Tequila 201: The other Agave drinks

Pulque

Pulque is known as the drink of the gods, a Mexican Ambrosia, so to speak. This drink dates back about a thousand years. The drink was considered sacred and a privilege reserved for the upper class. Unfortunately, the beer industry spread a lot of stories about pulque and how it had cow excrement in it and pulque started being seen as low-class. Pulque is the fermented sap of the agave plant. Think of what beer is to whiskey. Pulque is that but to tequila and mescal. Pulque is usually made in a number of delicious flavors called curados. It's low proof, usually 3-5%. It's also pretty healthy, almost like a slightly alcoholic smoothie. 

Mezcal

Mezcal or Mescal is actually the original form of tequila. Much like how brandy is the basis for Cognac. All tequila technically is mezcal but produced in the designated regions around tequila Mexico. Tequila is a protected term, enforced by the Mexican government, while mezcal is not. The CRT, Consejo Regulador del Tequila (tequila regulatory council), makes frequent inspections on every aspect of tequila production to allow the producers to sell their product as tequila. Mezcal doesn't have that. Now you might think that this inherently makes tequila a better product but that's not necessarily the case. Tequila has to use at least 

Many modern mezcal producers have actually created products that rival and even dwarf the quality of some tequilas. For a while, the only brand of mezcal I could find was Monte Alban, which was a decent mezcal, but these days you can find all sorts of premium brands, like Wild Shot, Ilegal, and Joven. While tequila can only be made with the Weber Blue Agave, mezcal can be made from any of dozens of agave plants, but most commonly the green agave, or Agave Angustifolia. It is effectively still just distilled Pulque. It's made mainly in Oaxaca and has a stronger smokier flavor than tequila. It also has a worm. Yes, this is where the worm in the bottle comes from. It won't hurt you; drink it once. 

Bacanora

Bacanora at its foundation is just a different genre of Tequila. Bacanora was named after a town where it was popularly produced. Today, it is a protected term ensuring that is only made using the certain agave grown in the select northwestern regions of Mexico, the agave Pacifico or Agave Yaquiana. It is another government-regulated name that ensures that the product is only made to certain standards. In terms of flavor, it's a bit more robust than most tequilas but not quite as harsh and smokey as many mescals. 

Sotol

Sotol is worth mentioning as well. Sotol is another distilled Mexican spirit made and distilled in very much the same vein as mescal and bacanora. It technically doesn't use the agave plant, however. It is made from the Desert Spoon, or Dasylirion Wheeleri, which is a type of evergreen shrub common in northern Mexico and parts of Texas. This plant was originally fermented some 800 years ago. It started being distilled in the 16th century when the Europeans brought over distillation techniques. The production of this spirit is nearly identical to mescal down to the way it's harvested and trimmed. Much like tequila, it is put in three different age classifications: Plata, Reposado, and Anejo. Sotol is generally slightly smokier and more vegetal in flavor than the average tequila. 

Special mention to Raicilla

Photo Credit: Wikimedia, Flickr

#015 Beedrill

This is a part of an ongoing project I'm working on to make a Pokemon cocktails for each and every Pokemon. I'm starting with just generation one and we'll see how the response is. 151 drinks is a tall order, but people have done crazier things. If I succeed I will most likely publish an eBook or possibly hard copy collections of each drink. Give them a try and let me know what you think. 

1 1/2 oz. Pepper Infused Tequila

1/2 oz. Blood Orange Liqueur

1 oz. Honey Syrup
1 oz. Lemon Juice
Top Sparkling Wine

Add all the ingredients except the bubbly to a mixing tin. Shake well with ice. Double strain into a tulip glass with ice. Top with bubbly. Garnish with two spears of serrano pepper. 

