A warm cocktail for your Friday drinking experience. Tequila and hot chocolate is an unlikely pair and I found it was pretty tasty while Jennifer wasn’t so impressed. You probably have to be a bigger fan of tequila to handle tequila and hot chocolate! Add some coffee liqueur and you’re on your way to warming peaceful town!

This is a huge episode, packed full of great blanco tequila brands. It’s a bit long, coming in at the low twenty minute mark, but with nine tequila’s to taste, I believe with covered a great deal of hot brands. Please note, as well, that every one of these brands serves a purpose at its specific price point and should be considered as such.

While it would be entertaining to bring in a few brands that would receive poor scores, I find it more valuable to attempt to give you a verbal “taste profile” and let you decide what’s best based on your own palate. We’re really focusing on three key price points: mid-twenty dollar range, fourty dollar range and those breaking the fifty mark.

In addition, a great tequila that didn’t make the show, Señor Frogs, arrived yesterday after our recording was already “in the can.” For a full text review, checkout everydaydrinkers.com. Their reposado will make our next tasting though!

Check us out at Everydaydrinkers.tv to see the episode and leave some comments!

Like many chemically designed sugar substitutes, most are known not to be a very healthy alternative to real sugar. However, real sugars don’t dissolve so well in a cold drink and a few syrups (such as Orgeat Syrup) work but don’t give the Margarita the right taste. The true answer may be Agave Syrup, which I have on order and I’m awaiting to arrive but I need to, first, remove the high fructose corn syrup from the receipt which means eliminated Roses Lime Juice unfortunately.

The answer: real limes. Who knew? Plenty of people, but I’m slow, forgive me.

I’ve tried “juicing” the Limes in a juicer, first trying the entire fruit – peel and all, to see how it would taste. Well, as expect the peel has a lot of ‘flavor’ which overwhelms the margarita to the point of almost gagging. So that’s not the right solution. I then figured I’d peel them and juice them but realized cleaning a juicer is a long and tedious process for one or two shakers of margarita. At a party this might be a great solution to mass producing real lime juice but I’ve not had this occur just yet.

So, I went out and purchased a cheapy citrus squeezer. Roll the lime on the table after letting it sit out on the counter for the day so it warms up a bit and you’ll get the most juice out of the lime. Then, cut it in half, put half in the citrus squeeze and …squeeze. It creates roughly one shot of lime juice so squeezing both sections of the lime creates my required “two shots of lime juice.”

Now I’ve removed the need for the Rose’s Lime Juice and eliminated the high fructose corn syrup for natural flavors and sugars. The margarita will be a bit more bitter but not too bad (since the peels are not part of the equation). Now, a syrup sugar like Agave Syrup or something may work to build more of a natural sweetness, more on that when it arrives.

Hopefully this helps anyone looking to build a more natural margarita with real limes.

I’ve found this 100% agave Reposado works great as a relaxing sipper or in a sweet margarita. The smell is sweet but the taste is potent and awakening and will leave you with a satisfying smile. This Mexican surprise is well-worth a sip to get the full impact of  well balanced tequila, starting off velvet smooth and crisp and ending with a potent bang (40% alcohol by volume).

“Looking for something exceptionally smooth and rich? Experience Partida’s signature touch of sweetness in Partida Reposado. This aged Tequila delivers subtle flavors that Tequila drinkers may have not thought possible. Free of the overbearing smoky flavor common to most Reposados, this Tequila is in a class by itself.

Its enticing light amber color with splashes of golden tones gives this premium Tequila its brilliant appearance. A rich finish topped off with scents of vanilla, hazelnut and almond, F. Paul Pacult called Partida Reposado ‘The Bentley of Reposado’s’.” (partidatequila.com)

If you’re looking for a new tequila to try, Partida should be at the top of your list. I’ve found very few tequila’s that can match their Reposado, Blanco and Añejo. I think, out of each of their selections, the Reposado is the best because it falls middle-of-the line in terms of age and quality. A huge Añejo lover will want to stick with the age they love but those that are unsure or want something that’s smooth with a powerful taste that doesn’t go over the top may want to try the Reposado. Really, that goes for any of the tequila brands–to each his own.

I’ve shared the Partida Añejo with a die-hard tequila fan and his reaction was, “Wow, this is really good. I didn’t expect that.” Although he’s an avid Añejo fan I think the Reposado I’m going to give him will result in the same reaction.

The bottle has a sense of style and clarity so you can see the golden spirit held within. The golden hue is pale, much like that of thin polished copper and perfectly clear. This tequila is meant to be sipped, period. You can mix it if you wish but Partida has a great Blanco and Reposado which would work well in a Margarita or Tequila Sunrise.

Sipping this tequila will bombard your senses with that of banana, honey and pear and will finish with a strong bite to remind you you’re drinking an anejo. The taste reminds me slightly of an aged whiskey, which may be because it is”aged in American oak one-pass Jack Daniels barrels, reveals an intense flavor that can only come from advanced aging.” Aged for about eighteen months, it is smooth yet potent to the pallet, clearing your senses and nasal passages.

