Mixology Monday

This is my entry into the MixologyMonday LXXXIX, hosted by abarabove.   September’s theme is “The Unknown.”  The challenge is to venture out and do something new.  So I have chosen Kahlua Midnight and pecan infused tequila.

This drink is a testament to the fact that my wife and I are not good together in a liquor store.  Thus, not so very long ago in a liquor store not so very far away, she walks up to me and I point out a bottle of Ancho Reyes and say, “If you weren’t here, I’d buy this.”  Her response as she wonders down the aisle is, “Oh! We have to get this Hibiscus Liqueur.”  Then we both spot the Kahlua Midnight.  We ended up buying all three.  This is why I usually stop by the liquor store on the way home from work.  It’s less expensive.

The Ancho Reyes and Hibiscus liqueur were tried immediately with good results.  I’ve been thinking about the Kahlua Midnight.  Coffee, at least in my mind, goes with chocolate and pecans.  This led back to my thoughts of trying to infuse something with nuts.  Thus the Tequila Moonlight.

Tequila Moonlight

In the creation of this, I compared silver, reposado and anjeo tequilas combined with Cocchi Rosa, Dolan Sweet Vermouth, Punt e Mes, and Lillet Rouge.  The reposado and Cocci Rosa won with the sweet vermouth a close second.  The Punt e Mes was too bitter and the Lillet too mild.

I tried using nitrogen cavitation to infuse the tequila with pecan, cocoa and bitter orange.  The cocoa and orange came through but the pecan flavor was missing.  It took 7 days in a mason jar to adequately infuse the pecan flavor.

So here’s the drink:

Tequila Moonlight

• 1 1/2 oz. Pecan Infused Milagro Reposado Tequila – see below
• 3/4 oz. Cocchi Rosa
• 1/2 oz. Kahlua Midnight
• Garnish: brandied cherry such as Luxardo and an orange zest

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Stir all of the ingredients, except the garnish, with ice in a mixing glass.
3. Strain into chilled cocktail glass
4. Drop the cherry into the drink, express the oils from the orange zest over the drink and drop it in.

Pecan Infused Tequila

Pecan Infused Tequila

• 8 oz. Milagro Reposado Tequila
• 1/3 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tbs Cocoa nibs
• 1/2 tbs Dried bitter orange peel (available on line)

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar and seal.  Store in a cool place, shaking daily, for 5-7 days.  Pass through a fine mesh strainer, followed by a gold coffee filter and finally a paper coffee filter.  Decant into a bottle.  Will keep indefinitely,  but the flavor will fade after a few months.

Mayahuel was the Aztec Goddess of the maguey of which the agave is a type.  She was the mother of the “400 rabbit” gods of drunkenness.  This margarita plays on the agave with tequila, agave orange liqueur, and agave nectar.   I use Maestro Dobel Diamond Tequila or you can use Hornitos.  I find both of these tequilas one-dimensional with a spicy pepper note which actually plays well here.  You can easily use any good white tequila.

• 1 ½ oz. Maestro Dobel Diamond Tequila
• 1 ½ oz. fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 oz. Agavero Orange Liqueur
• 1 1/2 tsp. Agave Nectar
• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Chill margarita glass with a few ice cubes and water
2. To a shaker add all of the ingredients.
3. Shake with ice until shaker is frosted 10-15 sec
4. Strain into chilled glass

Cheers!

Practically everyone who mixes drinks on any level has their own margarita recipe.  Without disparaging anyone’s favorite, here is our most requested version.  It is a simple but classic margarita on the rocks.  We make this as a sour, shaken and served straight up without a salted rim.

This is the only drink we make using Equal.  A lot of people love the idea of low calorie drinks.  Since the object here is to  offset the tartness of the lime, the simple sweet flavor of the Equal will work as well as sugar. Mouth feel is not an issue with this cocktail.  If you do use sugar it needs to be the superfine variety.  Regular granulated sugar will not dissolve well.

Beware: the sweetness hides the alcohol content.

• 2 oz. good tequila – plata, reposado, or añejo
• 2 oz. fresh lime juice
• splash of blue curacao
• 1-2 packets of Equal (1-2 tsp.) or sugar
• pinch of salt

1. Chill a margarita glass with a few ice cubes and water
2. To a shaker add all of the ingredients.
3. Shake with ice until shaker is frosted 10-15 sec
4. Strain over fresh ice cubes in  chilled glass

Cheers!

Not as tart as #1.  Goes well with Grand Marnier Foam.

• 2 oz. plata tequila such as Milagro or Tres Generaciones
• 4 oz. lime sour (or 2 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice and 1 1/2 oz. simple syrup)
• ¼ oz. Grand Marnier

1. Chill margarita glass with a few ice cubes and water
2. To a shaker add all of the ingredients.
3. Shake with ice until shaker is frosted 10-15 sec
4. Strain over fresh ice cubes in chilled glass

Cheers!

I found the recipe on a scrap of paper along with a bunch of other little “notes to self” hiding in my desk a few years ago. There was no reference on it, so I have no idea where it came from. Anyway, it’s a tequila based cocktail with the tartness and color of pomegranate. The elderflower foam floating on top makes for a pretty as well as delicious drink. (A valentine favorite!)

• 1 ½ oz. Milagro Plata Tequila
• 1 oz. pomegranate juice
• dash rhubarb bitters
• dash 2:1 simple syrup
• St. Germaine Elderflower Foam
• Misto of Chartreuse

1. Chill cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Stir all ingredients, except foam, with ice
3. Add St. Germaine Elderflower Foam to chilled glass
4. Strain drink through foam into glass
5. Flame drink with Misto of Chartreuse

Cheers!

• 1 part Rémy Martin Cognac
• 1 part Zaya Aged Rum
• 1 part Añejo Tequila
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 2 dashes Bitter Truth Chocolate Bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
• 1 part Tequila Old Fashioned Simple Syrup 

1. Chill an old fashioned glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice
3. Strain over fresh ice in chilled glass
4. Garnish with a thick orange zest and a cherry