Inzalo Agave Spirits: The Klein Karoo’s answer to tequila – Sebastian O’Keefe
After living overseas for 25 years, Sebastian O’Keefe returned home with the dream of creating a world‑class agave spirit, using plants introduced in colonial times that are now used as cattle feed. O’Keefe told Biznews in an interview that he and his partner criss‑crossed the country testing plants and discovered rare ‘Red Agave’ thriving in a dry, salty, high‑altitude place in the Klein Karoo near Ladismith. Harvested by hand, gently steamed in dairy tanks and fermented with wild yeast, the first batch of Inzalo Agave Spirits will roll off the line in the next two weeks. Deliberately not called tequila or mezcal (those names are protected), Inzalo is being positioned as the founding member of an entirely new, proudly South African category of agave spirit. He said as they started working with the spirit their ambitions grew to not only create the greatest agave spirit outside of Mexico but to create a new class of agave spirits, something that is completely unique to South Africa. And it will include two varieties, Batch One, a white spirit, and Barrel One, an aged version to be sipped slowly to cater for local tastes.
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Edited transcript of the interview
Linda van Tilburg (00:00)
When you think of tequila, Mexico comes to mind – not South Africa. Yet there’s a South African startup with the ambition to craft the finest agave spirit outside of Mexico. We have the founder of Inzalo Agave Spirits, Sebastian O’Keefe, in the studio with us. Hi Sebastian, lovely to speak to you. What inspired this whole venture?
Sebastian O’Keefe (00:24)
Well, I grew up in South Africa but spent the last 25 years in the US and Europe, working in wine and spirits for a good part of that time – always in entrepreneurial-type roles, but never something truly my own. Two-and-a-half years ago I decided to move back home and do something unique that I could call mine.
What people don’t realise is that South Africa is absolutely full of agave plants, and they have quite a rich history here. Two or three hundred years ago – mostly during colonial times – the English would load agaves onto ships heading to the colonies. When they built railways, they planted them alongside the tracks to keep cattle off the lines. More recently, especially in drought-stricken areas, farmers have used them as fodder for cattle and ostriches.
You’ll find the biggest concentrations in Graaff-Reinet – and in dairy farming areas. I started noticing all these different agaves and thought: South Africa is an agricultural powerhouse. We produce some of the finest wines in the world from some of the oldest soils on the planet. If we already have agave growing here in this incredible terroir, surely there’s an opportunity to create something truly special.
At first our ambition was to make the greatest agave spirit outside Mexico. That quickly evolved into creating an entirely new category of agave spirit – something completely unique to South Africa.
Linda van Tilburg (03:08)
Agave is a succulent, isn’t it?
Sebastian O’Keefe (03:14)
Yes, exactly. Most people think it’s a cactus, but it looks far more like an aloe. There are over 300 species worldwide, and we probably have about 20 of them here in South Africa.
Linda van Tilburg (03:16)
How far along are you on this journey?
Sebastian O’Keefe (03:40)
It’s been a long two-and-a-half years. When we started, almost no one in South Africa knew much about agave spirits or even the plant itself. So my partner Diego and I flew to Mexico repeatedly to become students all over again. We spent time with tequila and mezcal producers, with farmers, with PhDs and fermentation scientists – building a network of advisors so we could honour the tradition properly.
Back home we focused on Graaff-Reinet first, working with a local legend called Murray. We set up production in Somerset West and chose gentle steam cooking instead of the traditional pit ovens used for mezcal. We were cultivating wild yeasts in plastic bins and trucking giant piñas – they look like massive pineapples once you strip the leaves – from Graaff-Reinet to Cape Town.
After about six months we realised that just because everyone else was using agaves from one area didn’t mean it was the best plant or the best place. So we spent an entire year driving the length and breadth of the country in a rather battered second-hand car, armed with a drill and a refractometer to measure sugar levels.
Eventually – almost by accident – we found the agave we now use. We were meant to meet a farmer near Oudtshoorn on Valentine’s Day, but she had a date, so we shifted the meeting and carried on driving. That night we bumped into another farmer who mentioned he had “those spiky things” growing wild on his land. The next morning, we followed him up a valley just below the Swartberg outside Ladismith and discovered a completely different species – what we call our “red agave”.
