Sotol substitute

Best substitute

Young espadin mezcal

Use the same amount as the sotol you are replacing

Best for cocktails

Different taste

The closest substitute is a young espadin mezcal at 1:1, which shares the roasted, earthy character but is smokier and sweeter. Blanco tequila also works 1:1 and is cleaner and more peppery with no smoke at all. The best balance is half mezcal and half blanco tequila, used 1:1, which lands closer to sotol than either bottle does on its own.

Other sotol substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Half mezcal, half blanco tequila
Close match
Use the same amount for the combined mixture
The mezcal contributes the earthy, roasted depth and the tequila dilutes the smoke back to a level closer to sotol's.
What changes
Best for
cocktails, margarita variations, highballs, punches
The best approximation on this list. It still leans sweeter than sotol, since agave carries more residual sugar character than desert spoon does, but the balance of green and earthy is much closer than either spirit alone.
3Blanco tequila
Different taste
Use the same amount
A clean, unaged agave spirit with vegetal and white-pepper notes, and the easiest bottle to find anywhere.
What changes
Best for
cocktails, margarita variations, salsas, marinades, ceviche
Crisper, sweeter and much simpler, with no smoke and none of sotol's mineral, mushroomy depth. It works best where sotol is one of several loud ingredients, such as a margarita variation with lime and chile. Adding a quarter teaspoon of mezcal per 2 ounces hints at the earthiness without turning it smoky.
4Raicilla or bacanora
Close match
Use the same amount
Two other regional Mexican agave spirits, made in a similarly rustic way and often lighter on smoke than mezcal.
What changes
Best for
cocktails, sipping, highballs, salsas
If you can find either, they are better matches than mezcal because they share sotol's wild, green, slightly funky character without leaning as hard on the roast. They are still agave, so they carry a sweetness sotol does not. Neither is easy to find outside a good bottle shop.
5Blanco tequila with muddled cucumber or cilantro stems
Close match
Use the same amount with 2 thin cucumber slices or 3 cilantro stems muddled per 2 oz
A way to add back the green, herbaceous top note that plain tequila lacks and that is the most recognisable part of sotol.
What changes
Best for
cocktails, highballs, margarita variations, palomas
Surprisingly effective, and cheap. Muddle gently and strain, because cucumber turns bitter if you crush it hard and cilantro stems go soapy if overworked. It does nothing for the earthy, mineral base, so this is a partial fix rather than a full one.
6Alcohol-free agave spirit (non-alcoholic)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Several alcohol-free spirits now aim at the smoky agave category and cover the vegetal and smoky aromas reasonably well.
What changes
Best for
alcohol-free cocktails, long drinks with grapefruit soda or tonic
The aromas can be convincing but there is no alcoholic weight, so a spirit-forward drink tastes watery and short. Build it as a long drink over plenty of ice with grapefruit soda, lime and a salted rim. Honest answer: there is no alcohol-free version of sipping sotol, and it is better to make a different drink than a poor imitation.

What is Sotol?

Sotol is Sotol is a distilled spirit from northern Mexico made from the desert spoon plant, Dasylirion, which is not an agave, and it tastes green, grassy and herbal with a mineral edge.

Cooking tips

Say the honest thing first: sotol is not agave, and the difference is real rather than marketing. It comes from the desert spoon plant and tastes greener, more mineral and less sweet than any agave spirit. Nothing else tastes exactly like it, but a young, lightly smoked mezcal is a genuinely good stand-in.
In a cooked salsa, a marinade or a pan sauce the spirit's job is to carry chile and citrus aroma, and almost any clean 40 per cent spirit does that. Save the real bottle for drinks and use blanco tequila for the pot.
Sotol is often bottled at 45 to 48 per cent, higher than most blanco tequilas, so a cocktail made with tequila at the same volume will taste softer and less dry. If you want to match the original, use a touch less mixer rather than more spirit.
Regional differences are large. Sotol from Chihuahua tends to be greener and more herbal, while Durango bottlings lean earthier and more mineral. If a recipe or a bartender specified a particular region, that is a real distinction and not a flourish.
Add spirits to a salsa or a marinade at the end, off the heat. Sotol's whole appeal is its aroma, and a couple of minutes at a simmer will boil most of it away.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave sotol out?

Not in a cocktail, since it is the base spirit and the drink has no backbone without it. In cooking, yes: if it is a splash in a salsa or a marinade, you can leave it out and the dish will simply be a little less aromatic. Adding a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt recovers some of the brightness the spirit was providing.

Is sotol the same as mezcal?

No. Mezcal is made from agave, sotol from the desert spoon plant, which belongs to a different family altogether. They are made in similar ways, which is why they share a rustic, roasted, earthy character, and mezcal is the standard substitute. But sotol is drier, greener and more mineral, while mezcal is smokier and carries the sweetness that roasted agave gives.

Can I use tequila instead of sotol?

Yes, and it is the most practical answer for most people. Use blanco rather than a reposado or anejo, since the oak in aged tequila pulls the drink in a completely different direction. Expect the result to be cleaner, sweeter and more peppery, with none of sotol's earthiness. A quarter teaspoon of mezcal added to two ounces of blanco tequila closes much of the gap.

Which mezcal is closest to sotol?

A young espadin that is described as lightly smoked or ensamble rather than heavily roasted. Very smoky mezcals overwhelm everything else in a drink and take you further from sotol, not closer. If the label emphasises smoke as a selling point, it is probably too much; cutting it half and half with blanco tequila fixes that.

Is sotol interchangeable with sotol from a different region?

Mostly, but not entirely. The plant grows across a wide area and the same production method gives quite different results depending on soil and species, so one bottle can taste of green pepper and pine and another of wet earth and mushroom. If you are substituting one sotol for another, taste it first and adjust the citrus and sugar in the drink to suit.

Related substitutes

More liquor substitutes

Sotol substitute

Other sotol substitutes

2Half mezcal, half blanco tequila

3Blanco tequila

4Raicilla or bacanora

5Blanco tequila with muddled cucumber or cilantro stems

6Alcohol-free agave spirit (non-alcoholic)