AUSTRALIA IS home to some great agave bars, but where in the world are the best tequila temples to be found? Mexico, it seems.
We put together a panel of the biggest agave nuts we know to find out which are the best agave bars on the planet. On the panel: Alex Dowd and Jeremy Blackmore, the co-owners of Sydney tequila joint Tio’s Cerveceria, because they hold the crown of Tequila Bar of the Year at the Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards, and we figure they’re pretty clued in to where you should visit. Joining them is Tio’s bar manager Alex Gilmour, himself a well travelled agave fan.
Also on the panel is Reece Griffiths is the guy behind Agave Cartel, and promotes the agave gospel wherever he goes (you can find him at the bar at Chula, in Sydney), and Nick Peters, a mezcal somm — a mezcalier, if you will — and who runs Mamasita in Melbourne.
The last addition to the panel is by no means the least, and frankly needs little by way of introduction: it’s the venerable Phil Bayly, owner of the old Cafe Pacifico (and how do we miss that bar), and the first ever person appointed to the position of global mezcal ambassador by the mezcal regulatory council.
Here are the five best tequila bars upon which the panel all agreed, followed by some honourable mentions of the best of the rest.
In Situ Mezcaleria
Oaxaca City, Mexico
The panel loves this place. In Situ is unique, it’s a place where, whether you’re a mezcal novice or a maestro mezcalero, you can get yourself an education.
The owner, Ulises Torrentera opened the bar in 2011 in Oaxaca City, and is one of the pre-eminent mezcal experts in the world. The walls are lined with bottles of mezcal documenting every varietal — most of which you will never have heard of — making it the perfect place to get acquainted with there regionality and peculiarities of different
mezcal varieties.
Bayly says that In Situ “is more like a museum to mezcal and Ulises is an incredible knowledgeable man who’s passion runs deep for this unique spirit, he has written a number of books that have achieved cult status.”
It’s all down to the Ulises and his sister Sandra, who share their passion for mezcal with warm enthusiasm. “Sandra and Ulises are the ultimate hosts, and can guide you through so many amazing rare mezcals, and even send you home with some,” says Griffiths. Nick Peters agrees: they’re “generous, obliging, amicable, knowledgable. If you’re into mezcal, you gotta get here.”
400 Coñejos
Guadalajara, Mexico
This particular Guadalajara bar was a favourite of the panel. Owned by Esteban Morales, it’s a regular stop for bartenders visiting Guadalajara, and is more a tasting room than a bar per se. The bar is “a real advocate for the spirits of Mexico,” says Dowd and Blackmore, “and with no real rhyme or reason to opening hours, the night lasts as long as Esteban wants to work it. — which can be a long time.”
Griffiths says that “if you want to explore rare agave spirits and stuff you’ve never heard
of, then this is the spot,” and Bayly agrees; he says that Morales “has a serious understanding and shares his knowledge of the whole category of agave spirits.”
La Capilla
Tequila, Mexico
La Capilla is found in the town of Tequila itself, and is home to the classic tequila, lime and cola preparation, the Batanga. It’s here where Don Javier Delgado Corona has tended the stick for decades, and though he’s not serving up the drinks there these days, the 95 year old has created a legacy unmatched by anyone else, anywhere.
When Australian Bartender visited in 2014, despite his age, Don Javier was sitting in the bar, a watchful eye on his nephew tending the bar. He got up from his seat, asked how many people we had and started to move chairs around for us so that we could feel at home. We tried to tell him not to worry about it, but he wouldn’t have it. That’s just the kind of hospitality you get from the man.
La Capilla Cantina Don Javier opened some 80 years ago, a couple of blocks down the road from its current location (Don Javier told us that he moved the bar in 1982). And behind the bar, in pride of place above the shelves stocked with tequilas are two photographs of bartenders who have passed away, Gregor de Gruyther and Henry Besant. That tells you a lot about the kind of bar La Capilla has been to the bartending world, and about the kind of man Don Javier is.
You can have a lot of fun here, say Dowd and Blackmore. “We’ve been there when the average age of the guest is 60 and they’re all asleep,” they say. “We’ve also been there when Don Javier’s newphew, Aron, is running the place and it’s like an RnB superclub on a Monday. A lot of fun.”
Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant
San Francisco, USA
Can you guess where the Tommy’s Margarita was invented? Not only was this modern classic variation of a Margarita invented here at Tommy’s, you’ll also be able to traverse the worlds of tequila and mezcal at this legendary bar.
Julio Bermejo has for years been an ambassador of tequila to the USA, and is a warm, generous host to bartenders visiting Tommy’s — he even picked up a lifetime achievement award at Tales of the Cocktail in 2015 for his efforts.
“Unbelievably welcoming with an impressive historical collection of tequila,” is how Gilmour describes the place. “It feels like you’re walking into Julio’s home. A virtual library of agave – he can reach into a draw and pick tequilas distilled in your year of birth.”
The bar also receives high praise from Bayly. “Established in 1965 as a Mexican Restaurant by Tommy Bermejo and with the energy, vision and passion of his son Julio, Tommy’s has been one of the greatest tequila bars on the planet since the early 2000’s.”
Gilmour says that it is “the benchmark by which all other tequila bars are measured.”
Pare de Sufrir
Guadalajara, Mexico
This Guadalajara bar comes highly recommended from a number of our panelists, and as Griffiths says, it has an “amazing selection of rare agave spirits, and the wealth of knowledge that is Pedro Jimenez Gurria.”
It’s another bar in which the spirit focus is on mezcal, and other agave distillates that fall outside the mezcal classification, says Bayly.
“Pedro Jimenez opened this funky fun agaveria with a focus on mezcal. It focuses on mezcals from across the Denomination of Origin Mezcal including agave distillates that have not been recognised by the Mezcal Regulatory Council.”
The Best of the Rest
La Faena, Mexico City
“A bar and a bull-fighting museum in one,” say Dowd and Blackmore. “The tequila pours are long, the beers crisp and the jukebox is one of the world’s best. The decor is vintage, but not in an ironic way. The patina is real.”
Cafe Pacifico, London
“The first serious tequila bar in the world opened in London in 1982, owner Tomas Estes’s vision helped establish the trend and has been recognised as the venue to bring appreciation of the category even to the Mexicans by Fransisco Hajnal, founder of the Tequila Academy in Mexico,” says Bayly.
Tio’s Cerveceria, Sydney
“What the guys do on a daily basis is nothing short of inspiring. I love this joint,” says Peters.
Mezcalogia, Oaxaca City
“An amazing tasting room out the back with all in-house sourced mezcals and knowledgeable crew willing to take groups through really intensive tasting sessions,” say Dowd and Blackmore. “Avoiding being too nerd heavy, it’s got a cracking little bar in the front where you can pull up a stool and down a cold one. Awesome mix of education and fun bar times. “
Gracias Madre, Los Angeles
“Killer cocktails, [they’re] always happy to chat about agave, don’t take themselves too seriously and have great food to boot – such an awesome stop-off from Melbourne to Mexico,” says Peters.