The Wild Drink Blog

This might be opening up a rather large can of worms but here goes anyway… I thought I might start doing write ups on spirits which I happen accross during my daily duties, i’m going to start with this very interesting tequila.

Tequila has got to be on of the most underated spirits of all time. Most people’s experiences with this spirit stretch as far as a shot glass accompanied by salt and lemon, or a little further to the ’slammer’ with sparkling wine, or at the very most a (badly made) margarita. It’s like the freak hunchback of the bar back, no-mans-land with exception of the biggest piss-ups or stitch ups. This of course is completely unfair you heartless people, give poor tequila a chance!

…and if you are going to try it out, Don Julio blanco is a great place to start. White (rested but unaged) tequilas are usually a bit harsher than their older brothers, time in oak tends to soften the spirit giving more complexity and those sweeter caramel/butter notes. The downside of aging a spirit is that sometimes the acidity and freshness of the white spirit is lost, I think aging is even more guilty of this when tequila is concerned.

DJB has a wonderful citrus zestyness right from the word go with the familiar tequila vegetal flavours and an underlying earthy malty note which probably derives from the extra mature agave used in production. In production the heart of the plant (agave is a type of cactus that looks a bit like aloe vera) called the ‘pina’ is roasted and mashed, water is added and the resulting soup is distilled.

For a white spirit which has simply been rested in stainless steel for a couple of months this is truly brilliant.

I would quite happily sip this drink straight out of the fridge or over some ice, it almost seems a shame to mix it! Buuuuuut we wouldn’t want to deny ourselves that privilege!

I came up with this drink which currently has no name other than ‘Aquas Frescas’ which is a Mexican phrase for refreshing soft drinks.

Glass: Long/Hi-Ball
Garnish: Hibiscus flower

• 2 Don Julio Blanco
• 1 Tonic syrup
• 1/2 lime juice
• Dash Fee Bros Old Fashioned bitters
• Top up with pink grapefruit juice

You can replace the tonic syrup with tonic water and top up half tonic water half pink grapefruit. This long refresher has plenty of citrus and nice earthy notes from the tonic syrup with a bit of cinnamon spice from the bitters. Lovely!