Nectar making

Nectar making is an activity in The Sims: Makin' Magic and a skill in The Sims 3 World Adventures that allows Sims to make nectar, the equivalent of wine in The Sims. It is not specified whether or not the nectar is alcoholic. Even so, it cannot be consumed by children, in keeping with legal restriction on alcohol in many real countries. Nectar is also the drink of the gods in Greek mythology, and grants the drinkers immortality.

With The Sims 3: Ambitions expansion pack, players can register as a self-employed nectar-maker.

History
Nectar was created by Jean Necteaux over 6,000 years ago. He resided in Champs Les Sims, France. His alleged descendant Anastasia Necteaux and Admiral Landgraab presumably had a part to play in the creation as well.

The Sims
In The Sims: Makin' Magic, the Sim first drops grapes/elderberries and the other ingredients into the A Pressing Feeling nectar maker. After the Sim puts the ingredients in, the Sim then changes into his/her swimsuit and stomps the fruits while dancing around. After the Sim finishes stomping it, the Sim will pour the stomped nectar into a bottle and can sell it, or place it in their inventory. From there, it can be given as a gift or placed in the Taste of the Vine Nectar Bar for later use. When selling nectar, the price depends on the Sim's Cooking skill. For a Sim with maxed Cooking, nectar making can be quite profitable.

While nectar is not specifically said to be alcoholic, enchanted garden gnomes who swim in the nectar press will get slightly tipsy. Apothecary Todd seems to have a liking for Elderberry Nectar.

The Sims 3
In order to get started, visit Champs Les Sims. There's an adventure which introduces the player to Nectar Making, but it is also possible to get started right away by purchasing a L'amour des Fruits Nectar Maker at the nectary. The three skill books for Nectar Making from level 1-10 are also available at Circle of Knowledge Bookstore in Champs Les Sims. Gardening is a must to make the best nectar since the quality depends heavily on the fruit used as ingredients.

It's important to distinguish between making nectar for Sims to drink or for selling. The best nectar for drinking would be one made from perfect fruits only and fulfill all of the moodlet requirements below. Nectar does not become better for Sims to drink through aging or flavor, and Sims do not benefit from drinking very old or expensive nectar (aside from the wish to drink expensive nectar). If made for selling, there's more to it than just perfect ingredients. The final value of nectar is subject to ingredient quality, ingredient rarity, skill level, flavor and aging.

In The Sims 3: Ambitions it is possible to register as a self-employed nectar maker. In The Sims 3: Late Night, plasma fruit can be used to make nectar; nectar containing any plasma fruit will cause non-vampires to vomit but will fill the thirst of vampires.

Abilities
To stock a cellar with nectar for drinking purposes first, 'Mass Production' is the ability to use. The decrease in quality is negligible and the extra bottles will help towards the 'Master of Nectar Making' challenge.

Aging
To increase nectar value after production, it must be aged in a nectar rack, preferably placed in a basement. The expensive Necteaux rack will age nectar faster than the cheaper Flavor Savor Nectar Rack. Contrary to the loading screen tip it does not matter how deep in basements the nectar rack is placed, as long as it is a basement. Nectar gains roughly 10% in value per day.

Flavor
Taste is an important modifier when determining the value for nectar. It does not affect the moodlets a Sim will receive when drinking nectar. When a new batch of nectar is ready, a popup will tell the player how good (or bad) the flavor is. Each fruit has a base flavor value (Life fruit being the highest) which is subject to flavor combinations. It's better to start out with the 'special' rarity fruit and experiment from there. Luckily, the Sims community has shared the recipes they've discovered to have an 'Amazing' flavor. All the recipes below have been verified by The Sims Wiki users. The reason some of these amazing nectar recipes have low value is that their ingredients are less rare. Their flavor may be amazing, but for better results, use higher rarity fruit.

'Best' Recipes
The 'best' recipes are always subject to what the intention with the nectar is.

Statistics

 * Number of bottles made


 * Number of glasses had


 * Total made selling nectar (§)


 * Highest amount single bottle sold for


 * Number of fruits used to make nectar


 * Number of Sims served


 * Number of times squished fruit


 * Number of different combinations

Challenges

 * Master of Nectar Making
 * After making 200 bottles of Nectar you'll make more bottles per batch.


 * Flavorful Feet
 * After squishing 40 batches of fruit, Nectar made by you will be worth more.


 * The Vizard of Vine
 * Turn 400 bunches of homegrown grapes into Nectar and all grapevine varieties grown by you will yield more grapes.


 * Mix Master
 * Make 15 different Nectar combinations and your Sim will be able to predict a Nectar recipe's final quality before making it.

Trivia

 * To complete The Vizard of Vine challenge, your Sim doesn't only have to turn 400 harvested grapes (base game ones don't count due to a typo) into homemade nectar. The challenge also requires the Sim to harvest 400 (other) grapes themselves.
 * Travelling will reset Number of different combinations (and the Mix Master challenge) if Number of Sims served is still listed as 0.
 * Nectar can be purchased from consignment stores.