Britain’s Best Mezcal Cocktail
Hacha is one of the preeminent agave bars in Europe. Headed by husband-and-wife team Deano Moncrieffe and Emma Murphy – both leading lights in UK hospitality – the bars have been instrumental in increasing understanding of agave spirits as complex spirits worthy of sipping neat, or mixing into carefully considered cocktails. They opened their initial site in our home neighbourhood of Dalston in 2019 - a year after we launched. They have been a constant fixture in the story of Pensador.
As well as carefully curated vibe and spirits selection, Hacha kicked off with two ground breaking ideas. One was the mirror margarita – a game-changing, citrus-shaming, twist on the classic which has become inseparable from the bar’s identity. The other was Britain’s Best Tequila and Mezcal Cocktail Competition.
As drinks industry stalwarts, Deano and Emma believed in the value of bartender focussed national cocktail competitions – where a brand, for example Bacardi, appeals for submissions of novel Bacardi cocktails from bartenders around the country, culminating in a live final event with a juicy prize. The winning bartenders get career enhancing exposure, and the brand gets press coverage and brand loyalty amongst the entrants. But while the costs and logistics involved make sense for Bacardi, there are few players in the comparatively small agave category who can afford to play this game.
Deano and Emma’s solution was to set up a cocktail competition involving several agave brands, sharing the costs of prizes and promotion. As well as making it affordable for the brands, it also adds a competitive element between brands, with the winning serve earning a year long placement on Hacha’s esteemed cocktail menu.
We signed up on day one, and our progress has been slow and steady. We were finalists years one and two. Runners up years three and four. And finally, year five, the winner of Britain’s Best Mezcal Cocktail. This was a particularly sweet victory as we were represented for the third time by Matt Hollidge a.k.a. @theamatuermixologist. Matt isn’t a professional bartender, so deciding to enter the largely professional competition takes some real cajones. He was then disappointed twice, as our finalist year two, our runner up year four. Coming back for a third time and risking more disappointment was a tough call.
But he went for it.
And he bloody went and did it.
The first non-professional to win a UK cocktail competition. What a hero!
Matt’s winning cocktail - The Natillas Manhattan:
50ml Custard-washed Pensador Espadín
20ml Bianco vermouth
10ml Cocchi americano
5ml Fino sherry
2.5ml Cynar
2ml Natillas bitters
- 15 parts Fee Brothers Toasted almond bitters
- 6 parts Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters
- 1 part Bob’s Vanilla bitters
With 8 ingredients and a custard wash it’s not the simplest to mix up at home! But fortunately it’ll be live on the menus at both Hacha sites – Dalston and Brixton – from next week until November 2025.
See you at the bar.
