A BEIJING RESTAURANT!

THE first & ONLY “old” EX-PAT bar/restaurant LEFT STANDING – IN THE SAME PLACE WITH THE SAME EX-PAT OWNERS AND STILL GOING STRONG. What can one say? 20 YEARS SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!! Think casual, think the best margarita’s in bejing! The largest selection of tequila’s in mainland china. Music nightly and free wifi. East side of Road, 200 meters north of Gui You department store (opposite Silk Market) Dong Da Qiao Road, Chaoyang district
TEL: 65063961
FAX: 65935972
www.mexiwave.com -- is Beijing's OLDEST MEXICAN restaurant and
MEETING PLACE FOR EX-PATS.
The majority of
our client base is 80% foreigners
– most of them are
from the various embassies
and the heads of
foreign companies here
in Beijing.
Our guests come to
our restaurant and
bar for both for its warmth,
cozy environment
and also to entertain guests and
business associates in
a way only the Mexican Wave
Beijing restaurant can provide!!
It’s truly a place where
rich mexican flavors
have become part of Beijing’s
recent history.

We know what it’s like at
the end of the day….

You’ve spent the day running around
and now you need to cook an inspired
and nutrious meal.

Or do you?
Why not pop by and
pick something up instead?
It will be tasty, fresh and nutritious,
just like a home-cooked meal!

We like to keep things interesting
with a rotating freshly-make menu
and a frozen items menu- that way
you can pick something up for tomorrow too!

THE MEXICAN WAVE HAS THE LARGEST
SELECTION OF PREMIUM TEQUILA’S
IN MAINLAND CHINA AND BEIJING.

We have long endeavored
to educate our customers
here in Beijing about
the quality of many tequilas.
No other liquid is surrounded
by as many stories,
myths, legends and lore as tequila

and its sister beverage mezcal.
As wine and whisky have
taken their place in
modernized western culture,
so too has tequila.
Once only a drink for
banditos and
rancheros, tequila is
as much at home in the
fist of today’s business
yuppie as a cup of
Starbuck’s coffee.

While plenty have sampled
various breeds of
this zesty spirit in the form
of a margarita,
many more are discovering that
good tequila is a drink
to be enjoyed like a
fine cognac or scotch.
Many have put away the
salt shakers and sliced limes.
They sit down,
relax and savor the
taste of liquid
fire - sip by sip!

As North America’s first
distilled drink and its first
commercially produced alcohol,
the history of tequila
is long and rich.
Its roots go back to
a drink called pulque.
The history of tequila's
development from
the traditional
beverage to the
modern spirit parallels
the often turbulent,
chaotic growth of Mexico herself,
and is equally obscure
to outsiders.

Mezcal wine, tequila’s
grandparent, was first
produced only a few
decades after the
conquest that brought
the Spaniards to the New
World in 1521. It had
various names including mezcal
brandy, agave wine,
mezcal tequila and finally simply
tequila—appropriately named
after Tequila, a small
town in a valley in
Jalisco state, México.

The word tequila itself
is a mystery.
It is said to be
an ancient Nahuatl term.
The Nahuatl were
the native people
who lived in the area.
The word means "the place
of harvesting plants."

Agave, the plant from
which tequila is distilled,
played a much larger role than
just being the source
of an alcoholic drink.

Its leaves were used
for a hemp-like fiber to
make clothing, rope and paper.
It was also the source
of the nutrient and
vitamin-rich brew, pulque.

Distillation of pulque,
tequila’s distant ancestor,
into something stronger
may have originated by
the Conquistadors
as early as the 1520s.
After the Conquest,
the area around today’s
Jalisco state was originally
called New
Galicia by the Spanish
conquerors. The community we now
know as Tequila officially
became a village in 1656.
In the 1700s,
mezcal wines became an important
product for export because
the town of Tequila lay on the route
to the newly opened Pacific
port of San Blas.

The Worm
Another interesting
error is an urban
legend related to a worm.
The worm-in-the-bottle
myth is old and tired.
The truth has been broadcast and
expounded for years by the
cognoscenti of tequila
in newspapers, magazines,
and on the internet.
Yes, it’s true,
some American-bottled brands
put one in their bottle
to impress the
gringos and boost sales,
but it was a marketing
ploy developed
in the 1940s,
not a Mexican tradition.

A Cactus?
Another common
misunderstanding is that
tequila is made from a cactus.
The reality is
that tequila is made from
distilled sap from hearts
of the agave plant.
This plant is actually related
to the lily and amaryllis.
It is known as a succulent and,
although it shares a common
habitat with many cacti,
it is not one itself.
A mature agave has
leaves 5–8 feet tall,
is 7–12 feet in diameter and
has a life span of 8–15 years.

There are 136 species
of agave in México,
of which the blue agave,
agave tequilana Weber azul,
is the only one allowed for use in
tequila production.
Several different
species of agave are
allowed for use in
mezcal, including tobala,
a rare and wild species.
And just to clear the record,
no Mexican alcoholic
drink is made from cactus.

Taste is the ultimate deciding factor.
Some people prefer the rougher
edge of the young
blanco tequilas with their
more distinct agave flavor.
Others like the sharper,
almost peppery flavor of
a middle-aged reposado.
And some may prefer the smooth,
woody aroma in an older añejo.
Like single-malt scotches
or small-brewery sakes,
tequilas vary according to
the company making them,
the process, and the growing environment.
The temperature, soil,
types of equipment,
age of the plants and the
means by which the plants are baked and
aged, all affect the flavor and body.

