Part three of my Mexico City series is about the bars that I visited, each with a totally different vibe. This is yet another reason why I love CDMX. It's a place that offers whatever experience you are looking for, whether it's a rooftop bar, something cozy, a packed house, or a glamorous, intimate, laid back, loud or quiet venue, it's all available. Let's get started.
Handshake Bar
If we are going to start anywhere, it might as well be at Handshake, a place that has made the list of the world's top 50 best bars several years running. Last year, it landed at number one on that list, beating out contenders in the U.S., Japan, Australia and England, to name a handful.
Handshake is a speakeasy that is, not surprisingly, harder to get into than many Michelin starred restaurants. Beyond securing a reservation, it is difficult to locate. First, you find a street facing door with no other signage, but for the number 13.
You basically stand around in front of that door (wondering if you are in the right place) until someone arrives to check you in. Then, you are escorted down some stairs until you reach another door at the end of a graffitied hallway. Go through that door and you're still not there.
The final threshold, with its black and gold insignia, gives you a glimpse of the aesthetics that await you inside this swanky establishment.
Think 1920's Prohibition Era vibes, or just conjure up your favorite passages from The Great Gatsby.
Coconut and Tarragon
The drink list is minimalist but there is nothing minimal about head bartender, Eric Van Beek's drink concoctions, some of which take multiple days to prepare. We started our cocktail voyage at Handshake with a drink called Coconut and Tarragon. It was made with Braltos blanco tequila, tarragon, coconut, and palo santo.
Trail Mix
While Handshake Speakeasy does not offer any food, they do provide trail mix at no cost. It is made with seasoned almonds, sunflower seeds and insects. (I warned you in my last post that the insects would be making a comeback.)
Coconut and Fig Negroni
Our next cocktail was the Coconut and Fig Negroni. I am a huge fan of Negronis and this one beautifully incorporated traditional bitter and herbaceous notes with sweetness coming from the coconut and fig. It was made with Tanqueray dry gin, Di Battista bitters, coconut, fig leaf and garnished with half of a fresh fig. The Di Battista bitters used in this cocktail are produced in house and named after one of the bar's co-owners.
Campfire
My favorite cocktail of the evening was the Campfire, not just for its taste, but also its production and presentation. To prepare it, the bartender roasted a marshmallow at our table and then added it to the Dewars 12 blended scotch and lapsong souchang tea that are the base for this cocktail.
Mezcal Tasting
When you visit Mexico City, I highly recommend doing a mezcal tasting.
A quick crash course in mezcal:
The word derives from the Aztec word "metl ixcalli" which means "cooked agave," because mezcals are any distilled spirit made from the agave plant. This means that all tequilas, raicillas and bacanoras are mezcals.
Shot of Mezcal with a Corona
Each of those spirits has to meet certain criteria in order to fit the legal definition of the drink. For example, tequila must be made from blue agave and produced in one of five designated Mexican regions. What is not covered in the mezcal sub-spirits is determined to simply be mezcal.
So what is the hallmark of a great mezcal? I bet you're thinking "smokiness." If that is the component you most prominently taste, I hate to tell you that you have likely been drinking poor quality mezcals. That overpowering, protruding, smoke bomb effect is actually the result of producers burning, rather than smoking the agave. A well executed mezcal should be balanced and nuanced, incorporating some subtle smokiness as well as earthy, herbal, fruity and floral notes.
Where can you find a great mezcal? Contact Ahuehuete, a six seat bar in Mexico City, to schedule a tasting. The coleccionistas at Ahuehuete travel to rural villages all over Mexico to find quality mezcal from excellent producers for their private collection, from which they will curate a tasting for you. I absolutely loved this place and the owners. This is a must-do when in CDMX.
Nardo Cocktail Club
Mr. Lee
The final bar for this post is Nardo Cocktail Club in the Centro Histórico district of CDMX. The bar is located inside an art gallery and features a menu designed by Ramón Tovar that includes food and eight cocktails, of which we had two. First up was the Mr. Lee made with Montelobos mezcal, sake, green tea and lychee.
Aguil Y Sol
Our final cocktail, and the last for this post, was the Aguil y Sol. It was made with cupreat cured tequila, green chartreuse, nopal honey with bay leaf and fig, lemon and nopal chicharron.
That rounds out my cocktail and mezcal adventures in CDMX. There were many other places to try, but not enough time. If you have favorite bars in Mexico City, let me know, as I would love to visit them on my next trip. More to come on the rest of my time in Mexico City soon.
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