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May 25, 2005

Tequila on my Mind: La Paloma

Intended for mature audiences. Please drink responsibly.

Do you think of Tequila as liquid rage(r)? The inspiration of too many a drunken injury? The prelude to some unearthly illness?

It need not be.

Tequila is made from the blue agave, for chrissakes. Take a look. Not your average distilled bread. This is the liquor most perfectly paired to the Summer -- as scotch is to Winter.

Five or ten years after you latest tequila sickness, you’ll be ready to really taste it. (Until then your body will likely reject the flavor as poison -- it’s some kind of biological reflex. No, really.)

In its refined and aged form, Tequila carries a complex flavor to sip over ice, maybe with a light squeeze of lime. In a less refined form, it makes for a perfect mixer. We all know the margarita, or at least its demon kool-aid cousin you can get at Mexican food restaurant chains. Among my many snobberies is the real margarita v. the kind you get outta a blender.

But today isn’t about margaritas, it is about a carbonated refreshment, with the emphasis on refreshing, that is stirred not shaken. La Paloma. I drink maybe two or three dozen carbonated drinks a year, and this Tequila Soda is all but 4 of them. I think I read about it in the New York Times one day (a vastly under-rated source of drink inspiration).

La Paloma
1. Grab a highball glass.
2. Drop in a health amount of ice.
3. Add about 2 ounces of gold tequila -- about two shots. (Please note Cuervo Gold gets its gold color from food coloring, I hear. I always recommend Sauza Hornitas as a mixing tequila.)
4. Squeeze in the juice from half a lime.
5. Fill with grapefruit soda (like Fresca). OR if you find yourself near a more chi-chi food store, snag a mexican lemon soda -- I think that is where this drink started, below the border.
6. Stir and enjoy, beeetches!

One alternate to try on this one is ye ole salted rim. I go with Kosher Salt. You should have it around for a lot of cooking anyway, and those little “Margarita Salt” things are lame. You can’t go wrong with a salt rim on a tequila and citrus concoction. Or really any citrus-based mix drink -- salty dog, anyone?

Next up in recipes, I’m going to keep with the summer + cali-mexicana theme and talk about my favorite variety of fish taco (don’t knock ‘em till you’ve tried ‘em).

Posted by Rock Heals at May 25, 2005 12:10 AM