Wahaca

Banter at the Bar, Cocktails, Food & Drink, Wahacos

The Bloody Maria

The second May bank holiday is coming up and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have nice weather! Either way, we’ll definitely be enjoying great food and great drinks, which brings us on to our second Wahaca cocktail, The Bloody Maria (not to be confused with her poor cousin, The Bloody Mary).

In the UK, The Bloody Mary is a very popular cocktail, usually enjoyed over brunch (or as hair of the dog!). The history of this great drink is much disputed, with more than one famous cocktail legend claiming the recipe as his own. But did any of them ever consider that the Bloody Maria may have been the real original?

Let’s look at the facts.
1) The main ingredient is the tomato – and tomatoes originate from Mexico. It was the Spanish explorer Cortes who brought the tomato to Europe from the Aztec city of Tenochtítlan which is now Mexico City back in the 16th Century.
2) Mexico produces the tastiest food and drink in the world. You just have to come to Wahaca to know that.

So there we have it.

The main difference is that The Bloody Maria uses Tequila as its primary spirit (as opposed to Vodka in The Bloody Mary). The Tequila gives the drink a greater depth of flavour. A well made Bloody Maria has the distinctive taste of the agave plant breaking through the fresh tomato juice. Another difference is that The Bloody Maria is generally made with a “Sangrita” mix, rather than the Bloody Mary’s tomato, tobasco and worcestershire sauce mix. The Sangrita mix is arguably fresher and definitely provides an interesting new dimension to the drink for those who haven’t tasted it before.

Here’s how we make ours:

1 part 100% agave tequila
2 parts freshly squeezed tomato juice
1 part freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 part fresh lime juice
Fresh minced green chilli to taste

Shake all of the ingredients together and strain into a highball glass, then add a slice of lime that has been dunked in chilli powder for garnish.

Come to our new upstairs bar in Canary Wharf to try our version, then impress your friends with your new found cocktail expertise!

If you make a Bloody Maria, please let us know how you get on and send us your pictures so that we can upload them to our flickr group!

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Banter at the Bar, Cocktails, Food & Drink, Wahacos

Tequilas for sipping

For many people just the word tequila summons up memories of nasty tasting shots, drunk in one gulp with a wince and a fast ensuing hangover. But for those in the know, those misconceptions are fast becoming outdated, and if you know what you’re looking for, there’s a world of beautiful tequilas that tantalise the taste buds, either straight up, or mixed in delicious cocktails.

We’ve got a whole range of plata, reposado and añejo tequilas and all of them are 100% agave, meaning that they don’t contain any sugars that aren’t taken from the blue agave plant, making them great quality and giving them a beautiful flavour. You can come and try them in any of our bars including our newest opening overlooking Canada Square in Canary Wharf, but as you’ll see in the video below, we’d recommend that these shots are best sipped!

If you have a favourite tequila cocktail, we’d love to hear about it, just leave a comment on this post below.

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Banter at the Bar, Cocktails, Food & Drink, Uncategorized, Wahacos

The Mystery of Mezcal

You might have heard the news about the opening of our brand spanking new cocktail and Mezcal bar in Canary Wharf which is already serving a fantastic range of tongue tingling cocktails to the good people of Canada Square. You might even have read our post with a little background information about the “Elixir of the Gods” that is Mezcal. But we thought we’d share this beautiful film produced by the Oaxaca State Government, which brings to life all of the passion that has been bottled up in the production of this mysterious spirit for generations.

We’re always keen to hear from you, so please let us know if you have any Mezcal stories, or any favourite Mezcal cocktails by commenting below.

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Banter at the Bar, Cocktails, Food & Drink, News, Our News, Wahacos, What's Happening

Cocktail & Mezcal Bar – Opening Canary Wharf

Opening today! Wahaca is proud to open its first Cocktail & Mezcal Bar serving a list of delicious Wahaca cocktails as well as our favourite Mezcals & Tequila, Mexican beers, wines, refreshing Aqua Frescas and snacks such as our Tortilla chips with freshly made Guacamole. Come visit us soon!

