Manhattan’s Finest Agave Spirits Collection Sets Up Shop at Mexi Stone Street

(Photo: Mexi)

Mexi Stone Street is the latest venue daring to set up shop in New York City’s historied, ever-trendy and obscenely expensive Financial District. And it’s got big promises to fulfill. The bar, opened earlier this month by WF Hospitality, claims to boast one of the most extensive agave spirits programs in the United States, complete with over 400 bottlings sourced from Oaxaca, Durango, Jalisco, Guerrero and beyond.

The Bedford Manhattan

We stopped by on a Friday night to see what all the fuss was about. Our journey (accidentally) began at The Bedford Manhattan, located right next door on FiDi’s cozy, pedestrian-only Stone Street. Also operated by WF Hospitality, The Bedford bills itself as a cocktail destination and maritime-inspired gastropub. Its walls are decorated with all manner of swashbuckling memorabilia, the standout being an old-timey diving helmet surrounded by a halo of ludicrously rare liquor bottles.

Guests were greeted at the door with a nod and a wave by José María Dondé, the mixologist behind The Bedford and Mexi’s bar programs. An alum of local hotsposts including Maison Premiere and Cosme, Dondé has dedicated his time on Stone Street to elevating the overlooked and underappreciated of the alcohol world. He explained that Mexi and The Bedford allowed him to split his time between two passions. While the former specializes in agave spirits, the latter dabbles in all things cane distillate.

My friend and I leafed through a thick cocktail menu that highlighted inventive twists on the classics. Nothing played by the rules. A paloma riff made use of blended white rum, St-Germain, cacao liqueur and yuzu, while the deceptively simple Green Margarita was dialed up to eleven with the addition of Green Chartreuse. Guests watched with baited breath as Dondé stirred up a Martini Translantico, combining gins from Italy, Japan and Brooklyn.

We ended up settling on the Mole Corn Pain Killer and the Prime Meridian. One, a savory-sweet blend of cane distillates from Chiapas, Oaxaca and Panama; the other, a celebration of everything clarified and coconut. Rarely, if ever, do Americans get to taste some of the spirits at play within these drinks. It was astonishing to see the ingredients listed out one after another, as if the recipe were nothing more passé than peanut butter and jelly. We were especially intrigued by the inclusion of pox, a distillation of corn, wheat and sugarcane consumed as ceremonial liquor by the Tzotzil Mayans of the Chiapas highlands.

It worked wonders inside the Mole Corn Pain Killer, bouncing off rich flavors of dark chocolate and orange zest that tasted like an early invitation to Halloween. The Prime Meridian was equally unorthodox, riffing on James Bond’s go-to order — the Vesper Martini — with a wallop of Indonesian red rice distillate.

The menu tried its best to lure us in for another order, but there were more pressing issues at hand. Our attention has settled on a row of charanda bottles, an agricole-style rum hailing from the Mexican state of Michoacán. If ever there was a criminally underrated Mexican spirit not made from agave, charanda is it. The characteristically funky flavor bomb derives its name from the Purépecha word for “red soil,” a nod to the arid, high-altitude terrain that defines its vegetal profile. Only 16 of Michoacán’s 113 municipalities are permitted to distill charanda. And I’d be willing to wager that’s roughly the number of bars currently offering it in New York City

Dondé poured pebble ice into a drinking glass and topped it with a thin slice of lime. It received a sprinkling of sugar crystals and a quick blast from a kitchen torch. The room smelled of burnt molasses. We were invited to sample our mini-creme brulee in between sips of the good stuff — an elite reimagining of the classic salt and lime shot.

Mexi Stone Street

Our journey continued next door into Mexi Stone Street, a venue of similar size, patronage and overall vibe as The Bedford (minus the pirate ships, plus a few hundred agave spirits).

Orange and yellow LEDs illuminated a stupendous backbar. On the left, tequilas from a range of additive-free favorites, including Mijenta, Alma Del Jaguar, Lost Lore, Chamucos, Arette and Wild Common. On the right, a selection of mezcals spanning the familiar and the obscure. Liquor store regulars like Siete Misterios, Fósforo and Mezcal Güey side by side with bottles that required a second or third squint to soak in all the details. A decanter of Tears of Llorona was placed on a dedicated stand, inches away from a similar shrine to all things Fortaleza and Clase Azul. Forget “high brow” and “low brow” — if you want a tequila or mezcal, Mexi Stone Street has it, no judgment.

Though Mexi doesn’t call itself an agave library, it’s easy to draw comparisons. The walls of the bar are lined with caged shelves, each highlighting the portfolio of a single small-batch mezcal brand. Dozens of agave varietals and hundreds of distillers arranged left, right, up and down. Each bottle was a question away from an in-depth explanation and a helpful comparison. “Like this? Try that. Hate that? Perhaps this would work better.” Dondé demonstrated an encyclopedic knowledge of his craft, one that seeps into every nook and cranny of his downtown hideaway.

We sampled an exceptional Espadin Capon that left me second-guessing the usually tame agave varietal, and a citrus-forward Mexicano with a portrait of its maestro mezcalero stamped front and center on the label. Both were served house style. That is, with a small plate of green grapes.

The evening concluded with a bottle of Mexican sake, something I had absolutely no idea existed. Turned out there was a good explanation. NAMI is the country’s first and possibly only sake maker, founded in 2016 in Culiacán, Sinaloa. Though a largely unknown quantity at liquor stores across Mexico and the U.S., the sake has slowly found its way onto the menus of upper-crust favorites like the two Michelin-starred Pujol.

It was tasty stuff. The perfect embodiment of a bar dedicated to plumbing the delicious, occasionally obscure depths of Mexico’s ever-changing spirits culture. Find Mexi at 57 Stone Street, and remember that your night will be all the better if you accidentally wander into The Bedford first.