To make a pepper-infused tequila simply fill a small mason jar with whatever type of peppers you'd like. Make sure you cut it up to about 1/2" pieces to increase the surface area. Personally, I'm a fan of serrano pepper for this cocktail. Many people may prefer to use a Jalapeno or Habanero pepper, but I find that serrano offers a very balanced flavor and heat for this drink. If you don't want too much spice to dominate the drink I recommend seeding the peppers first. Pour tequila over the peppers, seal the jar and give it a little shake. I like a Reposado tequila here. The slight smokiness brings out the pepper flavors, but an Anejo could work as well. I find that about 6 hours is enough to get a full pepper flavor without it becoming too potent. For seeded Jalapenos and Habaneros, less time may be prudent.

This drink again takes a lot of inspiration from the margarita. A common variation I've seen in chain restaurants these days is a champagne margarita with a little split of sparkling wine stuck into the drink just like the Coronarita. Beedrill is a bee, so for a sweetener, honey was the obvious choice. It also has a potent poisonous sting that can supposedly kill, so I wanted a little more spice in this one. I find that blood orange plays a bit better with spice that Cointreau or another triple sec. Add a little lemon juice and bubbly and you have yourself a great drink to sip on out on the patio on a hot spring day. 

"Beedrill. This Pokémon is an evolved form of Weedle, following its Kakuna stage. Its sting is highly poisonous."

Pidgey -->

<-- Kakuna

Recommended Brands: Milagro Reposado, Solerno, wildflower honey, fresh lemon juice, Comte de Bucques Brut

#014 Kakuna

This is a part of an ongoing project I'm working on to make a Pokemon cocktails for each and every Pokemon. I'm starting with just generation one and we'll see how the response is. 151 drinks is a tall order, but people have done crazier things. If I succeed I will most likely publish an eBook or possibly hard copy collections of each drink. Give them a try and let me know what you think. 

1 1/4 oz. Reposado Tequila

1/2 oz. Blood Orange Liqueur

1/2 oz. Honey Syrup
3/4 oz. Lemon Juice

Add all the ingredients to a mixing tin. Shake well with ice. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a small spear of serrano pepper that has been deseeded. 

This drink clearly takes a lot of inspiration from the margarita. I opted to use a Reposado tequila to help represent the middle nature of Kakuna. The insect and bee-like nature of this evolution line made honey an obvious choice for a sweetener. I like a wildflower honey syrup if you can find it. A different orange liqueur could be used, but I adore Solerno, and I find it pairs better with spicy and smokey flavors which are going to be more present in our last iteration of this evolutionary line. You have to have a bit of sting in your bee Pokemon. 

"Kakuna, a transitional stage between Weedle and Beedrill. Kakunas remain inactive until they evolve into deadly Beedrills and hatch."

Beedrill -->

<-- Weedle

Recommended Brands: Milagro Reposado, Solerno, wildflower honey, fresh lemon juice

#013 Weedle

This is a part of an ongoing project I'm working on to make a Pokemon cocktails for each and every Pokemon. I'm starting with just generation one and we'll see how the response is. 151 drinks is a tall order, but people have done crazier things. If I succeed I will most likely publish an eBook or possibly hard copy collections of each drink. Give them a try and let me know what you think. 

1 1/4 oz. Mezcal

1/2 oz. Blood Orange Liqueur

1/4 oz. Honey Syrup

Gusano

Add all the ingredients to a mixing tin. Shake well with ice. Double strain into a shooter glass. Garnish with the worm from a mescal bottle if possible. A thin lemon twist can also work. 

For this cocktail I knew I wanted to use mezcal. The little worm in the bottle looks just like a Weedle. Well, technically it's a caterpillar of a moth but it just matches up so well. Weedle turns into a cocoon and then evolves again, strangely enough into a bee, but the theory is there. The use of honey does naturally take inspiration from Weedle's final evolution (not counting the mega). I knew I'd wind up going with a sort of margarita vibe in the later iterations so I opted for one of my favorite liqueurs, Solerno, a blood orange liqueur. This shot does pack quite a punch alcohol-wise. But the flavor does very well. A sweet smokey earthy flavor makes for a very fun shot or cocktail.

"Weedle. The stinger on this Pokémon's head guarantees that any attacker will get the point right where it hurts."

