Here’s another date you will want to put in your diary. It’s for an event not to be missed and it is soon:
Tequila & Mezcal Fest
September 19th & 20th 2016
Old Spitalfields Market
London
The lovely people from Cutlass Communications invited us down to Barrio East in Shoreditch for an evening of tequila and mescal tasting and to meet the man behind the festival, founder and director Eduardo Gomez Resediz. Eduardo is particular excited to bring the Tequila & Mezcal Fest back to London this year as it is The Year of Mexico in the UK (and The Year of the UK in Mexico). His enthusiasm for the agave spirit really came across as he greeted us and told us of the plans to celebrate the partnering of the two countries and to give tequila and mescal fans an opportunity to join in the festivities.
It was a great evening where many of the producers, who will be at the festival, provided samples of their blancos, resposados and anejos, along with background information of the companies and the stories behind their tequilas. We also loved the different mezcales with their smoky flavour – and not a worm in sight! We were treated to Barrio Bar’s nibbles of Mexican food, a cocktail making competition and a mariachi singer who got everybody on their feet with his rendition of ‘La Bamba’.
We are very fond of tequila, so we appreciated the invitation very much. It takes us back to warm summer nights in the La Zebra Bar in Tulum on the Mayan Rivera in Mexico, just a 15 minute stroll along the beach from where we were staying in a hut overlooking the Caribbean Sea. They had an amazing array of tequilas and mezcales on offer and here we learned from the very knowledgeable bar staff how tequila is produced from blue agave plants in the north-western highlands of Mexico. The plants are looked after similarly to vines and grapes in that the planting, tending and harvesting is largely done without the help of machinery and methods and secrets passed down from generation to generation. We also learned that you sip it and don’t slam it. By all means put it in a kickass Margarita, but when you drink it neat, you should savour the flavour and nuances like that of a fine whisky. And keep it away from that lemon and the salt!
At the festival itself there will be masterclasses by some of the UK’s finest bartenders, food from Wahaca, Café Pacifico, Condesa Latin Tapas, Barrio Bars, Tamal UK and Vera & Co. Barrio Bars will also provide cocktails.
There will be special guest speakers, including Tomas Estes, Tequila Ambassador for Europe (how is that for a job description!), who will lead blind tastings.
There will be live music and folk dance, Mexican art (which I love and collect) and a photography exhibition. And you’ll be able to buy authentic Mexican food ingredients, like sauces, spices, agave syrup, dried hibiscus flowers and of course handcrafted products to take a little bit of Mexico home with you.
For more info and how to book tickets visit:
(and do check out some seriously cool bottle designs on the product pages)
London-Olios 