Loaded Dice

This was my entry for the Patron Perfectionists Tour. It is about consistency in the culinary and beverage world and how fresh ingredients are inconsistent. This cocktail was my attempt to help flatten the curve. 

1.5 oz. Patron Reposado

0.5 oz. Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro

0.75 oz. Acid Adjusted Pineapple juice

0.75 oz. Orange Blossom Honey Syrup

Add all the ingredients to a shaker tin. Add ice and shake thoroughly. Double strain into a large rocks glass with a large carved cube.

To make Acid Adjusted Pineapple Juice:

To every 100g of pineapple juice, add 4.5g citric acid and 0.7g malic acid. Stir vigorously to dissolve the powder. Shake the solution lightly before each use.

To make Honey Syrup:

Mix Dutch Gold Orange Blossom Honey with an equal weight of boiling water and stir until uniform.

This drink was inspired by every molecule's randomness or lack of predictability. The fermentation tanks of the Patron distillery are open and surrounded by countless varieties of plant life that produce different strains of wild yeast. Each strain will create a different character. Even every piece of fruit will be unique. Two pineapples from the same tree can have wildly different sugar contents and acidity. This just won't do for a competition called Perfectionist. I aim to erase chance and balance flavors as I see fit. Craft comes from taking what nature gives you and using it to create a consistent quality product.

The Dutch Gold Honey comes from a local apiary as well.

Colima Sour

This was this years submission for the Patron Aficionados Tour. I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in last year's exhibition in Atlantic City. This year the event comes to my neighborhood of Philadelphia. Technically this is an exhibition, not a competition but there's a prize at stake so what's the difference? Well, I'll tell you. It's a lot less stressful and thus, a lot more fun. Everyone naturally comes together, especially when you're already good friends. We drink with each other and enjoy the ride. 

1.5 oz Patron Anejo

.25 oz Patron Citronage

.75 oz Pineapple Juice

.5 oz Fresh Lemon juice

.5 oz Serrano Pepper Infused Agave Nectar

Red wine Float (a nice Spanish grenache, I use Las Rocas, El Renegado)

To make the infused nectar, simply pour about a cup of water and agave nectar into a saucepan and add a serrano pepper with as many seeds removed as possible. let simmer until the desired taste and consistency is reached. Add a few berries like strawberries for a fun twist.

Add all the ingredients except the red wine to a mixing tin with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Carefully float some red wine on top of the cocktail until the glass is full.

The inspiration for this cocktail came from the New York Sour, which is effectively a whiskey sour with a red wine float. I decided to bring back my spicy agave nectar I used in my cocktail last year, the Old Timey Honky Tonky. I adore the spice and I've been using it constantly in cocktails and cooking. 

The name Colima sour is a reference to the fact that it is a sour and to the volcano, Colima. No, not kalima. In addition to being the name of one of the 32 states of Mexico, Colima is one of the most active volcanoes in Mexico and even in North America. It sits partly in the state of Colima, but mainly in the state of Jalisco, where Patron is made. I thought the name fit rather perfectly with my cocktail. Not only is Colima a state like New York, the volcano angle works too. There's a nice hot spice to the drink and the lovely red float on top might suggest the lava angle.

Fingers crossed for this year. Updates to come.

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

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. 

Beginner's Flight: Tequila

This is going to be a series of posts about how to start sampling different types of spirits if you are a beginner drinker. What's the difference between bourbon, scotch, and Irish whiskey. How is London dry gin different from American or Indian made gin? The best way to figure out what you like is to go out and try things. With so many options out there I thought it would be nice to give newbies a jumping-off point into their world of spirits. Today, I'm talking Tequila. 

Tequila is actually a much bigger category than people give it credit. People are used to going out and seeing a bottle of Jose Cuervo and Patron on the shelf and that's it. There's a world beyond just those two. Patron has 9 different tequilas and a number of liqueurs as well. Jose has at least 6 varieties of tequila. Tequilas are aged and flavored and produced in a number of different styles.

1. Casa Noble Blanco. 
This is a personal favorite of many bartenders I know. You could certainly find a cheaper Blanco tequila, but I believe in paying credit where credit is due. This was introduced to me by a dear friend, Luciano. A lovely sweet note to this tequila comes through, it isn't harsh from the alcohol or smokey from any aging. It comes across as very pure. I see it as a fine standard of what a Blanco tequila ought to be. That being said, aged tequila ought to be held in high esteem too.

2. Cabo Wabo Reposado. 
The reposado classification of tequila has always been an interesting middle ground. Anejo tequila has an aged nature and character to it, it feels mature, not so sweet and light. Reposado tequila is just rested. So it has a bit of complexity from a light nap in oak barrels but still is accessible to someone who likes the sweeter side. This allows reposado tequila to be a bit more versatile and I do see it a lot in a number of cocktail menus in order to try to appeal to anyone. Some would say jack of all trades master of none, but as anyone who has played a tabletop RPG knows, you sometimes need a jack of all trades.

3. Patron Roca Anejo. 

There are many great aged tequilas out there. I chose the Patron Roca because it certainly does showcase an old-world technique and a fantastic aged quality. It is aged about 14 months in old bourbon barrels. It gains a rich earthy tone from the oak as well as the typical flavors of some vanilla and caramel. The longer aging leads to a delightful oak spice that really appeals to me as a whiskey drinker. Try this in an old fashioned. Seriously, it holds up.

4. Monte Alban Mezcal. 
This is technically not tequila, it is mescal though. All tequila is mezcal, it is simply made in the tequila regions of Mexico. Mescals tend to much more earthy. They feel smokier, perhaps less filtered than what most people are used to in tequila. Also, I can't talk about tequila without talking about the worm. Yes, there is a worm in this bottle. It's a tradition. It's a sign of quality from back when you would check the proof of a spirit by dropping a worm (technically a moth larvae) into the bottle and make sure it died. If your spirit was too weak the worm would still be wriggling when it hit the bottom of the bottle. Now go on, drink it.

5? Jose Cuervo Gold. 
Normally I stick to a 4 brand list here with a few special mentions. I think Jose gets such special mention it warrants a taste from a rookie so that they know it's not like any other tequila. It's a mixto tequila so it's only 51% tequila and it's a gold tequila so it's got other flavorings thrown in too. you can smell the difference. One should learn the full spectrum of tequila on the market. If you enjoy this, that's fine. I'll never tell a guest they're wrong to like something. But a clear comparison can be made.

special mention to: Patron Burdeos, Avion, Sauza,

"A man's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink."
- W. C. Fields

Photo Credit: Wikimedia, 

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,