Kakuna -->

<-- Butterfree

Recommended Brands: Ilegal Reposado, Solerno

Tequila 301: Let's try some Tequila Cocktails!

Tequila is an amazing spirit to play with. There are sweet types, barrel-aged types, types that are infused with other flavors. It can be a little daunting but go out there and have fun with your spirits. Just remember, if a brand works great in one cocktail, it doesn't mean it's the best. It also doesn't mean it's great in every cocktail. Experiment, that's what life's all about, especially when you're drinking tequila.

Shot
Salt, 1 1/4oz Tequila, Lime wedge

Pour yourself a shot of tequila. Wet the back of your hand and shake some salt on it. 

Lick the salt, take the shot, and bite the lime. Enter any home in Mexico as a guest and you will probably be greeted with a shot of mezcal or tequila. This is a healthy thing to partake in and you should really know what tequila can taste like straight. This may not be the social style of shot seen in Mexico, but it's a common Americanized form that does have proper roots. Tequila used to be medicine; it would be prescribed by doctors. Some drinkers found the spirit straight a bit harsh. The salt opens up the palette and the lime helps cleanse it. Plenty of variations exist using sugar, lemon, or orange. 

Margarita
2oz Silver Tequila, 1oz Cointreau, ¾oz lime juice

In a mixing glass add all the ingredients with ice. Shake and strain into a salt-rimmed margarita glass with ice. Garnish with a lime wheel. 

The first Margarita was arguably made by Carlos "Danny" Herrara in 1938, but that's not my favorite story. My favorite story is more about how the Margarita became popular. There was a bartender by the name of John Durlesser who competed in and won the 1949 All American Cocktail Contest with a drink called the Margarita. He did not explain the name of this drink. The drink became wildly popular across the globe. Over twenty years after the competition he revealed the true story about why he named the drink Margarita. 23 years before the competition he had gone hunting with his girlfriend. She was shot by a stray bullet and died before she could get medical care. In my opinion, the most amazing thing is that the drink gained so much popularity without the story being out.

Tequila Sunrise

2oz tequila, 4oz orange juice, 1/2oz fresh grenadine

In a highball glass with ice, add the tequila and the orange juice. Slowly dribble the grenadine around the inner rim of the glass. The denser grenadine will sink. Garnish with an orange and cherry. 

The original tequila sunrise was actually made with tequila, creme de cassis, lime juice, and soda water. This was back in the '30s at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. From the '70s to the present day the common recipe is what you see here.

Paloma
2oz Blanco tequila, 3oz grapefruit juice, 1/2oz lime juice,  Club soda

Rim half a highball glass with salt and fill with ice. In a mixing glass with ice, add all the ingredients except the club soda. Stir all the ingredients together and strain into the highball glass. Top with about an ounce of club soda. Garnish with a lime wheel. 

Paloma, meaning dove, is another fairly simple highball cocktail. In Mexico, these drinks are even more popular than the Margarita. Ideally one would use grapefruit soda (Squirt), which you can find in the right stores. Commonly in America, one would use white grapefruit juice in this with club soda to get a similar result. 

special mention to: bee sting

“I’ve created a new drink! I'm calling it the Piñata Colada! It’s sweet and tasty, but when you wake up the next morning your head feels like it’s been hit with a stick.” 

- José N. Harris

Photo Credit: Wikimedia, pixabay

Ogre Killer

The name was inspired by the anime Yu Yu Hakusho. The character Chu, who practices suiken or drunken boxing, has a secret weapon. He pulls out a flask of what is called ogre killer, the strongest booze in Demon World. He chugs it down, and his skin changes color and he takes a fighting stance, not before immediately vomiting of course. The fight ends with a fabulous knife edge death match, where both fighters stand face to face with their back foot against a blade. They wail on each other in the manliest fashion continuously pressing the others foot into the blade. To any man who has ever enjoyed a fight, even when you lost, try this drink. It gives you very much the same feeling. 

