Desert Door Texas Sotol was born in the West Texas desert, where our founders first encountered the Sotol plant. Hundreds of years ago, this spiky desert succulent was used by Indigenous tribes for everything from tools and food to fermented drink.
Wild Harvested
“Sotol” is both the name of our spirit and the plant we make it from. We wild-harvest all our sotol on ranches across Texas; we don’t farm or cultivate any of our sotol stock. Wild-harvesting is a much more sustainable practice than monocropping and helps conserve valuable resources such as land and water.
80 Proof (ABV 40%)
In Far West Texas, wild Dasylirion texanum (Texas sotol) plants grow wild and weed-like by the millions. When they reach maturity around 10-15 years, our team selectively wild-harvests this plant. Taking only a small number of plants from each acre and leaving root systems intact allows this precious resource to remain wild and plentiful forever. The leaves are trimmed, and the heart of the plant is secured for transport to Desert Door Distillery in Driftwood. To similarly prepare sotols for eating or fermenting, “native Americans dug up the shrubs and removed the slender leaves, using the heart and meat at the base.”
STEP 2
The sotol hearts are loaded one by one into our cookers. They are cooked in steam, which converts the stored energy into sugar. Steaming maximizes the precious juice obtained from the sotol plants and keeps the flavor light rather than smoky. “Inedible raw, after prolonged cooking they turn to a sugary carbohydrate.” After roasting, Native Americans “scooped out and chewed the soft, fibrous pulp in the center to extract the sweet nutritious juice, spitting out the fiber.”
STEP 3
The cooked sotol hearts are individually pressed for their juice. Full of plant sugars, once the dark, molasses-like juice is extracted it’s fermented in tanks for five to six thoughtful days with our organic, proprietary yeast. Depending on environmental factors like climate, we are left with a sotol beer at the end of this process.
STEP 4
The resulting mash is distilled in our custom-built, hybrid still. When it’s through, the Texas sotol averages 155 proof.
STEP 5
Our beautiful spirit is reconciled with water to get to its correct proof. Some at 80 proof goes straight into our bottles, while even less at 120 proof is set aside for barrel aging to satisfy those with a taste for aged spirits. Our rack house in Driftwood is home to many new American oak barrels with a medium char.
While it’s not an agave spirit, our Desert Door Original is a lot like a premium tequila on the nose, with bright notes of vanilla and green grass. But here the similarities end. Tasting reveals flavors like toffee, mint, and orange zest. The finish is custard-smooth - smoother than tequila - with subtle hints of sage.
DESERT DOOR SANGRIA (BATCH - SERVES 6-8)
8oz Desert Door Original Texas Sotol ( Or Desert Door Oak Aged Texas Sotol for more caramel notes)
750ml red wine (tempranillo or malbec recommended)
8oz honey
2oz boiling water
8oz apple cider
1oz apple cider vinegar
Cinnamon Sticks
2 apples sliced
Thyme sprigs
Starting with a large punch bowl, add honey, water, and cinnamon sticks. Stir and leave the mix to cool for a couple hours, absorbing cinnamon flavor in the mix. Add sotol and stir vigorously. Add wine, cider, and vinegar, and continue stirring. Once everything is equally mixed, add apple and thyme top the bowl to garnish. Serve at room temperature or chilled over ice.
MULLED SOTOL CIDER ( BATCH SERVES 18- 20 )
1 Bottle Desert Door
1 Gallon Cider
1/4 Cup Honey
2 Inches Fresh Chopped Ginger
1/3 Cup of Mulling Spices
2 Rosemary Sprigs
1 Orange, Sliced Into Wheels
Add cider, honey, ginger, mulling spices, rosemary, and orange wheels to large pot over medium heat. Simmer for 20 minutes with lid on. Add 4-6 oz of cider to each mug with 1.5 oz sotol.
THE EVERGREEN
1.5 oz Desert Door Original Sotol
1.5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
0.5 oz Agave Nectar
Cucumber
Mint
Muddle cucumber and mint in shaker. Add sotol, lime Juice, agave nectar, and ice. Shake. Strain into glass with fresh ice and garnish with cucumber.
*SHIPPING NOTICE- If possible, please use a business address for shipping. All shipments require an adult signature which is much more reliable at a place of business.
All orders usually ship within 24-48 hours unless noted otherwise