Hot Lips (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This is perhaps my new favorite mezcal drink. It is so well-balanced: spicy, sweet, salty, tangy. Most unusual of all, it is stirred. Apparently a citrus juice cocktail can be stirred when it is rich enough; pineapple juice and vanilla syrup seem to add a kind of thickness that allows for this unorthodox preparation. You can even see by the color of the liquid above that there isn't the kind of cloudy separation that you'd expect from a drink with juice in it. 

• 3/4 oz. jalapeno-infused blanco tequila (Sauza blanco used)
• 3/4 oz. mezcal (Del Maguey Mezcal Vida used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. vanilla syrup
• 1 tsp cane sugar syrup
• kosher salt

Rim a fancy Fizz glass half way by wetting the rim with lime juice and dipping it in a dish of kosher salt. Stir remaining ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and double strain into the glass with a large format ice inside. 

Dirty Strawberry Rocks Rita (Original Recipe)

 

There's something about enjoying an excellent Margarita done on the cheap. Strong, flavorful and packed with citrus and salt--just what the body craves. It's easy to adjust your recipe slightly and have a very different result. Here I've substituted a different flavor for the triple sec. For this recipe, I used a homemade moonshine infused with strawberries and sweetened with sugar syrup.

That's not Mother's Moonshine, whatever that is. I used the bottle to store my own strawberry moonshine for this drink. 

• 2 oz. white tequila (Sauza 100% Blue Agave use)
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. strawberry moonshine
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• sea salt and lime slice for garnish.

Begin buy coating the rim of an Old Fashioned glass with sea salt. Do this by rubbing a lime slice along the rim to wet it and dipping it into a saucer of coarse sea salt. Fill a shaker with the remaining ingredients and shake. Pour into the glass and garnish with the leftover slice of lime. 

Aztec Punch

This is a fabulous punch and an excellent example that Tequila is for more than Margaritas. It balances somewhere between a citrus cocktail and a dessert drink. Orgeat is a good choice for the sweetener since spiced almond milk called horchata is a common drink in central and South America.

I used Liber & Co. orgeat, a very thick and rich orgeat. It really sweetens well and carries the almond flavor better than most homemade orgeats I've made.

When blending the punch I mixed the cinnamon--dry powder--with the thick orgeat to prevent it from clumping and floating when combined with the liquor and juice.

The recipe calls for white or silver tequila: there's no difference, it's just a descriptor. But Tres Agaves rightly makes the claim that an un-aged tequila is the true expression of the spirit. You can more easily taste the bright and herbal flavors of a good tequila if it isn't hiding behind oak.

• 64 oz. white teqila (Tres Agaves used)
• 64 oz. grapefruit juice (100% white grapefruit juice recommended)
• 32 oz. cold black tea
• 4 oz. lemon juice
• 6 oz. orgeat (Liber & Co. used)
• 1/2 oz. orange bitters
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a large punch bowl with a block of ice. (Serves 40)

Sangrita (Shot)

Make that Sangrita (recipe here) and pour yourself a shot of tequila. Take the shot of tequila and follow it with a sip of the spicy Sangrita to experience this unusual taste combination.

Tequila Fizz

This turned out to be an unnecessarily sweet drink. I'm not saying it was bad, but there were too many sources of sugar that this drink gets tipped out of the Fizz category for me.

First, there's no reason to use a whole ounce of grenadine. That's just too much sugar. The fact that ginger ale and not sparkling water is also the reason the sugar content is so high. I could see not having as much grenadine and sparkling water being a nicely balanced sour drink. Using no grenadine and ginger ale would be acceptable as well. I'll print the original recipe and let you sort out how you want to make it less sweet. For less grenadine, I would use one tablespoon not one ounce. Take it from there.

• 3 oz. white tequila
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. grenadine
• 1 egg white
• ginger ale

Combine tequila, juice, egg white and grenadine in a shaker with no ice. Shake to create foam. Pour into a Collins glass full of ice and top with ginger ale and stirr. 

Tequila Stinger

Moving right along with the tequila drinks, the Stinger is a creme de menthe drink. The Tequila Stinger is self explanatory. I have to say that I liked this one more than I thought I would. You have to be in the right mood for a minty drink. But silver tequila doesn't immediately clash with mint, and if you make it with peppermint schnapps instead of creme de menthe, like I did, you get a crisp, frosty tasting drink that's good for the holiday season.

I don't know why the NYBG calls for an Old Fashioned glass for the Stinger and a cocktail glass for the Tequila Stinger, but I met somewhere in the middle with this canted Old Fashioned Glass for the photo.

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1 oz. creme de menthe (peppermint schnapps used)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass (or glass of your choice, really.)

Tequila Sour

If life hands you lemons, make a sour. If you have tequila, make a Tequila Sour. With no egg white, this made for a fast and easy drink good for any time of the year. The NYBG calls for silver tequila, but I'm sure just about any tequila will do. Silver tequila like Sauza blanco makes for a clean sour flavor that is tropical or refreshing. This drink calls for a sour glass like the one seen here.

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1 1/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• maraschino cherry
• lemon slice

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled sour glass. Garnish with fruit.

