Fermentation & Distillation

Two distillation runs are mandatory for Tequila in Mexico. Copper is traditional, but no longer required; stainless steel and column stills are permitted too. None of these rules apply in Queensland. Top Shelf International could have legally produced its spirit with a single column distillation.

The company chose copper pot stills anyway, the same kind found in Jalisco and Oaxaca. Copper binds unwanted sulfur compounds from the mash, which is why it's considered a mark of quality in traditional agave spirits, even though no Australian law would have required it.

The fermented mash from the cooked piña must first become a low-alcohol liquid before it can be distilled. That takes time and the right yeast. The company has not yet publicly disclosed exactly which yeast is used or how long fermentation takes in Bowen.

Open wood or stone vats, common in Oaxaca, are hardly practical for a farm with over 600,000 agaves. Closed steel tanks are easier to clean and to operate at scale, the more obvious choice for a young, industrially oriented operation like Eden Lassie.

After distillation, the Eden Lassie distillery brings another first. According to the company, solar power and hydrogen supply the energy for it. Never before has an Agave Spirit been distilled in this quantity on Australian soil. Yet whatever ends up in the bottle remains, legally, an Agave Spirit despite the copper and the traditional borrowings. Tequila or Mezcal may not appear on the label.