Online and in person courses and tastings for bartenders, hospitality teams and curious drinkers across the UK and Europe led by Heidi Roach, Master of Agave Spirits.

who am I?

I'm Heidi, founder of Mezcal Academy, and self confessed aficionado of agave spirits. After falling in love with mezcal I set out on a mission to learn as much as I could about it. After trips to Mexico, countless books and hundreds of tastings, I went to Oaxaca to study further to earn the title of 'Master of Agave Spirits' with the Agave Spirits Institute in 2025 and I now dedicate my time to sharing my knowledge- and my mezcal collection - with others!
Alongside tastings and training, I work as an agave spirits consultant. You’ll find my everyday agave adventures on Instagram at @agave_alegria.

“What makes Heidi so special is the way she balances deep knowledge with fun and approachability. She makes mezcal accessible without dumbing it down, mixing proper mezcal nerdery with great stories and infectious enthusiasm. By the end of the evening, even the sceptics were fully converted.”

ME MARTINELLI, PRIVATE TASTING HOST

WHAT DO I OFFER?

My aim is simple: to help people enjoy agave spirits and understand the stories behind every sip. You choose how you learn, whether that's a relaxed tasting, a structured course, or a bespoke training session for a team.Courses, tastings and workshops run online or in person across the UK and Europe. Book a place at the Agave Spirits Discovery, or get in touch about a private tasting or team training.

Tastings, courses and workshops are available online or in person all over Europe. You can book here to attend The Agave Spirits Discovery online course or get in touch to talk to me about bespoke tasting or training events.Tasting events pricelists are available on request.

TASTINGS

“Heidi helped me curate the perfect lineup, communicated clearly throughout the entire process, and was incredibly flexible and thoughtful from start to finish.”

ME MARTINELLI, PRIVATE TASTING HOST

TASTINGS at your home or venue

Are you completely new to mezcal? Then why not begin your mezcal journey with a Mezcal 101 workshop to answer all the burning questions while we taste such asWhat is mezcal?
How is it made?
What’s the difference between tequila and mezcal?
Why is there such variation in how different mezcals taste?

Tasting prices start from €28 per person*

workplace tastings

An agave spirits tasting can be a great team building activity or celebration. I can help plan an engaging workshop where you'll learn about the mezcal production process, taste a range of spirits or experiment with agave in cocktails.

Corporate prices start from €55 per person*

advanced curated tastings

If you're looking for a more advanced tasting beyond the basics I can provide an extensive selection of mezcals from my own collection to curate the perfect tasting for your group.If you'd like to plan a tasting, whether a small family celebration, a get together with friends, or a large team building event, please get in touch for package pricing or to design a bespoke event.

Advanced tasting prices start from €38 per person*

Venue hosted tastings

I also work with bars and restaurants to design tasting experiences for guests. Talk to me about mezcal food pairing, event collaborations or group tastings.

"I attended a mezcal tasting and it was incredible. Heidi was really engaging and informative. I never knew there were so many types of Mezcal and how different each of them are. I had an amazing time and would highly recommend Agave Alegria events.”

Z MUIRDEN, TASTING EVENT ATTENDEE

*minimum numbers apply. contact me for a bespoke quote

pop up mezcal club

Already have a venue and keen to introduce agave spirits to your guests?
Why not feature a variety of mezcals or agave spirits based cocktails on a pop up basis?We can collaborate to offer hand selected mezcal flights to showcase the variety of agave spirits, or create a cocktail list to introduce new spirit types into your menu.Prefer to offer a formal ticketed tasting? Let me know what you have in mind and we can get things started.

training

I am passionate about agave spirits education and want to offer education in a way that suits different ways of learning. Both online courses and in person workshops are available.

the agave spirits discovery course - open for bookings online

The Agave Spirits Discovery is a live, online introduction to agave spirits covering the plant, the production process, sustainability and how to taste. Each class includes four guided tastings as well as theory.
It's designed for bartenders, hospitality and retail professionals, and anyone who simply wants to understand more about what's in the glass. No prior knowledge needed and price includes delivery.

BOOK A SCHEDULED DATE

BOOK NOW, CHOOSE CLASS DATE LATER

Contact me for group bookings

HOW DOES IT WORK?

1. Choose your live session date from the list above.2. Book your place via the ticket tailor event page at the reduced launch price of €109 / £90 (including delivery - all customs tax paid)
Payment is handled securely by Stripe.3. Your tasting kit is posted to you including four carefully chosen mezcal expressions plus a little tasting booklet to make notes during the session.4. Join the 2.5 hour live session via a Google meet link. Ask questions, taste along as we go, and finish with a certificate of attendance.

course kit contents

"The Agave Spirits Discovery course was an engaging, well-structured, and insightful session. The energy and expertise of Heidi made the content really dynamic and easy to digest. A fantastic experience overall!"