The spirit is 40% alcohol by volume, so drink slowly. I rang in the New Year with a small glass of Partida Añejo and will probably make it a yearly ritual. Their website does suggest this as a recipe for their anejo tequila:

Anejo Old-Fashioned

3 oz. Partida Anejo Tequila
1/4 oz. Partida Agave Nectar
Dash of Angostura
Orange Peel (muddled)
Bitters and Partida Nectar in an old-fashioned glass, add ice and Anejo Tequila.
Stir and garnish with brandied cherries on a pick.

That’s about it! What makes Partida different from other Tequila companies?

“Our agave is like no other. It’s cultivated for 7-10 years until the piñas are perfectly ripened with concentrated sugars, harvested by hand and then slowly baked in state-of-the-art stainless steel autoclaves. The reason: To preserve the freshness of each sacred agave.” (partidatequila.com)

Whatever magic it is, I believe it. Next up, time to take a drink of their Reposado! For more on types of tequila, check out our prior article on agave.

Nopal, another cactus which could threaten the Mexican industry may be targeted by Japanese and Chinese production companies.

“Nopal and Maguey are Mexican plants and if we don’t take the necessary measures in time, we run the risk of losing the denomination of origin”, Cesar Duarte, the deputy who sponsored the move, told the Efe news agency.

There is rumor the Chinese firms may have already contacted the European Commission about registering the Nopal plant as a product of China. This hasn’t been confirmed but it could mean Chinese are working on a plan to cut into Mexico’s precious tequila industry.

I’m not sure if it will help or harm us, but tradition has always referenced tequila as a product of Mexico. The end result could be good for the consumer if the tequila they produce in China is of high quality and taste. It may also reduce the cost of tequila, in general, if it floods the market.

(Thanks, BBC)

Kahlúa is your standard ‘coffee liquor’ produced with finely-picked Mexican coffee beans roasted to perfection and mixed with their own secret recipe of ingredients. It doesn’t matter what is inside the bottle because it tastes great on ice, neat or in your favorite cup of joe.

Now, you can purchase a Kahlúa Hazelnut or Kahlúa French Vanilla to create a new blend of black russian, mudslide or any of their famous Kahlúa recipes. So far, my favorite has always been the Kahlúa Especial because it’s a bit more potent at 70 proof and mixes well in a warm coffee. However, the Hazelnut and French Vanilla will be my next purchase so I can hide it in a cup of the French Vanilla or Hazelnut coffee to enhance the flavors.

One of their French Vanilla Black Russian recipes calls for:

2 Parts Kahlúa French Vanilla
1 Part Stoli Vodka
Pour over ice.

I’m a big fan of the Black Russian and this would make it taste even sweeter, perhaps more like a local donut shop. Change that recipe to 1 Part Kahlúa French Vanilla and add in 1/2 Part espresso and you have what they call a Kahlúa Espresso Martini — sweet!

The holidays are upon us and I cannot think of a better drink to snuggle up to near a warm fire than a coffee enhanced Kahlúa experience. Plus, the caffeine will keep me up long enough to see the last embers burn out.

Of course, Baileys Irish Cream is a close second for coffee flavor of choice.

Grupo Modelo is a very large brewery in Mexico famous for many beers exported to our country, including Corona Extra, Corona Light, Negra Modelo, Pacifico and a few others. Grupo Modelo makes a few drinks special to Mexico which will require a trip their to taste.

This large brewery holds a 56% market share in Mexico and 50% of Grupo Modelo is owned by a small company known as Anheuser-Bush (you may have heard of Budweiser, yes?) There is a good chance you’ve had a beer from one of these two companies even if you’re a microbrew fan.

Corona rivals Heineken for the distinction of being the top imported beer. Corona is often served with a wedge of lime or lemon, and a dash of salt inserted into the neck of the bottle. -wikipedia

Okay, so we’ve probably had Corona but what’s with the lime? Have you ever had Cornoa without a lime? It doesn’t taste the same… almost like it’s missing a flavor. Perhaps the flavor of Mexico is a tropical lime flavor? eurekalert.org suggests this:

“Hops help flavor beer, inhibit bacterial growth and are largely responsible for the stability of the foam in the head,” Forbes said. “Hops, however, are light-sensitive, and the three main compounds in them identified as being light-sensitive are called isohumulones. When attacked by either visible or ultraviolet light, these break down to make reactive intermediates known as free radicals that lead to the offensive taste and skunky odor.”

How do you solve the problem? A Lime! “Corona beer also is sold in clear bottles, but manufacturers do not used a modified hop product, he said. Instead, they usually keep their bottles boxed to exclude light and encourage drinkers to add a slice of lime to improve the odor.”

Over the years lime has just become a mandatory party of our Mexican styled beers. It’s not to make a bad beer taste good, but to make a good beer taste better. Some folks will tell you Corona is the bottom of the barrel while others live by it.

On a visit to Palm Springs this past week I’ve found that many places stock it as a replacement “Budweiser” and people love it. Substitution or not, you cannot put down a beer that has this much popularity. It is available in 150 countries and is the most exported beer from Mexico so it must have a flavor people love or we’d stick with something else, right?

Corona Extra (148 calories) and Corona Light (105 calories) are great summer time relaxation beverages but can be celebrated all year long. If you want a bit more hop flavor (although mild) stick with Extra and it’s 4.6% alcohol by volume, or go with the Light and sip a 3.7% alcohol by volume beverage.

In either case, you’re on corona time. Enjoy!