In 2024, nonalcoholic spirits hit the big time with celebrity endorsements and growing sales. The world of agave spirits is no exception. Quality and innovation in the category have excelled, leading to some truly exciting products, like Oaxacan made Tomonotomo. These non-alcohohlic “mezcal” and “tequila” brands aim to celebrate agave–without the alcohol.
In August, Pernod Ricard invested in Almave, the passion project of Formula One star Lewis Hamilton and Casa Lumbre co-founder, Iván Saldaña. In a press release, they stated that the product “perfectly satisfies the intersection between three accelerating global trends: tequila, non-alc products and the desire for authenticity.”
They have a point. In recent years the sale of agave spirits have rocketed. The low/no AVB movement has also gained significant traction, offering alternatives to traditionally alcoholic drinks. The rise in consumers has been particularly apparent in the younger generations.
At the start of 2024, the global market of alcohol-free drinks was valued at over $11 billion.
What about non-alchohlic mezcal?
New and established brands are exploring the potential for non-alchoholic “mezcal” and “tequila.” Seedlip, a heavyweight in the 0% spirit arena, showcased the Notas of Agave expression, Lyres have Agave Blanco, while movie and sobriety icon Danny Trejo has added a “tequila alternative” to Trejo Spirits, which are all zero-proof.
The aim of these “spirits” is to mimic the taste, aroma, and mouthfeel of their alcoholic counterparts. This effect is often achieved with some combination of xantham gum and potassium sorbate. Producers add a mixture of flavorings, including spices like cinnamon to emulate the “burn” of drinking alcohol.
It’s rare to find a non-alcoholic tequila or mezcal brand that is built on authentic ingredients. Enter Tomonotomo, a new nonalcoholic agave spirit made in Oaxaca. They lead with the simplicity of their ingredients, including actual agave–not just agave flavoring.
Building a zero-proof agave spirit
Tomonotomo founder Amanda Chen was a bartender who loved agave spirits. During the pandemic she decided to stop drinking alcohol but found it hard to find non-alcoholic options made from agave. She was appalled to discover that the non-alcoholic “tequila” and “mezcal” alternatives she tried didn’t actually include agave—just agave extract, agave syrup, or other “natural” flavorings.
Tomonotomo is Amanda’s second contribution to the drinks industry. Previously she created Salty Paloma, a selection of flavored salts for cocktail rims. Salty Paloma gave her experience working with different mezcal and tequila brands. With the success of this previous business, Amanda gained the confidence to pursue an innovative, non-alcoholic “agave spirit.”
The next step was to develop the actual recipe. Although Amanda had connections with producers in Oaxaca, she quickly realized that a mezcal without alcohol wasn’t something they were engaging with. In the of summer 2022, she bumped into fellow agave spirits enthusiast and fermentation expert Matt Spinozzi.
Amanda had been tasting all the preexisting zero proof agave spirits on the market. Her initial priority was to make something that improved on that low bar, with a focus on actually using agave as the base ingredient.
Amanda explained that she didn’t want a zero proof “mezcal” made in a lab with artificial flavors, extracts, citric acid, or other preservatives. “I wanted something made with real agave, real ingredients, shelf-stable and distilled through the artisanal process we have here in Oaxaca.”
She told Dry Atlas that their first attempts to make their spirit hit some obstacles. The first batch just tasted just like bad tequila. To rectify the problem, they partnered with mezcal producers in Oaxaca to source Tobala. Known for making a floral, fruity mezcal, this agave is also low in sugar, which is better for producing a non-alcoholic spirit (less sugar, less alcohol).
It took them two years to launch, with twelve months of R&D to find a way to naturally ferment and distill the agave so that it’s developed to be non-alcoholic from the start. During the research period, the project was funded by Amanda, supported by Salty Paloma. This was followed by a Kickstarter to help pay for their bespoke still. In 30 days, they raised $10,000 to support the Tomonotomo dream.
