Tequila Interchange Project
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Our organization advocates the preservation of sustainable, traditional and quality practices in the Why this is important
Tequila is a region.
Who we are
The Tequila Interchange Project (TIP) is a non-profit organization and consumer advocacy group for agave distilled spirits comprised of bartenders, consultants, educators, researchers, consumers and tequila enthusiasts. Our organization advocates the preservation of sustainable, traditional and quality practices in the industries of agave distilled spirits. In light of concerning trends
02/10/2026
CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO OR VISIT TEQUILAINTERCHANGEPROJECT.ORG/PROFESSIONAL-DEVELOPMENT FOR MORE INFORMATION!
If you work in hospitality and love agave spirits, you CANNOT miss this opportunity!
Spend a week in Guadalajara working and hanging with some of the best agave folks in the world! You'll learn at one of the agave institutions, Mezonte, then stage at their sister bar, De la O. You'll also have the chance to visit agave spirits producers in Jalisco, all while having your travel funded and receiving a stipend for missed shifts!
Through the generosity of the Slow Food Negroni Week Innovation Fund, TIP has launched its first-ever Professional Development Program. We have created three tracks for participants to share their love of agave by exploring career paths both within and beyond the bar!
02/09/2026
CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO OR VISIT TEQUILAINTERCHANGEPROJECT.ORG/PROFESSIONAL-DEVELOPMENT FOR MORE INFORMATION!
Applications are now live for the 2026 TIP Writer-in-Residence program!
Through the generosity of the Slow Food Negroni Week Innovation Fund, TIP has been able to launch its first-ever Professional Development Program. We have created three tracks for participants to share their love of agave by exploring career paths both within and beyond the bar!
02/06/2026
TIP is excited to launch our first-ever Professional Development Program. This new program focuses on three different tracks, Production/Ecology, Writing, and Hospitality, for applicants to explore in an effort to deepen their connection with agave spirits. The selection committee will select one applicant for each track based on written applications and interviews.
This program is only made possible through the incredible relationships that TIP has been able to foster throughout our existence. We will be partnering with incredible projects like .murzielaga.mezcal, , and . Established professionals like Paul Clarke , Emma Janzen , Rachel DelRocco, , and Ferron Salnicker are graciously donating their time to help the selected applicants hone their skills.
Through the generosity of the Slow Food Negroni Week Innovation Fund, we have been able to provide free travel, lodging, and compensation for our selected applicants, allowing them to explore these professional paths without sacrificing their day-to-day livelihoods. Please visit to learn more about this great program supporting projects that cultivate community, foster equity and justice, and seek a better world for all through food and beverage.
Visit tequilainterchangeproject.org/professional-development for more information and to apply!
02/05/2026
CLICK LINK IN BIO FOR MORE INFORMATION
“When agave spirits are produced responsibly, they can sustain livelihoods and preserve generational traditions”
We want to take a moment to introduce Marissa Gatta, Senior Beverage Director of Westbound and Tap & Bottle in Tucson, Arizona, and winner of the Tequila Interchange Project sponsorship for the Zinacantan Residency Program. Through the generosity of the Slow Food Negroni Week Innovation Fund, TIP's new Professional Development Program will cover Marissa's travel and missed wages as she participates in a nine-day immersive experience of staying on-site with the team from Zinacantan. This residency provides a holistic view of how the project approaches their natural resource management, agave cultivation, mezcal produciton and how they see themselves as one part of the larger ecosystem and work to create a more sustainable future for the agave spirits community.
Through the Slow Food Negroni Week Innovation Fund, TIP launched our first-ever Professional Development program. Consisting of three separate tracks, this program seeks to foster deeper engagement between members of the hospitality/beverage industries and the agave spirits community. Eligibility for this Production/Ecology track was limited to participants of the Zinacantan Residency Program. However, we just opened applications for our 2026 TIP Writer-in-Residence program, featuring professional mentorship and collaboration with folks like writers , , and . We also launched applications for our Hospitality Residency Program with , providing one applicant the opportunity to stage and train with the team from one of the world's leading agave bars and their sister bars & .
02/03/2026
We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Don Tomás Virgen while we were recently in Zapotitlan del Vadillo, Jalisco. We were introduced to his family through our friends at . Our organization was lucky to call him a dear friend. Our trips to the region often ended with spending the golden hour walking among the genetically diverse fields of his family with him, his father Dón Lorenzo, and his sons Jesús and Rodrigo.
With the sun setting, illuminating the fields with a warm glow against the formidable backdrop of the Nevado de Colima y Volcan de Fuego, we spent hours listening to generations of this family as they taught us about the special place that agave holds for them and the region. The world is a darker place without his smile in it, but we are all lucky that Tomás' legacy will live on in his family's spirits and the plants that continue to thrive in the soil that he and his family have nurtured with their sweat, souls, and care.
We will treasure the memories and lessons Don Tomás gave us and hope to continue his legacy as advocates of cherished traditions.
