'Bat-Friendly' Booze? Pilot Program Aims To Protect Eco-System Of Mexican Grown Plant
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An effort is underway to make the tequila industry more bat friendly. A Philadelphia restaurateur and spirit brand owner is involved in a program to protect the eco-system of a Mexican grown plant the liquor comes from.
A hologram label says "bat friendly"appears on the side of a bottle of Siembra Valles Ancestral, a fine mezcal from Siembra Spirits.
It's produced using bat-pollinated agave, the plant the liquor is made from, and roasted in earthen pit ovens, something uncommon in modem tequila production.
"Bringing back the bats and bringing back the methods of production, like this help us to bring back the genetic strength the agaves need," said David Suro, the spirit's brand owner and president of the the Tequila Interchange Project, also known as TIP, a non-profit organization and consumer advocacy group for agave spirits distilled in Mexico.
TIP wants to change common industry policies of harvesting the plant before it flowers. That's done to meet demand and for quality control, but the species genetic strength is weakened and unable to fight off disease.
"The consequences that we will be paying for that will be catastrophic"