According to Matt, “Unlike any other non-alc spirit on the market, our distillate is not a hydrosol (whereby the non-water-soluble essential oils are removed) nor the product of steam distillation. Rather, it is a full distillation with heads, hearts and tails cuts, which retains the essential oils (primarily non-water-soluble esters and terpenes) in the hearts.”
Matt remembers, “Developing the fermentation process took a few months. The rest of the time was spent on fine tuning the flavor, emulsion, and stability of the product. We went through 15 working prototypes between finalizing the fermentation process and doing the pilot run.”
The agave is roasted and distilled, similar to mezcal. The process includes fermentation, but their method does not lead to the conversion of sugar to alcohol that would happen in traditional agave spirits.
Matt explains that: “There are many types of fermentation, and not all of them produce alcohol. Even though it is a spontaneous fermentation, our fermentation parameters are quite different from that of a mezcal, which thus results in a different set of microbial metabolites, allowing us to produce a non-alcoholic distillate from the spontaneously fermented agave.”
With their method of fermentation, agave aromas may be lost if the fermentation goes on for a long time. But as they aren’t trying to produce alcohol, they don’t need to wait for all the available carbohydrates to be consumed by the microbes.
With a mezcal fermentation, the agave flavor is persistent during fermentation. As the alcohol interacts with the esters you get “esterification” (a reaction of an alcohol with an acid to produce an ester and water.) But leave it too long and eventually it becomes too acidic. Matt explains that because their aim is to minimize alcohol production during fermentation, the esterification is front-loaded, which can cause acids to dominate much more quickly.
“For our product efficiency, it’s about how much FLAVOR can we get per kilo of agave, and once that number starts diminishing, it’s time to distill,” he says.
To enhance this flavor, they incorporate Oaxacan herbs and spices and smoked pineapple. These botanicals are distilled with the fermented agave, not infused. Matt says, “In addition to flavor, the botanicals are carefully calibrated to provide microbial and oxidative stability (instead of preservatives). Separately, the agave and pineapple are used to regulate the acidity, emulsion and mouthfeel.”
Tomonotomo’s listed ingredients:
- Fermented agave distilled with botanicals (water, ginger, pasilla chili, mixe, cocoa flower, basil, pennyroyal, chamomile, black cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, hibiscus, rose petal, lemon tea, and clove)
- Pulque reduction (fermented agave sap)
- Smoked pineapple
- Vegetable glycerin
- Pulque vinegar
- Agave inulin
Tomonotomo is then distilled through copper stills, keeping a respect for the craft of spirits.
Here’s a video showing details of the process.
Although the R&D distillations were done with a basic direct-fired alambique de cobre (copper pot still) which Matt lightly modified, he explains, “For actual production, Amanda is using a customized direct-fired copper pot still with a modified doubler that I designed. The still was made right here in Oaxaca, in Ocotlan.”
Despite hailing from the world’s mezcal capital, Tomonotomo is not trying to make an alcohol-free alternative to mezcal. It’s not about attempting to make a replica spirit with no alcohol. Instead they have created something new. A 0% ABV drink that celebrates agave, aimed at the premium spirit bracket.
Amanda explains that developing Tomonotomo was about making a product that is a top choice–whether or not you’re a drinker. That’s the inspiration behind Tomonotomo, which means “I drink, I don’t drink” in Spanish.
Although you can consume Tomonotomo neat, it was created with bartenders in mind. Amanda says that once she stopped drinking, she realized a lot of non-alcoholic brands wanted her help making cocktails. “And for good reason,” she says, “a lot of the products that existed tasted horrible and I had to really adjust my recipes to make the cocktails palatable.”
In creating Tomonotomo, she wants to offer a more complex 0% spirit for bartenders to play with. She says “Tomonotomo has already been served at events with an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version of the same cocktail recipe. Tomonotomo often sells out first!”
