The 5th of May celebrates Mexico’s 1862 Battle of Puebla and victory over the French; in the U.S. it’s become a great reason to enjoy a tequila cocktail. Here are five recipes that incorporate tequila and other agave spirits, for your cocktail-minded consumer.
Sotol Square
(shown above)
2 oz. Sotol
¾ oz. Fresh lime juice
¾ oz. House-made cucumber syrup
Dropper Hellfire Shrub
Shake, strain and serve up in a coupe. Garnish with spiced salt cucumber wheel on rim.
Patrick Natola, bartender at Chicago’s award-winning Sable Kitchen & Bar, created this recipe.
Mexican Sun
1 ½ oz. Tequila Don Julio Añejo
½ oz. Fresh-squeezed lime juice
½ oz. Pink peppercorn syrup*
⅓ oz. Carrot juice with fresh turmeric
Mezcal spray
Candied ginger, marigold petals, fresh pink peppercorn and lemon verbena for garnish
Combine tequila,lime juice, pink peppercorn syrup and carrot juice with fresh turmeric into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Pour contents into a Collins glass. Spray with a mezcal top and garnish with lemon verbena, candied ginger, marigold petals, and top with fresh ground pink peppercorn.
*For Pink peppercorn syrup
32 oz. Sugar
16 oz. Ginger root juice
2 ½ oz. Crushed pink peppercorn
Pinch salt
Grind pink peppercorn to fine powder and add to medium saucepan over high heat until lightly roasted. Add ginger root juice and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and double-strain through cheesecloth and fine strainer. Bottle and store in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Mixologist Eddie Fuentes created this recipe.
Mexican Martini
1 ½ oz. Lime juice
1 ½ oz. Simple syrup
3 oz. Tequila
½ oz. Olive Juice
Shake with ice, pour into Martini glass and garnish with olives.
Mixologist Garrett Flanagan created this recipe for El Original in New York.
Hibiscus Lavender Rita
2 oz. Tequila
1 oz. Triple Sec
2 oz. Lime juice
1 oz. Orange juice
¾ oz. Raft Hibiscus Lavender syrup
1 dash Bitter Housewife grapefruit bitters
Combine ingredients in a shaker and shake. Serve over ice with salt rim.
The mixologists at Stella Taco in Portland, OR, created this recipe.
Victory on Cinco de Mayo
1 oz. El Silencio Espadin mezcal
¾ oz. White honey dyrup (3 parts white raw honey: 1 part hot water)
½ oz. Fresh lemon juice
½ oz. White grapefruit juice
Champagne
Combine ingredients except Champagne and shake with ice. Strain into a Champagne flute. Top up with Champagne and garnish with a white grapefruit peel.
The mixologists at El Silencio created this recipe.
