20/07/22

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

Branding

Mirror Margarita is a novel take on the classic Mexican cocktail. The award-winning clear mix, served at Hacha Bar, a little London agaveria, a space dedicated to tequila and mezcal, also tastes delicious. Spinach Branding has been working closely with the team at Hacha to help create a unique brand identity, logomark and e-commerce website.

Our early research involved digging into Margarita’s colourful, cinematic story. The tequila-based drink comes with multiple tales of origin spanning the 1930s and 40s, some even creeping into the 50s, and they extend from Tijuana to Rio, Texas and beyond. And like most enduring cocktails, the Margarita’s history is peppered with myths and conflicting narratives. Several bartenders, restaurateurs, drifters and socialites claim authorship. To add to the cocktail’s allure, among the more notable names on a long list of dedicatees is the glamorous 1940s Hollywood idol Rita Hayworth, who westernised her name on arrival to Hollywood, and the singer Peggy (Margaret) Lee.

Hacha conceived the Mirror Margarita mix to challenge our notion and perception of the tequila classic. The drink distils the flavours and sensations of the Margarita in a single bottle, yet remains as crystal-clear as water, while offering the perfect balance of sweet and sour notes. It is a little like magic.

All this came into play when we began working on the Mirror Margarita project. ‘We were immediately captivated by the brand, the people behind it, Deano Moncrieffe and Emma Murphy, and this intriguing cocktail,’ says Leigh Banks, branding director at the London agency. ‘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,’ he says. ‘It’s a distillation of the complex notes that make up this cocktail without resorting to the obvious.’

The background research into the drink, and the sensation when experiencing Mirror Margarita, led Spinach to the surrealist artists of the 1920s and 30s. ‘It reminded us of the early surrealists and the work of the pioneers of the movement, namely the visual artist and photographer Man Ray,’ explains Banks. Alongside his fellow surrealists, Ray created intriguing, complex images that play with our perception of reality.

Banks says Mirror Margarita is a unique, one-of-a-kind drink that you have to try to believe. ‘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,’ he continues. ‘It’s not often that you work with a product with such a clear proposition. All we had to do was focus on the drink’s uniqueness. The positioning line of “explore clarity, discover purity” perfectly captures the Mirror Margarita.’

Take a look at the Mirror Margarita website.

Images and website Spinach Branding Mirror Margarita © Hacha Bar

Spinach Branding is a specialist branding agency based in London. We work with established businesses and start-ups around the world to build and refine their brands. See how we work and get in touch to discuss your brand.