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‘Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul & Bryan Cranston Are in the Mezcal Business Now

Lead Photo: Actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul arrive as AMC Celebrates the final episodes of "Breaking Bad" at Sony Pictures Studios on 2013. Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images
Actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul arrive as AMC Celebrates the final episodes of "Breaking Bad" at Sony Pictures Studios on 2013. Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images
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More than a year ago, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were spotted in Oaxaca. And apparently, the Breaking Bad stars had more than exploring central Mexico in mind. Instead, the trip was part of the duo building a new mezcal company called Dos Hombres.

On July 2, Paul posted an image of himself and Cranston in a river with the caption, “Even sooner.” This led some to believe that the two were teaming up for a Breaking Bad spinoff. Instead, on July 9, they revealed that they were getting into the mezcal business – a revelation that has made some feel lied to. And the way Paul made the announcement raised even more eyebrows.

In a lengthy post on Twitter, Paul wrote, “Three years ago, we sat in a sushi bar in New York. Talking about life and what we could possibly do down the road together. We had the time of our lives while shooting Breaking Bad and truly built a very special bond. Knowing that we shouldn’t share the screen for quite a while – our thoughts turned to a new project. We sipped cocktails and thought about what it should be. The younger one looked at his drink and said, you know what we should do? We should do a really special Mezcal. The older one said, you mean the liquor with a worm at the bottom? Nah, that was just some bullsh*t gimmick, I mean real, artesanal Mezcal made by hand in Mexico. After that dinner, we couldn’t get the idea out of our heads. So, we started traveling to Oaxaca to see if we could find it, and we mean it had to be ‘it,’ something so damn good even people who don’t think they like Mezcal will love it.”

Despite not having connections to this community, they are putting their names on this group’s traditional liquor. Paul didn’t give a spotlight to those who make mezcal or the tradition. Instead, his post focuses mostly on the two actors and their “long and crazy journey.” It has rubbed some the wrong way because they feel it is appropriative.

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Three years ago we sat in a sushi bar in New York. Talking about life and what we could possibly do down the road together. We had the time of our lives while shooting Breaking Bad and truly built a very special bond. Knowing that we couldn’t share the screen for quite a while – our thoughts turned to a new project. We sipped cocktails and thought about what it should be. The younger one looked at his drink and said, you know what we should do? We should do a really special Mezcal. The older one said, you mean the liquor with a worm at the bottom? Nah, that was just some bullshit gimmick, I mean real, artesanal Mezcal made by hand in Mexico. After that dinner we couldn’t get the idea out of our heads. So, we started traveling to Oaxaca to see if we could find it, and we mean it had to be “it,” something so damn good even people who don’t think they like Mezcal will love it. It had to be perfect or we weren’t going to do it. We searched high and low all over Oaxaca, met incredible people along the way and after a beautiful yet grueling search throughout that majestic landscape we believed we may have found our place. Our Mezcal. It was on a dirt-road, in tiny village, hours away from the center of town, we found it and it was perfect. Holy shit it was perfect. We looked at each other and just simply nodded. This is it. We named it Dos Hombres – two guys on a quest. It’s been a long and crazy journey and we couldn’t be happier to share this with you and the rest of the world. We are crazy about the taste, the aroma, and the versatility of this smokey, age-old alcohol. Try it, and let us know what you think. We are certain you will love it. Well, that’s our story. What’s yours? Go to Doshombres.com to get a bottle of your own. Follow us at @Doshombres and @Mezcal to hear more about Mezcal and Dos Hombres. — AP & BC 📷 @coryt

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