Nectar Making is one of the new features finally making a comeback to The Sims 4 franchise, thanks to the addition of the Horse Ranch Expansion Pack. Previously available in The Sims: Makin' Magic and The Sims 3: World Adventures, nectar making is a simple yet fun activity, allowing players to craft and drink new recipes, which highly resemble wine due to its crafting and aging processes, as well as the moodlets obtained.
As such, one of the new Aspirations added to the game with The Sims 4: Horse Ranch unsurprisingly focuses on showcasing this new feature. Those who would like to try out the Expert Nectar Maker Aspiration can find it under the Food section within Aspirations, available for Teen and older Sims.
Expert Nectar Maker Aspiration Steps
Expert Nectar Maker aspiration only has one level, with three goals to be achieved, which may look quite short to many players. Nevertheless, while this aspiration is indeed shorter and simpler than many, it will still take over one or two Sim weeks, depending on how many players would like to focus on this aspiration, since it can also be done on the side, especially for its last objective. While all objectives can be completed in any order, realistically, most players will find themselves completing them in the designated order due to the difficulty level of each task.
While the steps are quite straightforward, here are some tips to complete them quicker and easier:
Achieve Level 5 Nectar Making Skill
Leveling Nectar Making Skill is as straightforward as many other skills; however, as a mini-skill with a maximum level of five, players may notice that it typically takes longer to reach this level as opposed to full skills with maximum of 10 levels. Nevertheless, this doesn't take exceedingly long if players simply keep making nectar.
In order to level this skill, players will need to purchase a Nectar Maker from the Buy Menu, findable under many different categories. There is currently no other way to level this skill since players cannot purchase any books to be able to do so. As such, players simply will need to craft roughly around 50 nectars to be able to maximize this skill. Nevertheless, since the second goal requires players to do this anyway, this is not going to be a big deal, and they can work on achieving both goals at the same time. Crafting as many bottles as possible will also help with the third goal as well, so players should be consistently crafting nectar in large amounts instead of waiting extended periods of time in between them if they want to finish this aspiration as quickly as possible.
Specifically for this step alone, having certain traits such as Savant, as well as being in an Energized mood can help with leveling the nectar making skill quicker.
Make 50 Bottles of Nectar
This is actually the hardest step of the aspiration, simply due to the amount of bottles to be crafted and multiple factors that play a role in the quality of nectar. The three factors that play the biggest role in the quality of nectar are the ingredient quality, skill level, and the Sim's mood. As such, players with perfect ingredients can craft excellent nectar, even if they are low on the skill level, while with basic ingredients, they can still craft excellent bottles with a higher skill level. Conversely, while using high-quality ingredients and a high skill level, if the Sim is in a negative mood, such as sad, the bottle may still turn up in poor quality.
With this being considered, players should ensure to level up their Sims' nectar making skill as fast as possible. Additionally, for the ingredient quality, having a garden with evolved plants can be quite helpful since otherwise purchasable basic ingredients from the Nectar Maker are always going to be normal quality. Lastly, players can try to keep their Sims with positive moodlets, particularly by well maintaining their needs, as well as keeping them energized. The Sim having a like for nectar making can also help keep positive moodlets to ensure excellent bottles can be crafted more consistently. Lastly, Sims who have the Perfectionist trait will also have an easier time completing this step.
After completing this step, all players will have to do is essentially wait for the nectar to age, and can essentially swap to other Aspirations while waiting.
Make 100,000 Simoleons Selling Nectar
The amount of Simoleons to be made might look quite daunting; however, as long as players are patient and wait for the nectar to reach the finely aged state, they will notice that this amount isn't that difficult to reach, especially after crafting 50 bottles of nectar. Reaching the finely aged state typically takes over a Sim week. It's worth noting that the nectar should simply be sold once it reaches this state, and keeping it in the rack won't gradually increase its value further. Players should also avoid opening the bottle as this will diminish its value entirely.
In order to speed up this process however, there are still some extra things players can do, such as buying a Nectar Rack, and storing them in the basement if they have one. This will not only speed up the process but also help players effectively organize different types and age of nectars. Sims can also directly collect all finely aged nectars if there are any through the rack's interaction menu, which helps players save time looking through each bottle. Additionally, once players reach level 5 of nectar making, they will be able to craft nectar that is already on the lightly-aged stage, which can also shorten the wait.
Additionally, players may also shorten the process by increasing the singular value of each nectar made, instead of waiting for almost all of their excellent nectar to reach a finely aged state. In order to do so, players should consider focusing on crafting nectar that was previously locked behind a higher level in nectar making, such as the Fruit Nectar and Berry Nectar. Furthermore, having the Marketable reward skill also helps boost the value of the nectars. Lastly, players may want to consider selling the nectar to a newly introduced pre-made Sim, Roberto Crinkletop, who will buy the nectar at a higher value. This Sim can be found in Chestnut Ridge. With all these aspects combined, a single excellent finely aged nectar can sell for over 10 thousand Simoleons and create a great passive income for Sims. It's worth noting that while the Rancher trait doesn't help count for Excellent bottles, it can help with creating more nectar in a shorter time, consequently increasing the amount of Simoleons that can be made.
Expert Nectar Maker Aspiration Reward Trait
Upon completing the aspiration, Sims will obtain the reward trait, Nectar Know-It-All. This trait is useful for any Sim, regardless of whether they are primarily nectar drinkers, sellers, or neither. This is because it gives an additional boost to nectar aging, which can help increase its sell value quicker, as well as make the drinkers enjoy the nectar more. Interestingly, the nectar will affect the Bladder need of the Sim less with this reward trait, which may not be so useful for Sims who already have the Steel Bladder reward trait.
Lastly, and most significantly, Sims who have this reward trait will have an easier time managing their mood, as the negative moodlets will affect their overall mood less. This can be useful in any aspect of Sims gameplay, particularly if players are trying to maintain a specific moodlet like Focused, despite the low needs they may have.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.