SOTOLD FASHIONED, QUATRO O SEVEN, It’s Got a Bee on It, Tulie Mule, and Sotoloma. The whimsically named cocktails at Tumbleweed Lounge aren’t made with whiskey, vodka, gin, or rum. No, the Tularosa bar crafts these drinks with sotol.
“We love the desert and thought making sotol was something we could do in retirement,” says Peter Kauffman, who co-owns Tularosa Distillery and Tumbleweed Lounge with his wife, Heather. Never heard of the spirit? Similar to tequila and mezcal, which are made from the agave plant, sotol (Spanish for “desert spoon”) is produced from the eponymous plant that grows only in the Chihuahuan Desert. The former Fort Worth, Texas, residents discovered sotol—which has an earthy, sometimes grassy flavor—on a trip to Marfa and were intrigued. “We spent several years researching and planning and were open to any location in New Mexico that had the space, climate, and utilities we needed to grow the plants,” Peter says. “The search led us to Tularosa.”
The Kauffmans purchased a 15-acre property in 2017 and began construction on the lounge and distillery two years later. Last summer, the couple moved to Tularosa full-time and opened the lounge on Thanksgiving. The comfy, well-appointed space and its airy back patio offer a captivating panorama of the Sacramento Mountains as a perfect accompaniment for the hand-crafted drinks.
Tumbleweed Lounge features a beautiful outdoor patio.
Photograph courtesy of Frazier Springfield.
Cultivated sotol plants take seven to eight years to reach harvest maturity (in the wild, that can range from 20 to 30 years). So as the Kauffmans tend to their own young crop, they also scout more immediate harvest opportunities. “We’re looking for ranchers who have sotol on their land and will let us harvest it,” Peter says. They are also collaborating with a distiller in Chihuahua, Mexico, to produce Tularosa Distillery’s sotol formula until their operation can source and grow enough plants to fully fire up the 2,200-square-foot on-site distillery.
As for Tumbleweed’s sotol-based cocktails, the biggest seller is the prickly pear margarita, which combines sotol, orange and lime juices, and prickly pear syrup. “I came up with the recipe on the spur of moment, because that’s what was in my refrigerator,” Peter says. “Orange pairs really well with our sotol.”
Patrons wanting to replicate the drink at home can purchase prickly pear simple syrup and the requisite bar tools at Desert Spoon, the couple’s charming shop in Tularosa’s business district. “My concept was to bring the joys I’ve discovered in my communities and travels to Desert Spoon and support local and regional artists and makers,” Heather explains. Planned additions to the space include a natural wine shop, bottle sales, and a sotol tasting room.
“We’re hoping to spark an industry in New Mexico,” Peter adds. “It’s a good location to grow sotol. It’s their natural habitat.”
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