Corazón de Maguey

Corazón de Maguey is a great mescalería located on the plaza in Coyoacán. In addition to a large selection of mezcal, they brew their own beer, and offer a few beers from Minerva and TJ Beer. They also have excellent food, offering interesting versions of traditional Oaxacan cuisine. On my recent visit, they had a special insect menu offering various dishes with gusanos de maguey, chapulines, escamoles, and hormigas chicatanas. Their own craft beers are excellent as well, making this one of favorite places to visit whenever I am in Coyoacán.


Blond Ale

4 out of 5

This blond ale has a nice bready flavor and is very easy to drink. It is slightly watery, but still a very solid beer.

 Imperial Stout w/cacao

5 out of 5

The imperial stout is one of the best stouts I have tasted made by a Mexican brewer. It is full bodied as an imperial stout should be, with great flavors of chocolate, coffee, and vanilla. There is a slight alcohol flavor to it, but it isn't that off-putting.

 Red Ale w/Agave

2 out of 5


This red ale is extremely disappointing. Not only is it the most expensive of their craft beers, but it is also the worst. Both times that I have tried this beer, it has been sour without much flavor. The agave gives it a slight vegetable flavor, but overall this beer is pretty bland.

Porter

4 out of 5

This medium-bodied porter has a nice toasted malt flavor, as one should expect from a porter, and is also slightly hoppy. It is also very easy to drink. The one complaint is that it is slightly watery. Nevertheless, I will keep coming back to this beer.










The beers at Corazón de Maguey are fairly consistent over time, although occasionally I will get a beer that is not as good as it was on my previous visit. The first time I had the Blond Ale, it was not as bready as it was on my most recent visit. The Imperial Stout is also sometimes a little flat and sometimes tastes more like alcohol than on other visits. However, these are minor quibbles and I almost always enjoy the beer here (except the Red Ale).

The prices at Corazón de Maguey are fairly high, with the craft beers running anywhere from 60-85 pesos. Beers from Minerva and TJ Beer are about 60 pesos. But, the atmosphere is great and the quality of the food and drink is high.

Corazón de Maguey is located at Plaza Jardín Centenario 9-A, right in the center of Coyoacán. You can also visit them on facebook or check out their website to peak at their menu. If you do not know how to get to the center of Coyoacán, the easiest way is to exit the Metro at Viveros or Coyoacán stops, and catch a cab. It is also walkable. Check out the map to find the best route. Finally, there are buses that leave from the Coyoacán metro stop that head towards the plaza (opposite the mall).

Upcoming Beer Show in D.F.

Cerveza México Expo at the WTC in D.F., September 1-3, 2011. Check out the website for more info and updates. I will be posting more info as more info is released.

Record show (of sorts) this weekend!

There is a show at the punk rock space, Multiforo Alicia this weekend (July 2nd and 3rd), located in Colonia Roma. There are a number of bands playing, of which I recommend checking out The Cavernarios. The show is also supposed to serve as a way to show support for local independent record labels, so I assume these labels will be on hand with their releases. Multiforo Alicia also has a small selection of surf, garage, and punk cds and records from local bands that you can purchase on any given night when they have a show going on. If you happen to see the split LP between The Cavenarios and Telekrimen, I highly recommend picking it up.

Multiforo Alicia is located at Cuauhtemoc 91-A between Durango and Colima. The easiest way to get there is to take the Linea 3 of the Metrobus to the Jardin Pushkin stop and walk north on Cuauhtemoc. You can also walk from the metro stops Cuauhtemoc and Niños Heroes. It is a fairly small punk rock space that usually gets pretty packed, so be ready to sweat. They have cheap beer on hand as well.

Francisco Mondragon Rio

 Francisco Mondragon Rio was a Mexican jazz guitarist from Mexico City that released a string of albums in the 80s and 90s until his death in 2004. His first record, under the group name Semanforash, was released in 1980 on Orfeón. It is a trio recording of guitar, bass and drums. The minimalist sound and slightly sloppy playing of Lo Impredecible is one of its charms, giving it almost a punkish feel. This album is one of my favorite Mexican records, and has led me to try and find everything else recorded by Mondragon. Certainly not an easy feat. This Semanforash record is nearly impossible to find, but I did manage to snag a copy on ebay. There is a recent cd reissue that is much easier to find, and it comes with bonus tracks. You can find the cd version of the album at El Chopo or at ABC Discos.

Check out the tracks on youtube:

Semanforash - Lo Impredecible (1980)
1. Inocencia
2. El jinete
3. La danza del juego
4. El extranjero
5. El matador
6. La broma
7. La despedida
8. Correo negro
9. Katherine
10. Dedicación

 As part of my search for the other recordings made by Francisco Mondragon Rio, I was on a several year hunt for a record he made with Jaco Pastorius called "Natural" that came out in 1988 on Mondragon's own Pulque records. Several months back I finally found a copy at the Balderas Street Market. It was one of those rare situations when looking at records I started to freak out a little with some irrational fear that the seller is going to decide to not sell me the record. In this case, the album was only 100 pesos which really blew me away.

