Kansas City husband and wife team, Jeff and Meg Evans have launched the first-known vapor-distilled agave gin at their Mean Mule Distilling Company.

Photo credit: Richard Lincoln 

 

Meg’s family, including the head distiller Tyler, who’s her brother has been making booze for going on about 200 years now, Jeff says. “Her great great great great grandmother imported from Germany, settled in America, and then built a still and started a company. She passed that knowledge down to pretty much every generation after her.”

 

That background in distilling, Meg says, combined with growing up in Missouri wine country in Hermann, made a natural progression back to her family’s heritage. “We wanted to see if we could make something out of it in our own way, which is where the agave aspect came in,” Meg says.

 

 

Mean Mule Distilling Company launched with their handmade stills focusing on agave spirits. Similar to tequila since the organic blue weber agave they use is sourced from Jalisco, their spirits have a unique flavor profile. The award-winning Silver American Agave Spirit is twice-distilled and gently proofed for 60 days before bottling. The Gold American Agave Spirit is lightly aged in white oak barrels for a minimum of eight weeks; and Heritage American Agave Spirit is aged in white oak barrels for at least one year to instill the spirit with oak characteristics.

 

In 2022, the distillery released their agave-based gin. “In the United States, we’re the only distillery using agave for gin. We’re possibly the second in the world as there’s a distiller in Mexico, but I think theirs is technically a botanical spirit.” The sweetness of the agave, melded with their carefully selected botanicals, provides a delicious sipping gin.

 

For bartenders, Jeff recommends using the gin as they would in any gin cocktails; the agave spirits as they would other agave spirits. The menu at Mean Mule Distilling Company has a classics section for inspirations such as reimaging a Negroni as an Agroni. They serve margaritas on tap, and also like to serve cocktails that would traditionally be whiskey-based made with the Heritage American Agave Spirit.

 

Meg explains, “I think for bartenders making traditional gin cocktails, it gives because the flavors are a little bit different because of how warm it is and how the agave part of it is more complex than a green spirit. So, I think it can enhance a cocktail when bartenders are trying to do a riff on a classic.”

 

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Exclusive recipe created for Chilled Magazine readers:

MEAN MULE’S ROUGH BLAZING STAR

Photo credit: Pilsen Photo Co-op 

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Mean Mule Blue Agave Gin
• 3/4 oz Montenegro
• 3/4 oz Cappelletti
• 1/2 oz Lillet

Preparation: Build ingredients in mixing glass with ice, stir until chilled, strain into rocks glass over one large ice cube. Garnish with orange slice.