Reconnecting with Culture and Finding Purpose with Javier Ramiro Velazco

My guest today is Javier Ramiro Velazco, educator and founder of the 100% agave mezcal, Bixhidú (pronounced Bee-shee-do). Founded in 2017, Bixhidú is made in Oaxaca, Mexico and produces ten expressions of ancestral and artisanal mezcal in small premium batches.

Before founding Bixhidú, Javier worked in the entertainment business in Los Angeles for nearly a decade and ultimately found his purpose in teaching to brown and black students, in the LA public school system, which he has been doing for twenty years now. I talk to Javier about how he found the confidence to take the risk to launch his mezcal brand, what his students teach him about entrepreneurship, and how he balances the two, his recommended mezcal cocktail, and how creating Bixhidú reconnected him with his Mexican culture and the challenges he tackled as he created his brand, and much more.

You can learn more about Bixhidú on instagram at bixhidumezcal, and, if you're in Los Angeles, you can buy it at Flask in Highland Park and BarKeeper in Silverlake. It will soon be available for nationwide distribution.