Everyone has their own notorious history with tequila and it’s reputation of being the spirit that they shall never drink again. However, this Mexican underdog is making a real resurgence.

Tequila was originally distilled from the sap (called aquamiel, meaning honey water) made from the heart of the blue agave plant into a brandy known in Old Mexico as vino mezcal.

Today, mezcal and tequila are two completely different liquors. Tequila may only be made from the blue agave in government-specified areas of Jalisco, Mexico, while mezcal may be made from any variety of agave.

In the early 1800’s and the independence of Mexico, exports of this mezcal wine were going loco in the port of Acapulco with countries such as Spain developing a fever for the flavour. To the elitist French liquor drinkers, Tequila was a drink for the poor. This too can be considered for most key spirits like rum, cachaca (Brazilian raw cane spirit) and their respective signature cocktails the Mojito and the Caipirinha. Using ample local ingredients and inexpensive national liquors, these classic drinks were the drinks of peasants, a huge transition from today’s most trendy drinks on the market.

Within the last decade and help from the film industry, tequila fast became the most popular drink in Mexico. The last century has seen celebrity faces jumping on the alcohol endorsement bandwagon, with George Clooney and his ‘Casamigos’ brand at the reigns rolling into the town of Tequila – 34 miles northeast of Guadalajara.

Today tequila is the fastest growing industry in both Mexico and the U.S. There are several types of tequila based on its age, the most popular being;

blanco (white) or plata (silver) – a white spirit either immediately bottled or stored from 0-2 months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels, reposado (rested) aged from 2-12 months in oak barrels and anejo (aged or vintage) aged from 1-3 years in small oak barrels.

World author and journalist Ernest Hemingway’s favourite tequila based creation was the Tommy’s Margarita, the house cocktail at Tommy’s restaurant – San Francisco, a place for bartender pilgrimage.

Impress your friends with this classic recipe to enjoy not just in the sun, but all year round.

50ml Reposado Tequila – Good brands to look for are 1800, Don Julio, Patron

½  freshly squeezed lime

25ml agave nectar

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add the ingredients, shake and pour into a rocks glass, simply delicious. I personally think salt takes away the taste of this stunning spirit, but a pre-salted glass rim always looks good.

ART IN IDYLLIC SURROUNDINGS 

ROBIN GREGORY REVIEWS charity exhibition in aid of Hospice

 If there’s one charity that everyone seems to view with favour, it’s St Wilfrid’s Hospice.  And if, like Jane Worsley, you wish to bring your organisational skills to bear on a money-raising event with St Wilfrid’s in mind, then all you need is a central theme that will pull in some generous guests.  Fortunately she has a link to the Colin Worsley Bequest held at the Towner Gallery (which includes works by Goya and Hiroshige), and on March 9^th we saw what a splendid event she had been able to build on that sure foundation.

 The beautiful All Saints Chapel in Meads, handsomely restored by Berkeley Homes, should, all being well, shortly be available as a wedding venue non pareil, and it was in that historic space that Jane brought it all together.  Of course, you can’t be a one-woman-band in such an undertaking,  and many generous sponsors offered mouth-watering assistance. Veritex Global, Humphrey and Co  and Rager and Roberts gave financial support;  Jonathan Chiswell-Jones gave pottery, Louise Bell quilting for the exhibition; harpist Fiona Hosford and the Renaissance Singers provided superb musical interludes;  and so on.  But central to the evening’s success was the loan of exquisite pictures and objets d’art.  I spotted immediately, for example, two fine paintings by Frank Wootton, a great Sussex painter famed for his wartime pictures of aircraft set against incomparable cloudscapes.

Instead of visitors being required  to peer at small notices for information, the fascinating innovation of having young Art History students from Sussex University stationed here and there proved very successful.  I was impressed with their knowledge and (more important on this occasion) their ability to communicate.  They provided the background information while the viewer tucked into the spendid canapés provided by Glenie & Gillies, or sipped bubbly from Optix – Stylish Events & Bars.  In the background, the harp played, the choir sang, and friends  one thought forgotten re-appeared.

After a moving address describing the work of St Wilfird’s, we proceeded to the Raffle and the final Auction, both crucial  to the financial success of the event.  Prizes ranged from Moet or Krug champagne, via eating opportunities (in Martha’s Kitchen, Ridgeways or La Locanda, for example)  to  evening bags and books.  Under the hammer went paintings,  hotel holidays,  pottery and jewellery, all fetching good prices.  Seldom have I had more friends comment that it seemed almost a pleasure to go home with emptied purses, and for such a good cause.

Rhubarb Polar Fizz 

75ml Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka

25ml Chase Rhubarb Liqueur

50 ml Rhubarb Purée

4 Pieces Crystallised Ginger

25ml Honey Syrup (reduced honey and water)

4 x Lemon Twists (finely peeled spirals approx 8cm long)

1. Fill a cocktail mixing glass or can with cubed ice
2. Add all of the ingredients and shake hard
3. Pour into a highball or rocks glass and top with Prosecco
4. Cut a notch into another piece of crystallised ginger and place on the rim of the glass
5. Enjoy with friends

Office christmas parties….. mmmmm
Is this something that you dread coming up every year or do you see it as a great way to get to know the guy who sits in the corner who reads Angling Monthly, you know the one who has his own mug and only eats ready salted crisps? Either way have you got yours sorted?

Our cocktail masterclass gets everybody involved with drinks creations and bartending techniques to show off to all your friends.

Last night, alongside the team of Bubblegum Events and the guys and girls of Goodman & Brooks we showcased the product launch of Cloud 9′s range, the ‘O’, ‘Wand’ and the ‘Irons’.

Providing a stage catwalk set with sound and lighting for the Prosecco reception in Bexhill.