KC distillery continues legacy of late co-founder Jeff Evans: ‘He was incredible’

During bustling evenings at Mean Mule Distilling Company, co-founder Jeff Evans would stand in the corner of the tasting room with his hands on his hips, beaming with joy. 

Some of Mean Mule’s staff never understood why Evans, known for being a kind jokester, would take such a pose in the quaint room where brick mixed with the black walls. It was simply part of his silly nature, they concluded, which included bad dad jokes. 

But when the distillery hosted its regular patrons on Wednesday, its first opening since Evans’s death, his brother-in-law, Tyler Gloe, took the same position and realized why Evans would smile so big. At the end of the evening, the room was full of regular visitors, alcohol industry professionals, and friends who visited just to honor Evans, who died in a motorcycle crash early Sunday. 

“There [were] people from all walks of life, old, young, rich, poor,” Gloe told The Star. 

Evans and his wife, Meg, co-founded the family-led distillery, known for its agave spirits, in 2016. Gloe, 32, joined as the master distiller in 2019.

But Gloe had known Evans since he was a teen.

“I‘m standing in the corner, and I just wanted to put my hands on my hip and smile,” Gloe said. “This is it. This is why he sat at the end of the bar, and this is why he smiled. The product, the building, it’s all great, but I think it’s the sense of community and the pride that he took in getting to play a part in that.” 

Evans’s death came suddenly, which has shaken his family and the local distilling scene. 

Evans, 37, was driving a red, white, and blue Honda Africa Twin motorcycle eastbound on I-670 when he crashed, according to a Kansas City police report. The motorcycle changed lanes, attempting to take the I-29/I-35 entrance ramp from I-670. 

As the motorcycle was changing lanes, it struck the right passenger side of a blue Dodge Charger that was traveling eastbound on I-670. Evans was ejected from the motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The driver and passenger of the Dodge were uninjured. 

Gloe, speaking on behalf of the company and his family, said they have felt a range of emotions since being notified of Evans’s death, floating from belief to disbelief in their grief. Mean Mule was a big part of Evans’s life and legacy, which will be continued by Gloe’s family, whose own legacy of making alcohol helped initially inspire Evans. 

But beyond being a businessman, Evans was a family man.

He is survived by his wife and their two-year-old son, Felix. Several fundraisers have been started for them, including a GoFundMe where the $30,000 goal has been surpassed. As much as Evans loved his business and the people he worked with and served, he loved his family even more, Gloe said.

“He looked at Felix and Meg the same way times 10,” Gloe said. “That’s really his legacy, more than the bottle, or the product in it.” 

Continuing a family legacy

Mean Mule’s story begins during Prohibition, when the Gloe family built a still to make moonshine in Americus, Missouri, after emigrating from Germany. Gloe’s grandmother frequently told him and his sister about how a mule kept the family hooch business alive.

A customer reported Gloe’s great-grandfather to the government after a bad deal. The rest is family history, which developed into Mean Mule lore decades later. 

“When they came, all 12 kids were standing on the front porch of the house,” Jeff Evans told The Star in 2018. “Grandpa ran off into the woods. The feds couldn’t find him, but they saw a building that would be perfect for a still. It looked perfect, because it was. They decided to check it out. 

“What they didn’t know was that my grandfather had built a false floor and hidden his equipment under there,” Evans said. “On top, he had put the meanest mule he could find. When the guys kicked open the door, they were greeted with 900 pounds of mean Missouri fury. One guy grabbed the other. They ran down the driveway and never came back. That mean mule saved generations of family distilling.”

Mean Mule boasts a lineup of agave spirits that are distilled in Kansas City. Agave is the same plant that tequila is made from, but tequila must be made from at least 51% Blue Weber agave and be produced in the Mexican regions of Jalisco, Nayarit, Guanajuato, Michoacán, or Tamaulipas.

The spirits are in several liquor stores across Kansas and Missouri and are available to order online. The company’s stills were made by hand, designed, 3D modeled, and manufactured by Evans. Mean Mule also has a strong social media presence with almost 18,000 followers on Instagram. 

But Gloe emphasizes that it took blood, sweat, and tears to get the distillery off the ground. 

Evans was a mechanical engineer, designing machines for auto brands, while Meg was a high school teacher before they switched to developing the distillery. A Facebook post in 2022 detailed how the company fought through setbacks and the COVID-19 pandemic to become an award-winning distillery and Crossroads destination. 

“The road to get here was hard. It’s very hard,” Gloe said. “Crying and fear of failure and low bank accounts and wondering if you’re gonna make payroll and all of that stuff. [Evans] showed up every single day with a smile on his face, just ready to conquer whatever was next, even when Meg and I were wanting to wallow.”

Gloe recalls walking through agave fields in Mexico with Jeff and their wives in the early stages. But the company’s success made them pioneers of American agave spirits, he said, with Evans speaking about the drinks at conventions and symposiums.

Mean Mule is credited with creating the first-known vapor-distilled agave gin. They have also been lauded for their innovation and creativity, which helped it win a Gold Award at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirit Competition for its Silver American Agave Spirit, the distillery’s first product. 

The Evanses’ influence was felt by other local alcohol producers like West Bottoms Whiskey Company founder Alex Lindsey, who was inspired by Evans after meeting him shortly after launching his distillery in Jan. 2021. 

“Being friends with another husband and wife that are running a distillery, even though our products are so different, was just an amazing, amazing resource and amazing friend, professionally and personally,” Lindsey said. “Even though you’re surrounded by a ton of people, it’s very lonely running a business sometimes, and Jeff and Meg were integral into our life and having friends.”

Lindsey remembers Evans coming to help him with equipment failure whenever he called. Evans would also show up to Lindsey’s distillery without warning, knocking on the garage door until it was opened for his arrival. 

“From that moment on, it was a guaranteed hour to two hours of just sharing and connection and laughter,” Lindsey said. “It was always good. We always felt better having spent time with Jeff.”

‘One day at a time’

Mean Mule was always the focus for the Evanses. 

But once they had their son, Evans turned his kindness and jovial nature toward him and tried to be the best father he could. Felix is Evans’ true legacy, Gloe said. 

“Felix and Meg were the center of his world,” Gloe, a father of two, said. “He wanted Felix to be raised an adventurer and to be kind and to have a good heart and to know how to laugh. That really encompassed Jeff’s soul and his desire.”

“You could tell it was the thing he was most proud of,” Lindsey, a father of one, said. “It was the thing that he wanted to do with 100% of his time. Spending time with him and his son was just a joy to be around.”

Mean Mule will be open for business as family and staff members mourn. People who would like to support Mean Mule and the Evans family are encouraged to visit the tasting room and purchase bottles of the spirits wherever they are available. 

Funeral arrangements are not yet set, but Gloe said an over-the-top celebration would be in the works to celebrate Jeff’s over-the-top personality. Lindsey is in talks with Mean Mule to collaborate and produce a spirit. 

As they grieve, the distillery will continue being a place and a brand where the community can come together with kindness and comfort, just like their co-founder always strove for. 

“My biggest hope is that the broader audience, the people that are out there buying spirits (know) there’s heart and soul behind that bottle of Mean Mule Agave spirits,” Lindsey said. “There’s family behind that. There’s a lot of craft and passion put into that.” 

“We’re gonna be here, and we’re gonna do this because that’s what Jeff would want,” Gloe said. “I don’t know, we’re gonna take it one day at a time.”