Almave

Hamilton's stated motivation was personal. As a professional athlete seeking an agave-format drink during periods requiring peak performance, he worked with Casa Lumbre's Master Distiller Iván Saldaña to develop a product that draws directly on tequila's raw materials, regional origin, and production heritage without producing alcohol. Saldaña is a co-founder of Casa Lumbre and brings distilling expertise rooted in the agave spirits tradition.

The production process follows conventional tequila methods at a facility in Jalisco, the Mexican state legally associated with tequila. The harvested Blue Agave is cooked and milled as in standard tequila production, but the fermentation stage is bypassed entirely. In conventional spirits production, fermentation is the step where the plant's natural sugars convert into alcohol. By skipping this stage, Almave retains the cooked agave character and botanical complexity of the plant without any alcohol being produced from the outset. This is distinct from dealcoholisation, where a spirit is made at full strength and the alcohol is subsequently removed.

The range covers formats suited to both sipping and cocktail preparation, sitting firmly in the super-premium bracket. The use of actual Blue Agave grown in Jalisco rather than a botanical blend built to approximate the tequila profile is central to the brand's market positioning.

In August 2024, Pernod Ricard acquired a minority stake in Almave to support global distribution. The brand is available through specialist alcohol-free retailers, with distribution expanding as that partnership develops. Almave is aimed at fitness-focused drinkers who want a premium agave-format serve in contexts where alcohol is not appropriate.