It's almost time for tonight's (late) Cinco de Mayo #twetasting - Tapatio Tequila and Ilegal & Del Maguey Mezcal.- It's only 3 days late...
- Declan is a Business Development Manager for Speciality Brands. He's also their inhouse agave spirit fanatic.
- #twetasting First drink - a Batanga twist: Tequila, lime, salt and a spiced Cola reduction. Originally invented at La Capilla in Tequila.
- La Capilla is run by Don Javier, still bartending in his 80s. It's probably the destination bar for tequila lovers visiting Tequila and Don Javier is more than happy to tell you tales of his invention of the original Batanga - a simple mix of Tequila, Coke, Lime and Salt.
Behind Every Great Bar, Is a Great ManBehind Every Great Bar, Is a Great Man When I first heard about a little bar called La Capilla, I found it quite hard to understand all t...- #twetasting Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Mexican army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Battle of Puebla - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe Battle of Puebla took place on 5 May 1862 near the city of Puebla during the French intervention in Mexico. The battle ended in a vic...- #twetasting The big difference between tequila & mezcal is the former can only be produced from blue agave, the latter can use 30 varieties.
- The other big difference, which I forgot to tweet, is the cooking method. For both tequila and mezcal the agave need to be cooked to start the sugar breakdown process (so that you can turn the sugars into alcohol) - tequila generally uses ovens while mezcal uses smoky pits of burning material, meaning that the latter is usually smoky while the former isn't.
- Tequila #1: Tapatio Blanco with a shot of spicy verdita. The tequila has a fruity nose and peppery body #twetasting twitpic.com/9ivdkn
- #twetasting Verdita - a blend of pineapple juice, green herbs and spicy chillis. A great palate cleanser. twitpic.com/9ive90
- This was a bit hotter than the last verdita of Declan's that we tried - he upped the bird's eye chilli count a notch...
- Tequila #2 Tapatio Reposado with a shot of sangrita (Declan's spicy Bloody Mary mix). Tequila has caramel #twetasting twitpic.com/9ivgo3
- Declan's sangrita mix is secret, but has in the past contained clamato, pomegranate syrup and ridiculous hot sauce...
- Mezcal #1: Ilegal Joven, unaged. Just out in the USA, in the UK soon. Smoky with copper notes. Melon chaser #twetasting twitpic.com/9ivihe
- A bit of honeydew melon was a great palate cleanser after this.
- Mezcal #2 - Del Maguey Tobala. Very rare old wild agave based produced in small quantities. Burned fruit, ash & stone. Punchy #twetasting
- My favourite tasting note of the night, constructed around the table, was for this:"Like licking a mossy, damp rock while being beaten over the head with a burning branch."It's quite strange...
- Mezcal #3: Ilegal Añejo - 'like milk chocolate Bounty bars near a bonfire'. The room's favourite tonight #twetasting twitpic.com/9ivnp9
- This was by far and away the room's top choice of the evening. We hope to be getting it in the shop and online in Summer...
- Tequila #3: Tapatio Gran Reserva Excelencia. Richly woody with some incense on the finish #twetasting twitpic.com/9ivq94
- Still one of the finest, if not the finest, extra anejo tequila you will find. This latest batch is not quite so floral as previous ones, but makes up for it with perfumed wood and some excellent spice.
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