Surrealism inspires Hatcha Bar’s Mirror Margarita branding and web design.

Mirror Margarita is a novel take on the classic Mexican cocktail. The award-winning clear mix, served at Hacha Bar – a small London agaveria dedicated to tequila and mezcal – is as striking as it is delicious. Spinach Branding worked with the team at Hacha to create a distinctive brand identity, logomark and e-commerce website.

Our early research dug into the Margarita’s colourful, cinematic backstory. The tequila-based cocktail has multiple origin tales spanning the 1930s and 40s – some even reaching into the 50s – with claims stretching from Tijuana to Rio, Texas and beyond. Like most enduring drinks, the Margarita’s history is peppered with myths and conflicting narratives. Bartenders, restaurateurs, drifters and socialites all lay claim to its invention. Adding to the allure, among the names often cited are the Hollywood idol Rita Hayworth – who changed her name on arrival in California – and the singer Peggy (Margaret) Lee.

Hacha conceived the Mirror Margarita to challenge perceptions of the tequila classic. The drink distils the flavours and sensations of a Margarita into a single bottle, yet remains crystal-clear, with a perfectly judged balance of sweet and sour notes. It feels a little like magic.

“All this came into play when we began working on the Mirror Margarita project,” says Leigh Banks, branding director at Spinach. “We were immediately captivated by the brand, the people behind it – Deano Moncrieffe and Emma Murphy – and this intriguing cocktail. The drink they’ve created is as clear as water, yet the taste profile is incredibly complex – mirroring (literally) the taste and sense of the Margarita cocktail. It’s a distillation of the complex notes that make up this cocktail without resorting to the obvious.”

“It reminded us of the early surrealists and the work of the pioneers of the movement, namely the visual artist and photographer Man Ray,” Banks explains. Like his fellow surrealists, Ray created intriguing, layered images that play with our perception of reality.

Banks believes Mirror Margarita is a one-of-a-kind drink that has to be tried to be believed. “The flavour profile is unexpected, refined and delicious. And we were taken by how people responded to the drink. As with all great products, Mirror Margarita had something special about it, which made our job very simple. It’s not often you work with a product with such a clear proposition. The positioning line of ‘explore clarity, discover purity’ perfectly captures the Mirror Margarita.”