WHAT IS TEQUILA& HOW IS IT MADE?
Blue Agave
The process of tequila begins
when a blue agave plant is ripe,
usually 8 to 12 years
after it is planted.
Leaves are chopped away
from its core by a "jimador"
who assesses the
plants ripeness.
If the plant is harvested too soon,
there won't be enough sugars to do the job.
Too late and the agave's sugars will
have already been used to form
a once-in-a-lifetime
stem "quiote" that
springs 25 to 40 feet high so
that the seeds grown at the
top of the stem can scatter with the wind.
The jimador's task is a crucial one;
once he decides that
the plant is ready,
he wields a special long knife known
as a "coa" to clear the core.
The cores or piñas
(Spanish for pineapple)
weight an average of 40 to 70 pounds,
and can weight up to 200 pounds.

Piñas are hauled to
the distillery where they are
cut in half or chopped and put to roast.
Starches turn to sugar
as the piñas are roasted in furnaces called
"hornos". Modern distilleries
use huge steam ovens to increase output
and save on energy. Roughly speaking,
seven kilos (15 lb.)
of agave piña are neede&d to produce
one liter (one quart U.S.) of tequila.

Fermentation
The roasted piñas are then shredded,
their juices pressed out and
placed in fermenting tanks or vats.
Some distilleries use
the traditional method to produce tequila.
In this method –artesian tequila–
the cores are crushed with
a stone wheel at a grinding
mill called "tahona" and the fibers
are dumped into the wooden vat to
enhance fermentation and
to provide extra flavor.
Once the juices are in
the vats yeast is added.
Every distiller keeps its own yeast
as a closely guarded secret.
During fermenting,
the yeast acts upon the sugars
of the agave plant
converting them into alcohol.

Distillation
Juices ferment for 30 to 48 hours
then they are distilled
twice in traditional copper
stills or more modern ones made of stainless
steel or in continuous distillation towers.
The first distillation
produces a low-grade alcohol
and the second a fiery
colorless liquid that
is later blended before being bottled.
Alcohol content
may be between 70 and 110 Proof.
At this moment the liquor
is no longer mezcal but tequila.

TYPES OF TEQUILA
Tequila can only be
produced in Mexico,
in the Tequila Region,
and must comply with strict
Mexican government regulations.
In order to satisfy
an ever-growing demand and a multitude of
consumer's preferences and tastes,
tequila is produced in two general
categories and four different types
in three of those categories.
The two categories are defined
by the percentage of juices
coming from the blue agave:

Tequila 100% Agave.
Must be made with 100% blue agave
juices and must be bottled at
the distillery in Mexico.
It may be Blanco, Reposado, or Añejo.

Tequila. Must be made with
at least 51% blue agave juices.
This tequila may be exported in bulk to be bottled
in other countries. It may
be Blanco, Gold, Reposado, or Añejo

Blanco or Silver
This is the traditional tequila
that started it all.
Clear and transparent, fresh
from the still tequila is
called Blanco (white or silver)
and must be bottled immediately after
the distillation process.
It has the true bouquet and flavor of the blue agave.
It is usually strong and
is traditionally enjoyed in a "caballito" (2 oz small glass).

Oro or Gold
Is tequila Blanco mellowed by
the addition of colorants and flavorings,
caramel being the most common.
It is the tequila of choice for frozen Margaritas.

Reposado or Rested
It is Blanco that has been kept (or rested)
in white oak casks or vats called "pipones" for
more than two months and up to one year.
The oak barrels give Reposado a mellowed taste,
pleasing bouquet,
and its pale color. Reposado keeps
the blue agave taste
and is gentler to the palate.
These tequilas have experienced
exponential demand and high prices.

Añejo or Aged
It is Blanco tequila aged
in white oak casks for more than a year.
Maximum capacity of the casks should not
exceed 600 liters (159 gallons).
The amber color and woody
flavor are picked up from the oak,
and the oxidation that takes place
through the porous wood develops
the unique bouquet and taste.

Reserva
Although not a category in itself,
it is a special Añejo that certain distillers
keep in oak casks for up to 8 years.
Reserva enters the big leagues
of liquor both in taste and in price.

We hope this helps you
have a better understanding of tequila,
it is not just that morning after hangover
but a Connoisseur’s drink,
like a fine cigar & cognac!

We find it is very similar to what
people think of when you
say “The Mexican Wave” in Beijing”

We are the oldest ex-pat place here in Beijing,
our doors are the ones
that most expats have either passed through
or will pass through on either their vacations,
their jobs or their lives here.
As I recall reading or hearing somewhere about us
“We are the well kept secret
that no one admits to but
keeps coming back for more!!”
Our philosophy here
at “The Wave” has always been Looking where to have a good time?

Think Casual, Think the
best margarita’s in Beijing,
The largest selection of
Tequila in Mainland China
and Some of the Best Music in Beijing!

Welcome to Our Casa & Enjoy!!

MEXICAN WAVE – BEIJING’S
TEQUILA LIST
SOLD BY THE SHOT ONLY
UNLESS INDICATED!
PRICING BASED ON QUALITY & AVAILABILITY IN CHINA!

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