Australia Digs Deeper Into Tequila Market With Peanut Butter, Fruit Zingle and ‘Fireballs’-Flavored Agave Spirits

In Australia, a new generation of distillers is experimenting with tequila-adjacent spirits — some more bizarre than others. (Photo: Bunsters)

Renae Bunster, better known in some circles as Australia’s Queen of Hot Sauce, is expanding her condiment empire into the world of agave spirits.

Her new ‘Shit the Bed Tequila’ — coined after a hot sauce of the same name launched to viral stardom on interview show Hot Ones — joins a quartet of outlandish flavors at the forefront of Australia’s unexpected, divisive agave spirits boom.

There’s a lot going on here, so let’s do a quick rundown:

The Peanut Butter (“like drinking a liquid Snickers Bar”), Fire Balls (“moreish Big Red Gum taste”) and Fruit Zingle (“more fun than a game of naked Twister”) flavors are technically billed as liqueurs, clocking in at 30% ABV each.

The newly released Shit the Bed expression — infused with a kick of Charapita chili peppers — is the only one bottled at a full-fledged 40% ABV. Intriguingly, the latest flavor includes an alcohol-soaked Australian wood larvae at the bottom of each bottle, a clear nod to the infamous mezcal worm.

Here’s where things get tricky. Though Bunsters is distilled from agave Tequilana imported from Mexico, it legally cannot be called tequila without violating protected designation of origin laws. Hence, if you take a closer look at any of the bottles, you’ll find a tiny “NA” (not applicable) printed alongside each big-lettered mention of tequila.

To be clear, Bunsters is among hundreds of international distillers experimenting with blue Weber agave spirits. It’s just that they’re one of very few to directly toy with the hefty language of tequila. Elsewhere, distillers have found unique, occasionally questionable solutions.

In 2022, Australian spirits producer Top Shelf International unveiled its latest brand, Act of Treason. Distilled from blue Weber agave grown in Ayr, North Queensland, the bottle’s packaging features an agave plant being ripped upside-down from the earth surrounded by the tagline “Hecho En Australia.”

(Photo: Act of Treason)

With 500,000 agave plants in the ground and a projected 1 million by the end of 2024, Act of Treason’s fields are already the single largest agave estate outside of Mexico.

On paper, it’s easy to understand why agave spirits are having their moment Down Under. Australia’s iron-rich soil and arid climate closely mimic that of Mexico; combined with a wildly popular drinking culture, conditions have created the perfect storm for distillers willing to capitalize on the trend.

However, as tequila strays further from home, so too does its oft-debated authenticity. Regardless of how you feel about the politics of non-Mexican distilled agave spirit, it’s clear that a new generation of foreign products is becoming comfortable with flaunting just how different they are from the real thing.

Read More: 

Clase Azul’s $1,450 Día de Los Muertos Tequila Pushes Collectible Spirits to Absurd, 24-Karat Heights 

New Additive-Free Tequila ‘Founded, Farmed Distilled and Led by Women’ Hits the Market Nationwide

‘A Delicious Treat’: El Tesoro Tequila Expands Specialty Collection With Knob Creek Rye-Rested Añejo

Here at Tequila Raiders, we do more than write about current events in tequila. We are the only media property reviewing tequilas and aggregating the scores and reviews of other significant voices in the tequila world in one place. If you’re interested in getting a shot of tequila in your morning email, sign up for our Deal of the Day newsletter