B MARIS, COURSE ATTENDEE

contact me

gifts for people who love good spirits

"An absolute treat for any mezcal lover who wants to understand the magic behind this most magical of spirits. Heidi takes you on a journey that looks at how land, history and heritage come together to bring us such an amazing array of mezcal spirits. "

E MARTINELLII, COURSE ATTENDEE

Mezcal makes a wonderful gift and now you can give the gift of a Mezcal Academy learning experience. You can buy a course kit for a friend or loved one and choose either to have it delivered to you to wrap and hand deliver, or send it directly to them. No need to select a class date - they can choose a date to suit them. A promotional price of €109 / £90 includes delivery to any address in the UK or Europe.
Gift vouchers, redeemable against any Mezcal Academy course date are also available to purchase from the store.Your gift includes the course kit with four curated 50ml expressions for the tasting element of the course; a 2.5 hour live session led by Master of Agave Spirits, Heidi Roach.

"The energy and expertise of Heidi made the content really dynamic and easy to digest. A fantastic experience overall!"

B MARIS, COURSE ATTENDEE

Mezcal Academy courses and kits are for adults aged 18+ only. Please drink responsibly.

plan a Christmas agave spirits tasting for your team

Gather your team, in the office or wherever they are, for a live tasting of mezcal and tequila, guided by an agave spirits specialist. It’s warm, a little bit different, and full of stories from Mexico.Every mezcal tells a story: the village it comes from, the family who made it, the wild agave that took years to grow. In this hosted tasting, your team tastes 4 agave spirits side by side, discovers why one is smoky and another bright and fresh, and leaves knowing more than most bartenders.There’s no experience needed, just curiosity and a glass.

how it works - 3 options

Online: anywhere. A live 60–75 minute session hosted by Heidi.
A tasting kit is posted to each guest, so it works for remote, hybrid and international teams.

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In person: at your venue by arrangement.

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Gift it: Send kits to clients or colleagues as a Christmas gift, with or without a live session. (they choose the date!)

the details

Groups from 8 guests
From €65 per person, including the tasting kit and postage within the UK and EU
Kits can go to home or office addresses(Non-drinkers can join and fully participate for the stories and the aromas. Let us know and we can adapt their kit)Order by 18 November for kits to arrive in time for December sessions.

plan your team tasting

what guests say

"I attended a mezcal tasting and it was incredible. Heidi was really engaging and informative. I never knew there were so many types of Mezcal and how different each of them are. I had an amazing time and would highly recommend Agave Alegria events"

your host

Heidi is a qualified master of agave spirits and mezcal sommelier based in southern Spain. Through Mezcal Academy she teaches bar professionals, brand owners and enthusiasts across the UK and Europe, and she has spent time with producers in Mexico.

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Brand promotions and consultancy

Have a mezcal brand you want to promote?
Have a team keen to learn more about the category?Talk to me to find out how I can showcase your brand as part of tasting workshops or events, or bring education to meet the needs of your staff.I currently represent Succulent Spirits in Spain. If you are interested in learning about their portfolio for an event or for your bar, please get in touch.

Understanding what you taste

When I first started tasting different mezcals I wanted to keep a note of everything I tasted and I carried a little notebook around with me. At every event I went to I would write down every single mezcal I tasted. Each new bottle I tried at home or in a bar, I added it to my list, convinced this would become my personal reference guide: a record of what I liked and didn't like, sorted by agave and region.
What I didn’t realise was I was only capturing a fraction of what actually shapes a mezcal's character.
I was capturing the brand name, sometimes the producer’s name and certainly the agave species and the region and I thought that this would help me to remember enough about the character of the drink!
It turned out, unsurprisingly, that wasn't enough to build up a bank of useful information and I needed to try and capture more, such as where exactly in the state the agave was grown,
what time of year it was harvested, whether the agave was crushed with a wooden mallet, a tahona, or a mechanical shredder? Was it distilled in copper or clay? How long did fermentation last, and who made it — because individual producers often have techniques entirely their own, passed down through generations or developed through years of experience.
I decided that what I really needed was not just scribbles in my notebook but a little bit more about the terroir and the production, so that I could start to see which of those influences contributed to flavour profiles that appealed more or less to me and to help me help other people to choose mezcals that they will love.
I've made a little template to help me capture more information and I'm sharing it here in case anyone else wants to try it out. You don't have to fill in every detail on the sheet but I think it can help me make better notes than I used to using this as a reminder!I hope you find it useful too. Please feel free to use, it edit it, download it and share it anyway you would like and please give me your feedback. Let me know if it works for you and let me know how you're using it but most of all enjoy tasting all those mezcals!

press

I spoke to Jamie AKA The Agaveist about my passion for mezcal education. I obviously talked his ears off! Here's the full interview