Bowen agave spirit farm moves to taste-testing stage
A Queensland agave farm, already one of the biggest in the world, is onto the ‘fun part’ with plenty of tastings to perfect a drop that will rival Mexico’s tequila.
QLD Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
If tequila is associated with mariachi, Latin madness and fevered bachata, how will the Australian version compete?
This is a challenge one North Queensland agave farm is hoping to excel at as its spirit production kicks into gear by the end of November.
Prospect Agriculture scientist Chris Monsour manages the 380ha Eden Lassie farm south of Bowen in the tropical Whitsundays.
The agaves were planted out four years ago but already the farm boasts one of the 20 largest agave crops in the world.
Mr Monsour said they were now finally getting to the “fun part” with plenty of tastings of the homegrown agave liquor coming up.
He said they were not trying to “mimic” the famous Mexican tequila but rather bring a true Australian taste to the famous agave-based spirit.
The Australian Agave Project, started by Melbourne-based distiller Top Shelf International, aims to deliver its agave spirit under the brand Act of Treason in 2024.
From plant to bottle, all steps of production will stay in the Whitsundays, with the building of a distillery currently underway after being approved last year.
“We were hoping to have it (the distillery) finished by the end of August but … it’s very expensive and it’s very hard to get tradespeople and equipment,” Mr Monsour said.
He said once the distillery was finished, they would start the “fun part” of testing different recipes and production processes to make a spirit that would blow the market and people’s minds.
He said staff only knew “broad methodology” of producing spirits and a lot of questions were still unanswered like the types of yeasts to use, fermentation times and how to perfect each step of production.
“We’re not trying to mimic tequila coming out of Mexico, we want to produce something that’s very reflective of the way in which our crop is grown in our climate, on our soils,” Mr Monsour said.
“There’s gonna be a lot of tastings going on to determine what is the best in terms of people’s preferences.”
Mr Monsour said there were 600,000 agave plants on their land as of October and the numbers should increase to 900,000 plants by this time next year, making it among the 10 biggest agave farms in the world.
“In Mexico a lot of them are small or family farms,” he said.
Mr Monsour said 30 of the Queensland-grown agave plants had been distilled in Melbourne in June, with the drop winning a competition in the UK for new agave states.
As to making sure their Australian Agave spirit differed from its Mexican counterparts, Mr Monsour said the Whitsunday farm was very close to sea level whereas agave is Mexico was grown at high altitude.
He added the company had partnered with the University of Adelaide to identify components that gave their product its unique taste.
“They’ve done that with wine and we’ll do that with our agave spirit,” he said.
A Top Shelf spokesman said the commercial production of the agave liquor was four to six weeks away.
McGees’ changing of the guard
After more than three decades with McGees Property Group Justin Clarke has resigned from leading the company as two other major commercial agencies in Brisbane announced changes at the top over the last couple of months.
Green hydrogen hype fast runs out of steam
The glow of the superfuel is fading fast and this demands a rethink of its role in the path to net zero.