1 oz. Everclear (190 proof)

1/2 oz. Joven Mezcal

1/2 oz. Scotch

Add all the ingredients to a rocks glass. Add ice. Stir with a knife. Leave the knife in to make it authentic. For this picture, I actually left the knife in the ice block mold as it froze. This was to make it more reminiscent of the show

Let's do the math on this drink.

(1oz * 190 proof) + (1/2oz * 80 proof) + (1/2oz * 80 proof) 

= 2oz of 135 proof

This drink is 68% alcohol before ice melt. It is the equivalent of 3.375 shots of 80 proof spirit. Do be careful in the partaking of beverage. It's one and done.

This drink was designed as a challenge for a friend of mine who claimed to have never gotten properly drunk no matter how much he drank. I made him one of these and he was drunk. I've had friends drink this and scream "That should not be legal!" The fun thing is that it isn't in many states. 190 proof Everclear is not for sale in 14 states: California, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington. I could have certainly made a stronger drink, but I wanted something that had a little flavor to it. The pain of Everclear had to be there, but you can still enjoy it. As someone who once dated a dominatrix can tell you, a bit of pain is just part of the fun. 

Old Timey Honky Tonk

I made this drink for a showcase for Patron. They were unveiling their new line of Roca Patron and wanted some craft cocktails made with it. It was my first actual in person competition (not that they wanted to call it a competition). It was an amazing experience and I made some amazing friends. I drank a lot of tequila and I learned a lot about it too, A many thanks again to Patron, and congrats to my friend Nate for winning the trip to Mexico. Check out the video of me on stage.

1 1/2 oz. Roca Patron Añejo

1/2 oz. Mezcal

1/4 oz. Grand Marnier

1/4 oz. Strawberry Serrano Infused Agave Syrup

2 Dashes Angostura Orange Bitters

Cherry Wood Chips

Put the wood chips into a smoking gun. Fill a rocks glass with ice. Light the chips and turn on the gun. Fill the glass with the smoke and seal with saran wrap. While that sits prepare the cocktail in a separate vessel. Add all the liquid ingredients and stir with ice. Remove the saran wrap and strain the drink into the smoked glass. Garnish with a flamed orange twist. 

Feel free to try this without the mescal and simply add more tequila. Only try instead of just smoking the ice, smoke the whole cocktail. Fill a container (I like using an empty Crystal Head Vodka bottle) with smoke and pour the cocktail into it. Seal the container and give it a bit of a swirl to get all the smoke into the drink. Then serve to the guest in a pleasing glass. 

This was a spin on the Old Fashioned. I knew I wanted to really bring out the earthy smokey nature. I thought a bit of pepper would help and I didn't think jalapeno would really earn me any points for originality. I also through in a little sweetness with the GM and the strawberry. In hindsight, I might have improved the garnish. A friend showed me a trick. Take a thin slice of orange and dredge one side in coarse sugar and take a blow torch to it to Brulee the sugar creating a truly amazing aroma. 

Tequila 101: What's the difference?

A lot of people just regard tequila as one simple spirit and in fairness, many cocktail recipes do see it as such. When a recipe calls for tequila it is usually totally up in the air whether it would be best with an aged tequila or a Blanco, a mixto or 100%, or even nice mescal instead. Tequila does have a number of distinctions strictly enforced by the Mexican government.

First things first, all tequila is mescal. Mescal is the technical term for a spirit made from the Weber blue agave plant. tequila simply has to come from the designated tequila regions.

Tequila breaks down into five basic classifications, as well as two extra categories. The first classification is silver tequila, also sometimes called platinum, Plata, white, or Blanco. Blanco style tequila is unaged and thus has a totally clear color and a sweeter finish, free of any harsh smokiness. The next grade is Reposado, or rested tequila. Repo tequilas are aged for between two months and a year. They develop a slightly yellow or golden tint to them and have a balance of sweet and smoky flavor, creating a nice balanced complexity. Anejo tequila is aged between one and three years. It has a nice rich yellow color and a rich smoked flavor like some milder whiskeys or aged rums. Extra Anejo is the classification for any tequila aged longer than three years. Extra Anejo can sometimes shift in color so dramatically it becomes as brown as whiskey on brandy. Many premium extra Anejo tequilas are aged in specially selected used barrels to infuse that old flavor. The Patron Burdeos uses old French Bordeaux wine barrels giving the tequila flavor notes of brandy, making it ideal for sipping straight.

