Randall also trains restaurant and bar owners, waiters and bartenders to help them better promote and sell mezcal in and for the benefit of their establishments.
Contact us at mezcaleducationalexcursions at hotmail dot com
