After dinner, which Rich and I shared with Admiral Rick while sitting at the bar, a few others joined us for drinks. Watching Rick sip a very good tequila and a simultaneous brutal lapse in judgment lead me to order a Tequila Old Fashioned.
2 oz of a good tequila (I think I watched a Don Julio go in my glass)
1 tsp simple syrup (use agave syrup if you can find it in your international foods aisle)
2 dashes Angostura bitters (The Bitter Truth Xocolatl Mole bitters would be interesting, here)
Stir; rocks; lemon twist.
An Old Fashioned is any spirit treated with sugar and bitters over ice. By the 1880s when its title became more or less standardized, this was the old fashioned way of preparing a cocktail (as opposed to newfangled concoctions such as the Martinez, Manhattan, or Tom Collins). So a tequila old fashioned is totally legitimate. I chose it last night because
1) I'd never had one
2) I don't own any tequila good enough to sip
3) I suffered that judgment lapse.
Actually, I shouldn't sell this cocktail short. I didn't finish it more because it was late and I don't love tequila, not because it wasn't an excellent drink. I was very pleasantly surprised how nicely the sweetness of the syrup tamed the (to me) normal unpleasantness of the tequila. The bitters, as always, added character and depth to an already flavorful combination. Plus, the tequila was of excellent quality, so that was key. Will I order this again? Probably not. But this experience has influenced me to buy a good bottle of tequila and be prepared to serve a Tequila Old Fashioned to any tequila lover that ventures into my living room.
Tequila vs Whiskey: What Is The Difference?
1 year ago
Not sure I would drink a tequila Old Fashioned personally, although it sounds interesting. Don Julio is enjoyable enough to sip on its own, albeit tequila is certainly an acquired taste.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time, in the barely discernable past, that I did not like whiskey. I had to learn to like it. And how rewarding has that been? I guess I'll have to try harder with tequila. Nights at Zapata with Tonio didn't seem to work...
ReplyDeleteHaha. I had forgotten about Zapata. No, I don't think slinging back bad (although free!) tequila after drinking beer and eating cheap Mexican food is a good base for forming a appreciation of the finer subtleties of an agave's sweet nectar.
ReplyDelete