Tequila 401: Evolution of a Cocktail: The Margarita

The actual origins of the margarita are very open to discussion. It's been claimed by countless bars and bartenders as their own creation. Some stories seem to be more factual or fanciful than others. I'm going off what I believe. I told my favorite story in my Tequila 301 post, in this one I'll go into a few more other plausible stories.

The Daisy

2oz. Liquor, 1 Lemon juice, 3/4 Sweetener, 1 Club Soda, 1/2 Cordial

Add all the liquid ingredients to a mixing tin with ice, aside from the club soda. Shake and strain into a rocks glass with cracked ice. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry. 

This is a very old style of drink with very little consistency in terms of the recipe. The drink style, daisy, is very similar to that of a sour, collins, or fizz. Any liquor can be used, brandy and gin being the two most popular. Grenadine is certainly one of the most common sweeteners used, but some recipes may call for simple syrup, gum syrup, or even an orange liqueur of some type. Some recipes omit the club soda or substitute chartreuse for the cordial. as a base, try 2 oz brandy, 1 oz. lemon juice, 3/4 grenadine, with club soda and orange curacao. 

The Sidecar

2 oz. Brandy, 3/4 oz Cointreau, 3/4 oz. Lemon juice, sugar rim

Add all the liquid ingredients to a mixing tin with ice. shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass with a sugar rim. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry. 

This is the drink that would seem to be the most natural precursor to the margarita. While the margarita is in its core components a sour, it had to take a few steps to get there. These days the margarita is the reigning sour, a cocktail comprised of a liquor a sweetening agent and a souring agent. The sweetening agent in a margarita is typically the orange liquor, unlike the usual simple syrup. The earliest record of this drink is from 1922 as equal parts cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice. It's a simple variation on the brandy daisy. This drink predates the margarita by at least a decade, possibly two. The margarita was just two baby steps away from this cocktail. 

The Margarita

2 oz. Silver Tequila, 1 oz. Cointreau, ¾ oz. 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. 

Here we have the legend, the drink that is possibly the best selling drink in America. Margarita actually means little daisy, though it is quite different from many of the original recipes in its use of lime juice over lemon. A daisy was a very common cocktail style in it's day and one can see how it influences a great many modern cocktails. The margarita is a great sour style cocktail and can easily be modified with other fresh fruit flavors. It remains a blank canvas to play with while still being absolutely charming on its own. Many people will actually take this drink up, without ice. There are no rules, 

The Frozen Margarita

2oz Tequila, 1/2oz Triple Sec, 1oz Lime, 1/2oz Simple Syrup, 8oz Ice

Add all the ingredients to a blender with ice. blend until a uniform consistency, usually about 12 seconds

This is, unfortunately, one of the many times I'll have to add a cocktail variant after the original that may actually be the version the average person is more familiar with. The recipe I gave is a great way of making fresh-tasting cocktails. With blended drinks, however, some people actually prefer drinks with concentrated lime juice or sour mix. Flavored mixes are so abundant that strawberry and mango flavored margaritas are just so easily replicable that everyone is doing it. This really is a good drink to sip on the vacation.

No matter how you enjoy your margarita, it's always nice to know a little bit of history behind it. The margarita is a canvas in its own right, but it does have its roots in other earlier cocktails. I'll never tell you what you should or should not like, but make sure you try the classics every once in a while.

- Tequila is like duct tape, it fixes damn near everything. 

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

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.

Beginner's Flight: Rum

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. I'm trying to find bottles that are available at nearly every liquor store or can. Today, I'm talking about rum.

1. Barbancourt White Rhum. 

This is a fun little rum Agricole. This one is Haitian made. It has some funky notes to it. Agricole rums are generally a bit more earthy and grassy. It has a regional price point at about $20 per bottle. There are plenty of light rums out there, but they really don't feel very earthy. They feel very mechanically made. Agricole rums are made from freshly pressed sugarcane rather than molasses, which is a bit more caramel-like in flavor. This is what a fresh rum will taste like. There is certainly still a sweet side to it, but it is matched by these other earthy flavors. Aged rums will have a whole different character.

2. Appleton Estate V/X. 

Jamaican made, Appleton possesses a rich, aromatic body. Appleton has been in business since 1749, 265 years. It is the second oldest rum producer in the world. This is actually a blend of 15 different rums, aged at least 5 years in old Jack Daniels Barrels. When you blend 15 different rums you're bound to find something you'll like about it. It has some light fruity notes. There is a bit of alcohol burn, but nowhere near the worst, you will taste with rum. This is quite a well-rounded introduction into the world of rum. Figure out what aspects you like in this rum and then try some more rums that have a bit more of a focus on those aspects.

3. Captain Morgan Private Stock. 

I was seriously torn about putting a spiced rum on the list, but this is one of few rums I could actually sip straight without the need for a cocktail. This is actually a sipping rum. I did decide that regular Captain Morgan wasn't really worth a detailed explanation. The company has hardly been around for 70 years, but they command an amazing amount of the market. Regular Captain Morgan is aged up to a year. Private Stock is aged at least two years. The most distinctive bit I note about the private stock is the smooth ridiculously vanilla-flavored finish.

4. Gosling's Black Seal. 

This is a really dark rich rum. It comes from Bermuda. Gosling's is blended and aged three years in old bourbon barrels. It tastes like burnt sugar and caramel, notes of vanilla, a lot like bourbons. But Black Seal is much sweeter; some notes of butterscotch shine through. Gosling's also makes several other products, namely there non-alcoholic ginger beer. A dark and stormy is actually the only copyrighted drink recipe name. Gosling's Black Seal and Gosling's Ginger Beer with lime over ice make up a protected entity. No other recipe can use that name. 

Special mentions to: Bacardi, Pyrat, Kraken

Rum, n. Generically, fiery liquors that produce madness in total abstainers.
- Ambrose Bierce

Photo Credit: Pikrepo, wikimedia

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

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,