La Cava del Tequila
La Cava del Tequila is a tequila bar inside the Mexico pavilion of World Showcase at EPCOT in Walt Disney World, Florida. Opened on August 31, 2009, it occupies a small room within the pavilion's pyramid, next to the San Angel Inn Restaurante, and serves what is generally described as the widest selection of tequila in Walt Disney World, with more than 200 varieties, alongside margaritas and Mexican small plates. Its name is Spanish for "the tequila cellar".
History
The Mexico pavilion had stood in World Showcase since EPCOT opened on October 1, 1982, its pyramid containing the San Angel Inn restaurant, shops arranged as a night-time plaza, and the pavilion's boat ride. For the pavilion's first twenty-seven years, however, its drinks offering was limited to the restaurant and a margarita stand outside the pyramid.
La Cava del Tequila opened inside the pyramid on August 31, 2009, giving the pavilion a dedicated bar for the first time. The concept centred on presenting tequila as a subject in its own right rather than only as a cocktail ingredient: the bar was staffed with a "tequila ambassador", a certified specialist from the town of Tequila in Mexico, who could explain production methods and regional styles to guests, and the room's decoration was designed around that educational purpose. The bar proved durable, marking its anniversaries with limited-edition drinks, and it remains the reference point for the pavilion's wider drinks offering.
Setting
La Cava is a small, dimly lit lounge reached from the plaza inside the pyramid, a few steps from the entrance to the San Angel Inn. Seating is limited to a small number of tables and places at the bar, and the room operates on a walk-up basis, so a queue at its door is common. Its walls carry murals illustrating the history of tequila and the process by which it is made — the cultivation and harvesting of blue agave, cooking, fermentation and distillation — which gives the small room the character of part bar, part exhibit. The perpetual twilight of the pyramid plaza continues inside, and the contrast between the crowded plaza and the low-lit cellar is a deliberate part of the design.
Drinks and food
The list runs to more than 200 tequilas, covering the blanco, reposado, añejo and extra añejo classifications as well as mezcals, and they are offered by the glass and in tasting flights that set several expressions side by side. Margaritas are the bar's highest-volume product, made to order rather than from the frozen machines used at the pavilion's outdoor stand; the best known is the avocado margarita, blended with fresh avocado, alongside versions made with jalapeño, blood orange and passion fruit. Mexican beers and wines are also served.
Food is limited to small plates intended to accompany drinks, including guacamole and chips, queso and light tacos, supplied from the pavilion's kitchens. Because EPCOT permits alcohol throughout the park, La Cava sits at the centre of the informal guest practice of "drinking around the world" in World Showcase, in which it usually serves as the first stop, the Mexico pavilion being the first encountered by guests entering World Showcase from the park's main entrance side.