Wahaca

Wahacos > Banter at the Bar > Food & Drink > 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 But for those in the know, those misconceptions are fast becoming outdated, and if you know what you’re looking for, there’s a world of beautiful tequilas that tantalise the taste buds, either straight up, or mixed in delicious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.

Wahacos > Banter at the Bar > Food & Drink > 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.

Wahacos > Banter at the Bar > Food & Drink > Cocktails > Food & Drink > News > 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

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

Hibiscus Bellini

We met up with our friends at Bibendum Wine last night to try and create a new hibiscus flavoured Prosecco cocktail.  After a couple of tastings prior to this we we had settled on the delicious “Desiderio Jelo” Prosecco to help us on our quest.

We first of all stewed some hibiscus flowers and left them to marinate in their own syrup.  We then took the flowers and syrup and put in a champagne flute and added the Prosecco.  The result… was incredibly disapointing!  The flowers seemed to take all of the bubbles out of the Prosecco leaving a tasty, yet flat Cocktail.  The flower also looked a little bit lifeless in the glass unfortunately!

Next we decided to just create our own hibiscus syrup from cooking the flower and then discarded the flower.  We mixed the fresh syrup with the Prosecco and the result was glorious.  A really fruity, berry tasting Bellini which we brought a smile to all our faces… now we just have to find a suitable flute to serve the Bellinis in and we will get it on our Winter menu due at the beginning of October.

Check out the Bibendum Wine Blog for more wine related stories and follow them on Twitter here.

Wahacos > Banter at the Bar > News > Our News

Trying some new Mezcal…

Just been with our Mezcal supplier trying some new mezcals… this brand was particularly delicious.  Really rich smokey reposado and a slightly salty, smooth blanco but with quite a punch as well.  Thinking of bringing them on the menu soon… not easily available in the UK though. Any other suggestions gratefully received!

For more info on our existing Mezcals have a look at our in house newspaper which you can download from here (See page 2 and a piece on Mezcal in general onpages 3-4. Or pick up next time you are in a Wahaca)

It’s glorious stuff but not for the gentler pallet.

Wahacos > 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.