While I spent a long time looking for this record, it really was not worth it. It is basically a jam session with Mondragon, Pastorius and a few other musicians that was then edited down into 4 songs. Mondragon's playing is fairly horrendous, and the playing by all the other musicians is equally uninspiring. Nearly all the tracks fade in and out, giving it the feel that we are just hearing excerpts of a long and tortured jam session. As far as I know, this album is no longer available, although I think there is a Japanese reissue floating around somewhere. But honestly, unless you are a diehard Pastorius fan, this record is not worth the hassle of tracking down.

Check out the tracks on youtube:
Francisco Mondragon Rio featuring Jaco Pastorius - Natural  (1988)
1. Phlegeton
2. The Foreigner
3. Leap Frog
4. Give Me Some

Unfortunately, nearly all the other recordings by Mondragon are fairly unlistenable besides the Semanforash album. He did release an album in 1982 under his own name called Terapia that is fairly decent. There is supposedly a double album of live Semanforash recordings from 1979 that was released in the early 1990s, of which I have never seen a copy, pirated or otherwise. Mondragon released an album with Archie Shepp that came out in 1991 on Pulque Records that is really terrible. Occasionally you can find some of these other albums by Mondragon at El Chopo. You can check out a full biography and discography of Mondragon here (in Spanish, courtesy of La Jornada).

Coming Soon!

Sorry for the lack of posting as of late. In a few days I will begin conducting my first "tour" of Mexican craft beers for a home brewer and beer aficionado from D.C., which will provide me with a lot of new material for the blog.

Calavera Dubbel

Calavera Dubbel de Abadía (Abbey Ale)

6.4%ABV

3 out of 5

This Belgian dubbel by Calavera is slightly better than their Tripel or their Witbier. The beer is a copper color and has a nice spicy flavor of typical Belgian-style beers. The problem with this beer, and also the witbier, is that it is way too carbonated. The insane levels of carbonation in the beer make it very difficult to taste anything distinct in it. I would like to say more about the beer, since I do like it better than the other attempts at Belgian ales by Calavera, but the cringe-inducing carbonation makes that almost impossible.

I purchased this 750ml bottle for 90 pesos at Liverpool. You can also find this beer at La Belga in either the 330ml or 750ml version.

Tempus Doble Malta

Tempus Imperial Altbier

7%ABV

3 out of 5

Tempus is brewed by Primus, based out of Tlalnepantla, Estado de México. Their doble malta is a slightly dark, golden color with strong malt and caramel flavors. It is also light-bodied and fairly easy to drink.

This Doble Malta and other Tempus beers are available just about anywhere that serves cervezas artesanales in the city. You can find it on draft at Zazá, La Nacional (next door to La Belga), and Makena. In the bottle, you can drink this at Al Andar, Lucille's, and El Deposito. You can also buy this for takeout at La Belga, El Deposito, and The Beer Box.

Cerveza Toro

Toro Golden Ale

5.1%ABV

4 out of 5

I was very pleasantly surprised when I tried this bottle-conditioned ale from Querétaro. The flavor is fairly unique and extremely refreshing. It pours fairly cloudy, like a hefeweizen. The beer itself has a nice mix of malt, vanilla and apricot flavors. If someone was trying to sell me a beer that tasted like that, I'd probably say no thanks, but I really did like this beer.

This particular bottle was enjoyed at Makena for 55 pesos. I have not seen it for sale at my usual places to buy beer, but according to the Toro website, it is available at The Beer Company and The Beer Box. Last time I was at a Beer Box, they didn't have this beer. I still haven't had the chance to check out the Beer Company, but I will soon and hope to report back with good news.

Ocozol Azafrán

Ocozol Saffron Ale

??? %ABV

2 out of 5

A very light golden ale with a slight flavor of saffron at the beginning, which then disappears. In fact, besides the initial taste of saffron, this beer has almost no taste at all. Very bland. The idea of putting saffron in the beer is interesting and there is the potential that this beer could get better if the brewer works on the recipe more, but as it stands, this beer is disappointing.

I have only had one other beer by Ocozol, a porter made with black pepper. That beer was also pretty underwhelming.

This 10oz glass of saffron ale was purchased at Makena for 45 pesos.

Azteca IPA

Azteca IPA

???%ABV

2 out of 5

This beer really should not be called an IPA. Slightly hoppy and bitter, but by far one of the worst IPA's I've ever had. The beer itself is too light bodied and the hop flavor is just too weak.


On its own, this beer is still very drinkable and not unpleasant, but it is very disappointing as far as IPAs go.


I had this 10oz glass at Makena for 45 pesos.