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Nos entristeció profundamente enterarnos del fallecimiento de Don Tomás Virgen durante nuestra reciente visita a Zapotitlán del Vadillo, Jalisco. Nuestra organización tuvo la suerte de considerarlo un querido amigo. Nuestros viajes a la región a menudo culminaban con un paseo al atardecer entre los campos de agave de gran diversidad genética de su familia.
Con la puesta de sol iluminando los campos con un cálido resplandor, con el imponente Nevado de Colima y el Volcán de Fuego como telón de fondo, pasamos horas escuchando a varias generaciones de esta familia, quienes nos enseñaron sobre el lugar especial que el agave ocupa en sus vidas y en la región. El mundo es un lugar más sombrío sin su sonrisa, pero tenemos la fortuna de que el legado de Tomás perdure en el espíritu de su familia y en las plantas que siguen floreciendo en la tierra que él y su familia han cultivado con su esfuerzo, dedicación y cariño.
Atesoraremos los recuerdos y las enseñanzas que Don Tomás nos brindó y esperamos continuar su legado como defensores de estas valiosas tradiciones.
12/02/2025
This Giving Tuesday, please consider supporting the Tequila Interchange Project. We are a 501(c)(3) that is dedicated to to preserving and promoting traditional practices, responsible production management, and human health in the agave spirits industry to create a more sustainable future for culture, the environment, and stakeholders.
This year, through your generosity, we were able to offer $5,000 research and conservation grants for the first time ever. These photos are from field work by María Magdalena Padilla del Muro, a graduate researcher in Jalisco focused on studying agroecology techniques of raicileros in the Cabo Corrientes region of Western Jalisco, and how these techniques can be scaled and applied to the Tequila industry. Hopefully, this research will help positively impact the long-term sustainability of the category. But we cannot fund this research without your support. Please consider clicking the link in our bio to make a donation today.
11/26/2025
Above you will find our complete statement regarding the recent claims of adulteration and deceptive marketing in the Tequila industry.
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Más arriba encontrará nuestro comunicado completo sobre las recientes acusaciones de adulteración y publicidad engañosa en la industria del Tequila.
If you’re in town for come through and see the gang at as they pour and specials to help raise funds for TIP’s work! Our Executive Director will be hanging out to talk about wha the do, and hope to do in the coming year!
Many of you have graciously supported our organization in the past, and we hope you will do so again by supporting our 2026 fall fundraising and awareness campaign. We are asking you to aid us in our efforts by helping to increase our reach among your friends, guests, and whomever else is cool (or not cool) and loves agave spirits, or, if you can, make a financial contribution.
CLICK THE LINK KN OUR BIO TO LEARN MORE AND TO DONATE TODAY!
Diverse cultures. Diverse landscapes. This scene is from the campo of Tomás & Lorenzo Virgin, in Chancuellar, Jalisco, where they cultivate several types of native agave, including TEN DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF ANGUSTIFOLIA ALONE!!! Located at the base of the Volcán de Fuego and Nevado de Colima volcanoes along the Jalisco/Colima border, this region is hypothesized to be the cradle of distillation in Mexico. Preserving this rich land and the healthy, native biodiversity it holds in the face of modernization and industrial agriculture is central the mission of the Tequila Interchange Project.
With your help, we can continue our work of preserving traditional production, promoting sustainable practices and preserving biodiversity in agave spirits. Please visit tequilainterchangeproject.org or click the link in our bio to learn more about our programs or, more importantly, donate today to sustain our work!
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Sorry for our delay in answering our own agave trivia question. But our Director is an elder millennial and it took him him three days to make this post in Canva. Kidding but only slightly.
The three agave pollinating bats are…..drumrolllll please!!!!… 🥁 🥁 🥁
The Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae), Greater long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis), and Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana). While the Lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat have a range that extends from southern Mexico into the southwestern United States along the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Greater long-nosed bat has a range that shifts slightly eastward, migrating from southern Mexico into southeast New Mexico and southwest Texas, primarily along the Sierra Madre Oriental. In fact just this year their range was discovered to extend into southeastern Arizona!
Also, while the Greater long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat are both listed as endangered in the United States and Mexico, the Lesser long-nosed bat was recently delisted in the United States and touted as a conservation success story, however, not all conservationists are in agreement that the bat should have been delisted!
For more information, visit our friends at !
10/10/2025
Most of you agave nerds out there likely know that bats are the main pollinators of agave. But do you know the three species of agave feeding bats? 🦇 If you do, comment below with your favorite species! If not, tune in tomorrow to learn the answer!
Since our inception in 2010, educating consumers about the role bats play in agave spirits and a healthy ecosystem has been central to our mission. Follow our page to continue to learn what you can do to support our work. For starters, follow the link in our bio to make a donation! 💵 As a registered 501(c)(3), your contributions are what make our work possible!
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Contact the organization
Address
Philadelphia, PA
19102
Opening Hours
| Monday | 9am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 9am - 12pm |
| Wednesday | 9am - 12pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 12pm |
| Friday | 9am - 5pm |
| Saturday | 9am - 12pm |