I tried a new Edinburgh pub crawl and it was a boozy and super fun adventure
This is a way to discover a few popular bars
Can you even say the words tequila, without punctuating that with; “It makes you happy!”
In my experience, nope, although that statement is not completely factual. Too much, especially involving slammers, can make you very gloomy indeed.
Thus, my husband and I decided to pace ourselves very carefully, when we take part in Edinburgh’s first Margarita Mile, which runs until March 31. It’s been organised by Signature pubs - who have partnered with El Jimador tequila - and incorporates five of their venues across the New Town.
You can pick up a map at one of their participating bars - The Huxley, Badger & Co, Copper Blossom, The Boozy Cow, and The Basement.
When you visit each venue and drink one of their themed cocktails, you get a stamp. At your final destination of The Basement, you’ll get a prize of gratis guacamole and a cap when you show your completed map. Either finish the trail before the end of March, or do the whole thing in one gulp.
I’d recommend spreading it out, but we chucked ourselves in. After all, cocktail trends may come and go, but we both always love a Margarita. You don’t see slippery nipples so much these days, and even a pina colada has gone extinct, but the original tequila, triple sec and lime mixture remains a timeless favourite.
We needn’t have worried that the mile might get a bit samey. To keep things interesting, there are four different cocktails at each venue, all based on the original.
Our first stop was The Huxley, where I was really impressed by the Coconut and Guava Daisy (£12), which was sophisticated and lightly fruity, with an ice cube the size of a meteorite.
“I thought you were going to pace yourself,” says my other half, and I manage to leave a fifth of my drink. It was too good.
My other half - a purist - goes for the simple classic Tommy’s Margarita (£12) - aka Margarita without the triple sec.
We think about having something to eat here too, but we resist, though I am very intrigued and slightly scared by the fact that they have cheeseburger soup on the menu.
Now, onto Badger & Co. It’s been a while, and I’m surprised how busy it is, on a Wednesday night. It’s also very cosy, and we’re tempted to stay and hunker down into the banquette.
They have some very imaginative options on the list, and I settle for the Toad’s Tea Party (£13), with Playful El Jimador Biano, peach liqueur, cointreau, a housemade tea blend, and agave. It’s summery, light, fun and fruity, with a stripy straw and a pansy on top.
He chooses the Ratty Burns (£12.50), which has an interesting ozone-y edge, with Savoury Heat Blanco Tequila, Ancho Chile Liqueur, lime, agave, cholula and sea salt.
What is cholula, you may ask. We had to Google it, too. It turns out that it’s a hot sauce, with arbol and pequin peppers in the mix. I think this cocktail is going to be hard to beat, as far as my other half is concerned.
While we’re here, we line our stomachs with a portion of craggy Koffman fries with truffle and Parmesan (£6) and a starter of treacle-glazed Scottish smoked salmon (£11).
Onwards, to the style bar Copper Blossom, which is rather quiet tonight. I know spicy Margs are the cocktail du jour, as far as drinks go, but they’re not my favourite. Still we go for the hot Mango to Mexico (£12.50), with Spicy Chilli El Jimador, Cointreau, lime, honey, mango and tajin, and the Spicy Margarita (£11), and both glasses are plastered in chilli salt. These are the Bad Bunnies of cocktails. Hot, hot, hot, ay mami.
Our drinks are obviously kicking in, as my other half is suddenly hyper and starts miming the lyrics to The Beatles song that’s playing on the stereo.
I drag him to The Boozy Cow - the single venue I’ve never been to before. It’s a rock bar, with Deep Purple playing, and US-style food, like chicken tenders (£6) with ranch dressing and some mac and cheese bites (£6) that we swiftly imbibe to keep the dizzy feels at bay.
Their cocktail choices are a bit more prosaic than the others. There’s a classic Margarita, which they’ve dubbed “nothing fancy”, the spicy “no frills” Marg, a classic Paloma, and, my choice, the baby pink and smoothie-esque Coconut and Raspberry Margarita (£10.50).
They let me do my own map stamp in here, and it gives me flashbacks to a previous career as a library assistant.
One more to go, and we’re feeling fine. I’m sure if we’d actually finished our drinks, we would’ve been stocious and staggering down the stairs of The Basement, but we’re too sensible. Some might say boring, but we ignore them. This is the longest walk on the map, from Frederick to Broughton Street.
I’m very happy to be back in this classic Edinburgh basement venue, which has been in situ since the Nineties and never seems to change. However, we’re surprised to see that the staff no longer have to wear Hawaiian shirts. We ask about it, and want to cheer when he says he IS wearing one, except under his hoodie.
Even though I get brain freeze, the simple Frozen Coconut Margarita (£12) is my favourite of the night, along with The Huxley’s offering. I also like the sound of their Rhubarb Tommy’s (£12) and the Blood Orange Paloma (£12), though my husband chooses the Bergamot Margarita (£12), which contains El Jimador Blanco, Italicus, Contreau, agave and lime juice. He loves this, though Ratty Burns at Badger & Co remains his numero uno.
We present our completed map here, bag our free bowl of guacamole and tortilla chips, try a few of their excellent tacos, and don our caps, which are replete with the words The Margarita Mile Club.
It seems that tequila did make us happy. Don’t drink too much of it all at one time, and you will be too.
For more information and to see the map, go to https://crave-loyalty.com/margarita-mile/
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