Tequila Mockingbird

As a book nerd, I had to make this drink at some point. The thing is, I had to be in the mood for a creme de menthe cocktail--which is rare--and I had to have creme de menthe on hand--which is rarer still. The thing is, the New York Bartender's Guide has the recipe showing white creme de menthe, while the accompanying photo is clearly green. I thought, why go with white for a bland-looking tequila drink, when you can have so much color to work with. (Plus, I'm saving my peppermint schnapps for the Tequila Stinger, soon to come.)

The reason book nerds will like this drink is the name: "To Kill A Mockingbird," an excellent book and a very fun play on words with this cocktail. Make it how you like, but I will tell you that the whole ounce of lime is necessary to counter the sweetness of the creme de menthe. It also makes for a more balanced creme de menthe cocktail, whereas others tend to be overly minty. Lime cuts through it nicely and the whole experience is very fresh, and less like mouthwash than I expected.

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1 oz. creme de menthe (green used)
• 1 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a white wine glass. 

Tequila Sunrise

This cocktail reminds me of the Eagles 1973 song. I had to listen to it while making this one. You have to love how the grenadine gives the drink a two-tone look like a sunrise, even though you add it to the top of the drink. You also have to love how sweet the drink is, no lime juice to make it a boring Margarita variation. If all you have is tequila, orange juice and Rose's lime juice, it's really not a bad way to go.

My recommendation is to use less than the ounce of grenadine called for in the recipe. You just get too much syrupy sweetness from that much grenadine. 1/2 oz. will do just fine.

• 2 oz. silver tequila 
• orange juice
• 1 oz. grenadine

Build drink in a Collins glass and stir. Add grenadine to the top and allow it to sink to the bottom.

Changirongo

Ever done a tequila and ginger ale? It's called a Changirongo and it is pretty tasty. Tonight I was making quesadillas and looking for a low-hanging fruit cocktail that I could make without a shaker. This fit the bill really well. Build Changirongo in the glass--no shaking or squeezing fruit. This should be the back of the house drink at any Mexican restaurants.

• 2 oz. tequila
• ginger ale 
• lime slice

Build drink in a Collins glass full of ice. Stir and add lime slice garnish. 

Gringo Swizzle

I'm not sure that this drink really qualifies as a swizzle. It's really like a Mexican Singapore Sling. I was thrilled to be able to put a cute little umbrella on it, because gringos can't handle the sun.

I was also interested to try a drink that combines creme de cassis and tequila. And because it is a swizzle, I did my best to prepare it in the glass with a swizzle stick and not in a shaker.

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1/2 oz. creme de cassis
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• ginger ale

Combine liquor in a highball glass with plenty of ice. Stir rapidly until ice melts half-way down the glass and the liquor has risen to meet it. Add more ice and stir again until the outside of the glass is frosted. Add juices and stir slowly. Top with ginger ale. 

Matador (CocktailDB)

There is more than one cocktail named Matador. The New York Bartender's Guide has one by this name involving pineapple juice and lime juice, a sort of Margarita in a coup glass. The one I made here is a vermouth, curacao and tequila up drink. I found it on cocktaildb.com. I wanted to make a heavy blanco vermouth cocktail that had Spanish flair with the Spanish vermouth I just got.

Vermut Lacuesta is from a Spanish winemaker, Martinez Lacuesta. The blanco variety is mild and less herbaceous than French vermouth. It has a rich sauvignon blanc wine flavor and is so good for sipping by itself that it works well as a cocktail base. It's the kind of thing you can drink all afternoon on ice or in a cocktail without any ill results.

Here's how to make the Matador (CocktailDB version).

• 1 oz. dry (blanco used) vermouth
• 1 oz. curacao (triple sec used)
• 1 oz. blanco tequila

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and stain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Mexicana

Meghan's first response to tasting this was, "Wow! That's different!" It is different from your usual Margarita. It's a lot like the Batida I ordered in Mexico. The difference is the pink color it gets from Grenadine. So this is perfect for spring drinking and may even qualify as a Cherry Blossom Festival drink ripe for the tourism season in D.C.

• 1 oz. lime juice
• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/4 tsp. grenadine

 Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a highball or large Old Fashioned glass.

Blue Margarita

I know I've made this 1980's classic several times for friends. I've even photographed it for the blog. It's out there somewhere on the internets with my photo credit and everything. But it's also lost to history. I know I didn't do it in the classic 1980's frozen mode, which really makes it feel like you are at Chi-Chi's. Still a good tequila drink and a good use of blue curacao for anyone feeling nostalgic for those days of neon colors.

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1 oz. blue curacao
• 1 1/2 oz. lime juice
• coarse salt
• lime slice

Combine tequila, curacao and lime juice in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a cocktail or Margarita glass rimmed with salt. Garnish with lime slice. 

Rosita

Ever felt that a Negroni is just not strong enough...not bitter enough? The Rosita is the answer. It has twice the Campari of a Negroni and a mix of vermouth. It was so interesting and huge on flavor and quantity that I sipped it for an hour. This might now be my favorite tequila drink!

• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 2 oz. Campari
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• lemon twist

Combine all ingredients except the lemon twist in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled and pour into an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with twist.