You may have noticed that I only listed four classifications there. The last classification is Gold or Joven tequila. When tequila is aged it takes a bit of work. It adds complexity to the tequila. Aged tequilas, those that have that yellow color, thus tend to cost a bit more. When a bartender picks up a bottle of tequila and pours out that gorgeous gold liquid instead of clear, you knew you were getting the more complex and expensive brand product in your cocktail. Gold tequila decided to bank on this idea. They took a Blanco tequila and added caramel food coloring and flavoring to attempt to give it the appearance of aged tequila. These tequilas are usually much lower quality mixto tequilas and tend to result in the poor experiences many people associate with tequila.

Lastly, I come to mixto tequilas, a separate way to distinguish types of tequila. The majority of tequila companies make their tequila with only 100% Weber blue agave. Mixto tequila means that you are not using only the agave plant as the only sugar in distillation. Mixto tequilas use sugarcane and other sweeteners while maintaining at least 51% agave. Essentially if you don't see the words 100% blue agave on the bottle, you can assume only half the bottle is actually pure tequila. Many people often associate blended sugars with how many people get hangovers after drinking low-quality tequila.

"Tequila. Straight. There's a real polite drink. You keep drinking until you finally take one more and it just won't go down. Then you know you've reached your limit."

- Lee Marvin

Photo Credit: Matador Network, 

The Tequila (Mescal / Mezcal) Lifestyle

Tequila has always been associated with tradition and family.

First just a quick snippet on the difference between tequila and mescal (mezcal). All tequila is mescal. Tequila simply has to be made in the designated tequila regions. Tequila has been a bit better distributed globally and is usually seen as a more premium style, much like the differences between champagne and sparkling wine.

When I think of tequila and mescal I think about the old west. People wearing big hats, working with their hands, and doing everything from scratch is the face of tequila. Tequila is fairly unique in that, to my knowledge, it is still dominantly, if not exclusively, harvested by hand, with next to no help from machinery at all. Many wineries have switched to mechanical harvesting. Whiskeys, vodkas, and other grain-based alcohols have been using massive threshers and harvesters. With tequila, it's still the jimador out there in the fields with the donkeys. Taking their bladed coa carving off the leaves of the agave is a very daunting task. Jimador families have been training their children in the craft for countless generations. It's long days in the sun, heavy lifting, decent chance of injury, and it's not the highest paying work. But it is the tradition.

That handcrafted element carries on into a lot of aspects of tequila production. I'm going to reference Patron here, as I've done some work with them. Not only do they employ family harvesters, but the craft of their distillation is also quite traditional. When they wanted to increase production past their original small factory, they didn't buy a larger facility, they built an identical factory right next door, using the exact same water source and the same methods. Their new line of Patron Roca actually uses the original volcanic stone to mash the cooked agave to get all the juices out. admittedly this is now pulled on a rope by a tractor instead of a poor donkey. The bottles are hand blown and every one is unique. It's definitely true that not all tequila companies do this. Many use mechanical shredders rather than a stone, and I'll happily say that I don't think a hand-blown bottle makes a product taste better. But it's a part of the culture of tequila for me. Tequila recipes really were tinkered with or touched all too much until recently when some flavored tequilas started coming out.

This is going to be a part of a series I'm doing about how different spirits appeal to different cultures and personalities. Check out my other posts on Rum, Whisky, Gin, and other liquors and liqueurs. Much of what I'm posting has been opinion, much of it generalized and is not meant to be thought of as fact.

"Take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lime, and a shot of tequila."

Photo Credit: Pikist, Wikimedia