Mauricio is the head bartender of La Suerte del Coyote in Tulum, Mexico. He makes two cocktails for us, one with mezcal and triple sec and the other uses mezcal reposado and rosemary.
Mauricio introduce yourself
Hi, I’m Mauricio de la Vega from Mexico City. I’m 30 years old and I am the head bartender of La Suerte del Coyote, a mezcaloteca in Tulum, on the Mayan Coast. I wanted to become a bartender after my first drink in a bar. It was a classic old fashioned and it blew my mind. After that I really wanted to be able to make those kinds of drinks. When I came here to La Suerte del Coyote, my idea was to take classic recipes and prepare them with different types of mezcal, from smoky to sweet and also herbal. I wanted to use all the same traditional recipes I knew but switch the whisky or rum with mezcal. At the moment we only use one brand of mezcal here, Ocho Coyote, but this brand has numerous products which uses many different type of agaves and we mix these mezcals with fresh fruits and herbs that change daily.
The classic you want to show us
Margarita
30ml of Mezcal Ocho Coyote Espadin Agave
15ml of Triple Sec
30ml Simple Syrup
135ml of Fresh Lime Juice
The bar or party you dream of
Because I am from Mexico, I would like my bar to propose all types of mezcal. I would also like the bar to offer finger food from around the world, but always with a Mexican twist or influence. Here in Mexico we are not very familiar with beers other than our own, so I want to introduce a bar that offers beer from all over the world. Beers from places like Australia, Russia and London. I would have my bar in Mexico City or Cancun because they are more cosmopolitan places in Mexico. The style would be more urban with industrial style touches like barrels and exposed walls. A place where you could listen to modern music during the afternoon and more deep house in the evening. The bar would be around four square metres and central with 6 stations, where I could prepare all the cocktails for around 150 customers.
When I get out I like to go everywhere because you can learn from everyone. I really like pubs to chill and enjoy and speakeasy bars to drink cocktails.
The spirit you like the most
Mezcal is my favourite spirit. You can have very different Mezcal based drinks related to the different types of agaves, so they are good to play with.
What makes a good cocktail and which product do you want to highlight at this moment
It’s about love. If you love your job, you share a part of that love. After that, I would say no more than five ingredients. If you have imagination you do not need more than five ingredients to be creative.
I love to work with rosemary. It gives a great aroma to a drink and has a more subtle taste than other herbs. It adds an incredible flavour to mezcal.
The signature cocktail you want to show us
Culichi
6 pieces of Fresh Pineapple
1 sprig of Rosemary
30ml of Simple Syrup
45 ml of Mezcal Reposado Coyotito (steeped in raisin and pineapple for 1 month)
45ml of Lime Juice
Where do you think we need to go to interview another bartender?
I would like you to go to Mexico city to a place called Parker and Lenox, it’s a speakeasy jazz bar with classic cocktails, like juleps or martini. I love this place and I used to work there. You should also try their Madam Kong cocktail, it’s a gin and tonic based cocktail with pink pepper. Ask for Guillermo Gomez Camargo one of the owners, he is amazing.