Missouri Agave: In Conversation With the Family Distilling Agave Spirits Using Juniper Berries, Poblano Peppers and More

At the Mean Mule Distilling Co. in Kansas City, Missouri, a new generation of agave spirits is being born from the most unexpected of ingredients. (Photo: Mean Mule Distilling Co.)

As tequila balloons to new heights of popularity, a growing community of international distillers is throwing their hats into the ring. From South Africa to Australia to Germany, distillers are trying out all manner of new techniques that would never fly within Mexico’s tightly regulated agave industry, giving birth to a new generation of spirits that aren’t quite “tequila” or “mezcal” but something else entirely.

In Kansas City, Missouri, that experimentation is alive and well.  At the Mean Mule Distilling Co., husband and wife Jeff and Meg Evans are using blue weber agave sourced from Jalisco to make agave-based gin, poblano pepper spirits and more.

We sat down with the Evans and Meg’s brother Tyler Gloe, Mean Mule’s master distiller, to learn more about this unexpected new vista for American-made agave spirits.

Missouri-Made

(Photo: Mean Mule Distilling Co.)

The story of Mean Mule dates back centuries to when Meg Evan’s great-great-great-great-(great?)-grandmother built a still in Missouri that would eventually be passed down to every generation after her.

“At the time, the family was making fruit brandies, corn whiskeys — that sort of thing. They had outfitted a barn with a false floor, underneath which was the whole operation,” Jeff told us.

As legend has it, two revenuers made their way up the hill during the peak of prohibition to shut the business down. Little did they know, a pair of mules was standing guard at the barn; a tussle broke out and the revenuers were sent packing.

Nearly a century later, Jeff and Meg Evans started tinkering with agave spirits and realized that they didn’t want to go down the same route as their prohibition-era ancestors.

“We allegedly started making some things in some undisclosed locations — it got to the point where it was either gonna get us in trouble or we just had to go legit,” said Jeff. 

Since launching in 2016, Mean Mule has released an unaged Silver, an eight-week-aged Gold, and a one-year-aged “Heritage” expression alongside their iconic blue weber agave-based gin. Made with a combination of juniper, cardamom, coriander, white peppercorn, lemon zest and persimmon, Mean Mule Gin won Most Innovative Spirit of the Year for 2022 and put distiller Tyler Gloe on the map.

“There’s a book on virtually every spirit out there. You can copy people’s whiskey, bourbon and botanical recipes, but there’s no data available on agave-based products.  It took quite a bit of time to hammer down,” said Gloe. 

Everything had to be built from the ground up. Jeff Evans, previously an automotive engineer, had to design and build all the stills that would eventually produce Mean Mule’s variety of off-kilter spirits. Meg Evans, previously an English teacher, became a spokesperson of sorts for their fledgling agave spirits business in Missouri.

“A big part of what we do is that education piece. People are looking for an approachable product; they want to feel like they’re drinking something they understand, something that’s special,” said Meg. 

America has historically been a nation of whiskey and bourbon drinkers accustomed to darkened flavors of oak, caramel and cherry. Over the past decade, many have undergone this “tequila education,” one that has gradually paved the way for the unexpected flavors of mezcal, sotol, bacanora and raicilla to take hold of the market. The same holds true at Mean Mule.

Their most recent expression is distilled using poblano peppers, an unexpected ingredient that distiller Tyler Gloe says produces a flavor halfway between vegetables and bubblegum.

The Future of American Agave Spirits

Fields of Mean Mule agave growing in Jalisco. (Photo: Mean Mule Distilling Co.)

Today, Mean Mule distills their spirit using agave imported from Jalisco, Mexico. Within the next few years, they’re hoping to grow stateside.

The Evans are currently farming the likes of agave tequilana, americana and more on a plot of land in Arizona, just a few hundred miles east of the nascent but rapidly growing agave fields in Napa Valley, California (where the term “California Agave Sprits” was recently codified into law as a protected designation of origin).

Just as in California, there are a range of agave varietals native to Arizona, species like angustifolia, cupreata and murpheyi that are frequently used to make mezcal throughout Oaxaca.

All of this is to say, Mean Mule represents the beginnings of a full-blown agave spirits industry that will likely take hold within the United States in the not-so-distant future. Understanding how and where that industry will take form may require years or even decades of patience.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out the Mean Mule Distilling Co. website.

Read More:

Trends, Treason and Terroir: The Complicated Politics of Non-Mexican Tequila

Amidst Growing Concerns Over Bats and Carbon Emissions, Tequila Production Is Pressured to Go Green

Exploring Agave: Getting To Know The Families Behind Del Maguey Mezcal

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