Recently Tomonotomo has been popping up at events like Tales of the Cocktail and Oaxaca’s Mercado Atemporal. Amanda says, “It’s still a new category so a lot of people are surprised to come across it, but it is always received with positive feedback. People congratulate us for creating a high quality product that offers a non-alc option.”
The most recent Tales of the Cocktail had a diverse and exciting range of events and presentations focussed on the no/low alc sector. Kami Kenna, senior tour coordinator for Experience Agave, showed up to spread the word about Tomonotomo.
Kami explained that she knew a lot of her friends were focussed on the non-alcoholic space. Camille Vidal was doing a seminar along with Derek Brown, founder of Positive Damage. After the presentation, Kami shared some Tomonotomo with a group from the seminar. Kami remembers: “They had all heard about it. One girl from Austin had already had it. It kind of felt like it already had a cult following.”
After trying Tomonotomo at Tales, Derek shared that he loves how the aroma takes him “to the wood-fired stills of small, traditional Mezcal producers.” Although the palate, like most NA spirits, lacks the strength of alcohol, he says, “In a Oaxaca old fashioned or ‘mezcal’ margarita it does the job admirably. I love that it is produced in Oaxaca and doesn’t claim to be mezcal or tequila. It’s defining an entirely new category that takes notes from the others but does its own thing.”
Kami says “Tomonotomo is an intellectual non-alcoholic agave spirit. You taste the cooked agave–it’s actually distilled. It has whole ingredients and all the ingredients are listed on the bottle. It’s not marketing, it’s an actual product.”
Amanda’s goal was to create something that bartenders could seamlessly incorporate into their program. “You can get the same menu, just without the alcohol. That allows the customer to feel in control and doesn’t affect the regular working system of the bar. The intention is that this product can be an easy 1-1 swap.”
Amanda says, “I love having Tomonotomo with a squirt of fresh grapefruit and topped with soda. Or in a tangy margarita with pineapple or hibiscus.”
Amanda suggests that as well as being the single spirit in a cocktail, Tomonotomo can be mixed with alcoholic spirits. For example, a shot of alcoholic mezcal and a shot of Tomonotomo. This engages the low ABV consumer. Many people want to drink more than one margarita over an evening, so cutting the alcohol in half while still offering complex flavors beneath the lime and salt is a winning combination.
Kami thinks that there needs to be “a normalization, an acceptance, of drinks that don’t contain full octane alcohol. I drink, but I prefer to not feel blasted after a couple of drinks. So I really like low proof things.”
Amanda says Tomonotomo will stay in the niche agave space. It’s possible they will explore presenting non-alcoholic expressions of other rare agave varieties. In the name of agave sustainability, these will be limited-edition products.
“Most consumers who are drinking less are health conscious like me and definitely appreciate the rise of more indie brands that are doing cool things in the non alc space,” Amanda says.
Bars and consumers are finding Tomonotomo more easily since they won the NA agave spirit of the year at their first international spirit competition.
The ongoing goal for Tomonotomo will be to open up the world of agave flavors to those who don’t drink alcohol.
Ideally, relationships with agave spirits producers will continue to grow as the non-alc concept becomes more familiar. Oaxacan distiller Jordany Aparicio, says he remembers being curious to begin with. Having tried several of the emerging non-alcoholic agave spirits, he found that Tomonotomo seemed more natural than the others. “It had a very easy to recognize ‘Palenque’ flavor,” he says.
Amanda explains that things have improved now they have a product to share: “More and more people in the mezcal space (producers included) are drinking less or going sober for a few months just to focus more on their health, and we’re really glad that we can offer them an option they are proud to consume.”
Scroll down for a cocktail designed by Brooks Bailey from Rambling Spirits
The ‘Hakuna Maté’
1.5 oz TomoNotomo
1 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz yerba mate syrup
¼ oz lime
Shake with ice, strain over rocks into rocks glass with with splash soda, garnish with grapefruit zest
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