JBWagoner

I have a 1.25 liter Nerolta Sterno-powered still from Italy which looks just like the one on the Iberian Coppers site. I found it on a fluke at a 'Home Goods' to on-sale for $50! It makes a "whopping" 2oz of high-proof in a few hours.

One way to do it would be to separate your formula into alcoholic (hi-proof) and non-alcoholic (coffee, sugar, etc.). If the mixture is 1/2 alcoholic and 1/2 non-alcoholic by volume, then the finished liqueur will be 50% of the alcohol content of the initial alcoholic portion. Also, use Temequila® Pure Agave Nectar as your sweetener because it is less viscous and won't crystallize like cane sugar. It dissolves more readily than any sugar alternative, it's better for you and it tastes great with coffee!

I don't know what kind of liquor you're producing, but if you're interested in making agave spirits, we can help with sourcing bottles and closures as well. We use top quality 750ml bottles with a 4-color Applied Ceramic Label for about $2.50 each, for a 90 case pallet (1,080 bottles). The synthetic corks are about 15 cents each and don't shed cork debris like natural wood corks. We have a Master Distillers Agreement where Temequila Organics grants exclusive rights to Master Distillers to market, produce, and sell agave spirits in certain geographic regions. Use our federally approved formula and be up and making money quickly. Temequila Organics also acts as Distiller's agent for purchasing the raw materials at the best possible prices. Although our primary interest is agave spirits, becoming a Temequila Master Distiller will decrease your distillery costs across the board because we buy items like glass bottles in volume. It will also increase the products you have to offer customers and get you into new markets. We were the first to do it in the USA, and you can be the first to produce 100% agave spirits in your state by becoming a Temequila Master Distiller. American Tequila Initiaitve

In the drawing you submit for your DSP, you define your enclosed or bonded area. If you add stills, you just send a modified drawing of your operations along with the serial number(s) of the new stills. I'm in California, but your state probably has their own unique criteria as well.

It's been years but back in 2004, I had a lot of problems getting a still from Revenoor. I don't know if he has his act together now, but after reviewing my emails from then, it was a definite hassle. Since then, I've made 190 proof agave spirits using a Holstein still and a stills of my own design. The folks at Bavarian Holstein Partners are good folks and were helpful in discovering if Temequila® was a realizable fantasy. Their machines are beautiful, functional and expensive, but I guess that comes with the territory. My stills aren't as pretty, but the resultant alcohol is identical in production time and liquor quality. Our current production stills are 300 and 600 gallon with refluxing columns. The stainless steel pots can do double-duty as fermentation vessels or storage. The column, condensers, coils and packing are all high-grade copper and brass welded by skilled craftsman (bazooka maker, but that's another story). They are powered by 500,000btu and 1,500,000btu propane burners in an outdoor enclosure to assure adequate ventilation and are Federally licensed (the license that really matters). A danger of an improperly designed refluxing still is that in full-reflux, when most of the vapors are turned back into liquids at the top of the column, a liquid block develops and steam builds pressure. Things blow up when there's too much pressure. Our modern/traditional condensers run off a water-hose with waste water run directly into the irrigation. Waste wash goes right from still to a large deep leach field. We've even considered doing an Agave Hot Tub as a spa treatment, but that too, is another story. Also, you're collecting flammable liquid in a bucket next to a fire. Some people are better at this than others. It's the simple things that can ruin your day. Good Luck. Have Fun.

If you're producing, bottling and shipping all within a month, here's a simple sheet for 100 proof spirits ($13.50 per gallon). Keep it simple. Keep track of bottles. Pay for what you sell. Transfer these numbers to Pay.gov by the 4th of the month, print the completed .pdf's and pay Your Uncle for the privilege of being a distiller! EXAMPLE Month/Year October 2005 750 ml bottles Mililiters Gallons Tax Liability Invoice # ST Penalty St Taxes 10/1/2005 12 9000 2.377548 $32.10 1501 10/2/2005 12 9000 2.377548 $32.10 1502 10/3/2005 12 9000 2.377548 $32.10 1503 ... Total 36 27000 7.132644 0 $96.29 State Taxes

Just thought I'd say 'hello' and invite distillers interested in agave spirits to investigate The American Tequila Initiative we're recently introduced. The business model we're proposing is similar to the one used by the Coca Cola company which has proved highly effective and beneficial to all parties involved. Happy New Year! JB Wagoner Skyrocket Distillers LLC Temequila Organics Temecula, CA