It took three friends, one handmade still and a lot of blue agave from Jalisco, Mexico, to create a new locally made spirit.
Mean Mule Distilling Co. launched last year, with the goal of introducing a sexy new spirit to the Kansas City market.
A few years ago, Jeff and Meg Evans decided to use their summer break as an opportunity to teach themselves how to distill spirits in their garage, using a still they made themselves. A friend, Patrick Little, would come over on weekends to help. Together, the trio decided to pool their money and quit their jobs to launch Kansas City’s first American blue agave spirit.
As for the name? Meg’s grandmother used to tell her a story about the mean old mule that chased off the local lawmen who had come to the family farm looking for her great-great-grandfather’s bootlegging operation. “It was a story I had been told my whole life, but it didn’t really resonate with me until Jeff and I started distilling,” says Meg, who is Mean Mule's director of business development. “When we decided this might be something we wanted to do for a living, I was on the phone asking my grandmother to tell me that story one more time.”
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The three partners launched Mean Mule by incubating under fellow distillers and consultants Lifted Spirits. In particular, Meg says the science of getting agave to ferment correctly in Kansas City's climate took a lot of patience, trial and error and help from fellow distillers. It was “a safe space for us to learn and have important conversations about our processes and review the flavor of what we were making with others in the business,” she says.
They chose to launch their business with only one product, a silver American blue agave spirit, because there's nothing else quite like it in Kansas City right now. Because it is not made in Mexico, the spirit is not considered tequila or mezcal. In fact, the American market doesn’t yet have a category for this type of spirit. The flavor, though, is similar to tequila, with a smooth and silky roundness that makes it perfect for sipping straight or mixing into your favorite cocktail.
“The word 'tequila,' and the spirit it describes, has a denomination of origin status and a geographic indication, much like champagne is from the Champagne region,” says Jeff, Mean Mule's CEO and head distiller. “Since our spirit has roots in the Jalisco region, because we use 100 percent blue agave, it will taste similar to quality tequilas from Mexico.”
For now, Mean Mule's products will only be sold in Missouri. The distillery is working with a Missouri distributor, and you can find Mean Mule Silver on the shelves in over 20 to 30 local liquor stores including Cellar Rat, Gomer’s, Royal Liquors, Lukas Wine & Spirits and Brookside Wine & Spirits. You can also find it behind the bar at Westport Café & Bar, The Farmhouse, Thou Mayest and Brown & Loe.
The partners have also just signed a lease for their first commercial space, located at 1733 Locust in the Crossroads. The space shares a back alley with Lifted Spirits, where they are currently producing Mean Mule Silver. “Our garage doors line up pretty close, so when our space is ready we plan to lift the garage door in the alley and roll our still over into our new space,” Meg says.
Due to paperwork from city and government agencies, it will take six to nine months before Mean Mule will be able to make its spirit in the new space. In the meantime, they will continue to produce up to 1,000 bottles a month at Lifted Spirits for distribution.
Once they are producing in their own facility, they plan to branch out and start making other spirits, in addition to aging their own blue agave in Missouri oak barrels, similar to the way tequila is aged. Eventually, the plan is to open up a tasting room and give tours of their process to the public.
“When we are ready, we really want to invite people in to see what we are doing,” says Little, the chief marketing officer for Mean Mule. “Right now, we are meeting them at tastings across the city. Our next tasting event will be on First Friday, July 7, at Normal Human, and people can always check our Instagram page for more events and details.”
Mean Mule Distilling Co., 1733 Locust, Crossroads Arts District, Kansas City, Missouri, meanmuledistilling.co