For the most part I drink craft or homemade beer, good wine (mostly red), and scotch on the rocks. I don’t venture much into cocktails. I find them to be too sweet or too strong resulting in an ugly evening. The sweet one I can’t stop drinking and the strong ones like a blue cheese stuffed olive martini, well, we know what happens after multiple servings. I am intrigued by the new cocktail craze what those in the industry refer to as mixologist drinks. The blending of sweet and spice with the flavor of the alcohol result in a subtle cocktail that can be sipped slowly.
My first mixologist bar was at The W on South Beach. At first I thought $16 for a cocktail was outrageous. I ordered the Hot Parchita which was made from Veev, Patron Citronge, passion fruit, and jalapeño. It was a damn good drink. Was it worth the money? I still can’t say for sure. Tossing in a few simple fresh ingredients doesn’t necessarily warrant doubling the cost of a cocktail, but I was introduced to a whole new genre of drinks. Since then I have tried a few other mixologist cocktails while out and decided the best bet is to just try and create my own recipes at home. As I stumble upon something good enough to share, I will. Don’t expect anything equal to the quality or quantity that is put out by Putney Farm. They are truly dedicated to the cocktail cause. I do hope to surprise you every once in a while though.
The first recipe I’d like to share happened by accident and was partially featured in a previous blog. Since then it has been refined and named the Hot Texan in honor of the very hot Mrs. Gourmand. The strength of the tequila balances out the smooth sweetness of the white peach and the habanera syrup leaves an ever so slight burn behind. I do not recommend using regular peaches as the flavor is too strong and overpowers the other ingredients. Yes, even the habanero. It only provides a subtle burn. For the tequila, use a silver or reposado. Skip the Cuervo imitations of the world.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz of tequila
- 1 oz of peach schnapps
- 1 oz of pureed white peach
- ½ oz of habanera agave syrup
Instructions:
- Assemble the habanero syrup by cutting one habanero pepper in half and adding it to 1 cup of water. Heat to boiling and boil for about 5 minutes. Remove the pepper and add in 1 cup of agave nectar and stir until dissolved about 5-10 minutes.
- Puree a white peach in your blender.
- Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly and strain into a chilled martini glass.
