Author: ray@ilegalmezcal.com

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The Sylvester | Miami

Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.

Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé. The 2023 tour set off in April in Oaxaca, and continued in May with consecutive stops in Chicago and Miami.

The stop at the Sylvester was well attended, and we were thrilled to see so many friends from the local team, industry partners, and fans of the brand. Cocktails were executed flawlessly, our tattoo artists Chris Tamborelli and Eddy Ospina gave out 46 flash tattoos, and SUSU brought an electric show with some of our favorite Liza and Kia outfits to date. Have a look in the gallery below, photos by Sarah Craig:

2023 REMAINING DATES

SEP 12 – Atlanta, GA
SEP 15 – Austin, TX
NOV 8 – Los Angeles, CA
NOV 15 – Brooklyn, NY
DEC 7 – Antigua, GT

Click HERE to RSVP to Bar Ilegal

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Moneygun | Chicago

Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.

Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé. The 2023 tour set off in April in Oaxaca, and continued in May with consecutive stops in Chicago and Miami.

Moneygun plays a central role in Chicago’s thriving cocktail scene, and Ilegal was thrilled to bring our signature mezcal cocktails to their audience. SUSU delivered an electrifying show, and local favorite Mister Baby Vintage provided custom Ilegal chain stitching. See how it all went down below, photos by Sarah Craig.

2023 REMAINING DATES

MAY 18 – Miami, FL
SEP 12 – Atlanta, GA
SEP 15 – Austin, TX
NOV 8 – Los Angeles, CA
NOV 15 – Brooklyn, NY
DEC 7 – Antigua, GT

Click HERE to RSVP to Bar Ilegal

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Discovering the True Spirit and Community of Mezcal in Oaxaca

We’re all visiting Palenque Mal de Amor in Santiago Matatlán, a town in Oaxaca dubbed the “world capital of mezcal,” to learn about the the magic of the spirit right at its source, particularly the palenque’s work as the chief distillery partner for Ilegal Mezcal.

While I’m focused on absorbing the ins and outs of mezcal production, the band is more attuned to soaking up the vibes while preparing to head on stage the next night at Bar Ilegal in Oaxaca City. It’s the launch party for the 2023 Bar Ilegal Tour, with the mezcal brand celebrating two decades of history in its original home, Café No Sé in Antigua, Guatemala. SUSU will bring the party, Ilegal will bring the drinks and tattoo artists will be busy buzzing free tats in the back during the course of a three-country, eight-stop tour between April and December.

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Bar Ilegal Tour 2023

Opened by Ilegal founder John Rexer around 2004, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.

Bar Ilegal is an experiential outpost of Café No Sé. We are thrilled to be celebrating its history by bringing music, mezcal, and tattoos to 8 cities, starting 4/27 in Oaxaca, with none other than the legendary SUSU.

2023 DATES

APR 27 – Oaxaca, MX
MAY 16 – Chicago, IL
MAY 18 – Miami, FL
SEP 12 – Atlanta, GA
SEP 15 – Austin, TX
NOV 8 – Los Angeles, CA
NOV 15 – Brooklyn, NY
DEC 7 – Antigua, GT

Click here to RSVP to Bar Ilegal Oaxaca.

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Bar Ilegal | Oaxaca, Mexico

Bar Ilegal, both the tour and the bar in Oaxaca, are experiential outposts of Café No Sé. Opened by John Rexer in the early 2000s, Café No Sé has become the beating heart of an international music scene in Antigua, Guatemala. This is the original home of Ilegal Mezcal + the first mezcal bar opened outside of Mexico.

The 2023 tour features performances by the legendary SUSU at each stop. To open up this year’s tour, we were thrilled to bring the band down to Oaxaca a few days early to visit Mal de Amor, the palenque in the Santiago Matatlán valley where Ilegal is produced. Guided by Ilegal Global Brand Ambassador, our group learned more about mezcal production, the story of how Ilegal came to be, and met the mezcaleros that make it.

Also in attendance were several VIP guests from some of Mexico’s top bars and restaurants, celebrating the official Ilegal Mezcal launch of distribution to Mexico.

Bar Ilegal continues on in May, first to Moneygun in Chicago on 5/16, then the Sylvester Miami, 5/18.

2023 DATES

APR 27 – Oaxaca, MX
MAY 16 – Chicago, IL
MAY 18 – Miami, FL
SEP 12 – Atlanta, GA
SEP 15 – Austin, TX
NOV 8 – Los Angeles, CA
NOV 17 – Brooklyn, NY
DEC 7 – Antigua, GT

Pictures by Sarah Craig from Bar Ilegal, Palenque Mal de Amor, and our entire Oaxaca trip in the gallery below.

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Paloma Ingrata

Nostalgia in a glass, inspired by Mercedes Castro’s Mexican anthem

1.5 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven

0.5 oz lime

0.75 oz agave nectar

0.75 oz grapefruit

2 oz IPA beer

Add all ingredients to tin and whip. Shake with 2 ice cubes and dump into a beer glass with salt rim and fill with ice. Garnish with grapefruit peel.

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Cóctel Al Pastor

Add 1 cup of unsalted corn nuts to a blender and blend until the corn nuts are the consistency of course sea salt. Then mix into 5 cups of salt.

Add 3.5 oz vegan Achiote paste to 1 qt pineapple juice, and stir until dissolved.

2 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven

1 oz achiote-infused pineapple juice

1 oz lime juice

0.5 oz agave nectar

Tortilla salt rim

Shake and strain into a glass rimmed with tortilla salt. Garnish with pineapple leaves.

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High Noon | Paste Magazine Austin Showcase

This year’s Paste showcase went down at the fabulous High Noon. Highlight performances included those from Eshu Tune (aka Hannibal Buress), Fruit Bats, Brian Sella of Front Bottoms, SUSU, CM Talkington (ft. Oscar-winner Reneé Zellweger!), Overcoats, Dream Wife, Kate Davis, Death Valley Girls, and William Prince.

The Paste Magazine Showcase hosted 42 bands from around the world, with a guest list over 8k RSVPs. The Ilegal Mezcal team executed three separate activations, Ilegal sampling, Ilegal tattoo flash, and a vinyl DJ. All three came together very nicely and created one of the best atmospheres any of the musicians had ever encountered at a SXSW showcase. Their enjoyment became apparent as so many artists hanging in our activation nearly missed their second set of the day.

Performances included those from Fruit Bats, Brian Sella of Front Bottoms, SUSU, Eshu Tune (aka Hannibal Buress’ rap alter ego), CM Talkington (ft. Oscar-winner Reneé Zellweger!), Overcoats, Dream Wife, Kate Davis, Death Valley Girls, and William Prince. Ilegal gave out 43 flash tattoos over 3 days. The Paste showcase was heavily attended by music industry and brand professionals, and the very popular Ilegal activation became a great way to connect with so many of them, including Universal Music Group, HBO, Hulu, Google, Ad Ventures, C3, The Orchard, Spin Magazine, Levitation, Liquid Death, and Yeti.

This was also the first activation at which we introduced our soon-to-be-released Lime + Prickly Pear N/A seltzer, ‘Sin Ilegal,’ and the responses were extremely positive. Photos in the gallery below by Renato Rimach.