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Desert Spoon
Desert Spoon
Sotol is a distilled spirit made from Dasylirion wheeleri (commonly known as Desert Spoon or, in Spanish, sotol), a plant that grows in the wilds of Northern Mexico, West Texas, southern and central Arizona and New Mexico. It is known as the state drink of Chihuahua. Local Chihuahua Indians fermented sotol juice into a beer-like alcoholic beverage as early as 800 years ago. In the 16th century, Spanish colonists introduced European distillation techniques to produce a spirit. Sotol is now beginning to achieve international recognition like its cousins, mezcal and tequila.
The Desert Spoon takes approximately 15 years to mature, and creates only one bottle of Sotol per plant. It typically grows on rocky, south-facing slopes in the Arizona Desert and Juniper-Pinyon pine Woodlands between 3,000 and 6,500 feet above sea level. Unlike the Agave, which flower only once in their lifetime, Sotols produce a flower stalk each year. Once the plant matures, it is harvested similar to Agave plants when making Mezcal or Tequila. The outer leaves are removed to reveal the central core, which is taken back to the distillery. The core can then be cooked and/or steamed, shredded, fermented and distilled.
Photo was taken at the 5,000 foot level, just southeast of Payson, Arizona ~ Jan. 26, 2008 ~
lcarreau
on Jan 28, 2008 12:14 am