With views out over Canada Square Park, the cocktail & Mezcal bar is located on the second floor of the Park Pavilion – just above the wahaca restaurant. With a Mexican table football, swing chairs and a living plant wall that creates a vibrant, buzzy and unique spot for after work drinks.

A little information on Mezcal
Heralded as the “elixir of the Gods” Mezcal is the best kept secret to be smuggled out of the Americas in the last 20 years.  Mezcal comes from the maguey or agave plant which is grown mainly in Oaxaca.  There is a saying in Oaxaca “para todo mal, mezcal…y para todo bien tambien” (for everything bad there is Mezcal…and also for everything good).  Mezcal has a wonderful smoky/ peaty texture to rival the best Scottish Malts. The flavour comes from the agave plant being baked in huge pits in the ground.  The plants are then crushed to extract their rich, sugary juices.  Tequila is a form of Mezcal and comes from the Blue Agave plant (there are hundreds of different varieties of Agave plant) and has a smoother, less smoky taste. Wahaca’s tequilas are all 100% Blue agave and taste of vanilla, caramel and peppers.  Both plants need to sunbathe for up to 12 years before they have soaked up enough solar energy to produce the sugars to make the alcohol….so drinking them is like drinking sunshine in a bottle!

For all those that have ever had a bad night out on Tequila, we challenge you to discover the real thing at Wahaca.  With no impurities and made from 100% agave they are 100% delicious. Wahaca’s cocktails blend the best of our mezcals and tequilas with other Mexican flavours like tamarind, lime, hibiscus, grapefruit and mint.

For wahaca recipes – click here and here to visit some blog posts with some of our favourite recipes from Sammi.

Do you have any suggestions for Sammi? Let us know any ideas for some of your favourite cocktails and you may have your very own cocktail on our menu soon!

Photos taken by Amy Murrell

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Cocktails, Events at Wahaca, Food & Drink, Recipes & Cooking Tips, What's Happening

A few of our favourite Day of the Dead recipes

Day of the Dead Cocktail

For Day of the Dead, we got Sami our barman to dream up a delicious Day of the Dead cocktail which is so good we’ve given it a permanent place on the menu.

In a cocktail shaker add:

35ml of aged 100% agave tequila

80ml of fresh pineapple juice

and the juice of half a lime

Shake vigorously and pour into a tall glass filled with ice.

Carefully top with a good splash of red wine and garnish with mint. (To get an eerie effect pour the wine in over the back of a table spoon so it sits on top).

Chorizo, pumpkin and thyme quesadillas

Quesadillas, crispy and oozing with melted cheese and anything else you fancy is always a winner.  The sweet flavour of pumpkin seems to go incredibly well with chorizo.  This very easy recipe will take very little time to put together and makes a delicious, relaxed dinner.  I like to eat it with a crisp Cos lettuce, sesame seed and avocado salad.

Enough for 4 large quesadillas

500g slice of pumpkin, peeled and cut into rough chunks

½ onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

200g chopped chorizo sausage meat

A small bunch of thyme, shredded

Olive oil

200g extra mature cheddar cheese, grated

200g grated mozzarella

4 large corn tortillas

Steam the pumpkin until tender, about 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool, before dicing up into small pieces.  Cook the onion in a heavy-bottomed pan with the chorizo until the onion is soft and translucent and the chorizo has started to release its oil.  Add the garlic and cook for a further five minutes before adding the diced pumpkin and thyme.  Season to taste.

Spread the chorizo mix on one half of the tortilla and sprinkle with the cheese mix.  Fold the tortilla over so that you have a half moon. Brush it with a little olive oil (so the tortilla doesn’t stick to the pan) and place in hot, dry frying pan or griddle and cook until golden and crisp.

Cut into wedges and serve with a roast jalapeno salsa or fresh tomato salsa and sour cream.

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Banter at the Bar, Wahacos

Banter at the Bar

A lot of fun stuff happens at the bar. Stories are told. Jokes get laughed at. And stuff you never imagined would happen, happens. For cocktail recipes click here.

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