It grows at high altitude on an ancient seabed that’s so salty the soil forms a crust when it rains (which is rare). Morning mist gives the plants just enough water, and the combination of stress factors produces an extraordinary flavour: sweet spice from the plant itself, plus this incredible mineral, saline finish from the soil, and a creamy texture from our wild yeast. It really is a pure expression of terroir.
Linda van Tilburg (10:37)
So that’s Ladismith in the Western Cape, not the one in KwaZulu-Natal?
Sebastian O’Keefe (10:43)
Correct – and much closer to Cape Town than Graaff-Reinet, which helps!
Linda van Tilburg (10:47)
Are you already in production?
Sebastian O’Keefe (10:53)
Our very first official bottling happens in two weeks. Once we found these plants, we set up production right on the farm – we even converted a huge old stainless-steel milk tank from the local dairy industry into our steam oven. We cook the piñas for about three days, then press the juice using a wine press, load it onto the back of a bakkie, drive it down to Cape Town for fermentation with our wild yeast, and distill there.
Linda van Tilburg (12:32)
So, like Champagne, you’re not allowed to call it tequila because that name is protected?
Sebastian O’Keefe (12:40)
Exactly. In the past, producers outside Mexico would slap “tequila” or “mezcal” on the label – which is as illegal as calling sparkling wine “Champagne”. The Mexicans were understandably not happy. We’re proudly calling ours an agave spirit. Our unaged one will simply be “Batch One” and the barrel-rested versions “Barrel One”, etc. We want it to stand in a category of its own.
Linda van Tilburg (13:48)
Are there other competitors in South Africa?
Sebastian O’Keefe (13:50)
Yes, the movement started back in the nineties in Graaff-Reinet, although the big project then never took off. Today, pretty much every local agave spirit still comes from that area. The best-known brand is probably Dionisio – they were the trailblazers. What sets us apart is that we’re using a completely different species and a very different, gentler production method.
Linda van Tilburg (14:10)
Is your market mainly South Africa or are you aiming for export?
Sebastian O’Keefe (14:15)
Long-term we want to take a whole new category of non-Mexican agave spirits international – alongside producers in Australia, India, and elsewhere – without trying to compete head-on with tequila or mezcal. But we’re starting right here in Cape Town: incredible fine-dining scene, world-class bartenders, and millions of international tourists who can taste and give us honest feedback. We’ll build the local market first, then expand into the rest of Africa, and later dip into selected European markets.
Linda van Tilburg (16:18)
Where do you see yourself in two to five years?
Sebastian O’Keefe (16:20)
We’re sitting at the bottom of a massive, growing continent, so the logical next step is deeper into Africa before we look further abroad.
Linda van Tilburg (16:50)
Are South Africans big tequila or agave-spirit drinkers?
Sebastian O’Keefe (16:53)
Hugely – but locally we tend to love brown spirits for sipping. Internationally, agave spirits are mostly enjoyed as blanco/white spirits. Because we’re developing for the local palate as well, we’re experimenting with Pinotage barrels, new oak, Slovenian oak – expressions that will appeal to South African tastes.
Linda van Tilburg (17:38)
Do you still drink it with salt and lime and toss it?
Sebastian O’Keefe (17:48)
I once pulled out a bottle for some friends, and they immediately reached for the salt and lime. I had to stop them. This spirit is deliberately round, soft and complex enough to sip neat. The number one comment we get is “Wow, this is smooth” – no burn, no harshness. Of course, it works in cocktails and pairs beautifully with food, but it’s made for slow sipping.
Linda van Tilburg (19:01)
As a journalist, my experience of tequila is more “one tequila, two tequila, three tequila… floor.”
Sebastian O’Keefe (19:10)
Trust me, I was exactly the same until I started spending serious time in Mexico and working with the plant myself. You quickly discover that properly made agave spirit is something you can – and should – sip and savour.