Studying history can certainly make one thirsty, and so to help, I’ve dutifully assembled three modern cocktails, because, like itap said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”
Jeff Burkhart is the author of “Twenty Years Behind Bars: The Spirited Adventures of a Real Bartender, Vol. I and II,” the host of the Barfly Podcast on iTunes (as seen in the NY Times) and an award-winning bartender at a local restaurant. Follow him at and contact him at jeffbarflyIJ@outlook.com
Recipes
Tequila Moonrise
Ingredients
1 ½ ounces Tapatio Blanco Tequila
¾ ounce Cointreau or another premium triple sec
1 ounce fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice
¼ ounce agave syrup
1 teaspoon butterfly pea flowers
Soda water to top
1 Luxardo maraschino cherry
Directions
Combine tequila, Cointreau and pea flowers in a mixing glass and let sit until a dark shade of blue is achieved, usually about 1 minute. Pour through a strainer into an ice-filled serving glass. Then, fill a clean mixing glass with ice, Meyer lemon juice and agave and shake until combined. Strain carefully into the serving glass containing the blue liquor, being careful to achieve a layered look. Top with soda and skewer the cherry on a long pick and place over the top. Do not stir until after the presentation.
Note: You can color this drink several ways: the recipe above; use blue curacao instead of Cointreau, which I don’t recommend since blue curacao is simply triple sec with blue food coloring; or just add blue food coloring to the tequila and Cointreau (all-natural versions are preferred).
Piña Ahumada
Ingredients
1 ½ ounces Santo Spirits Mezquila
¾ ounce Cointreau or another premium triple sec
¾ ounce organic canned pineapple juice
¾ ounce fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice
¾ ounce aquafaba
Tajin salt mix for rimming
Directions
Rim serving cocktail glass with Tajin salt mix. Combine the other five ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until ice-cold and foamy. Strain into a serving glass.
Note: Make the salt mix by combining Tajin spice mix with kosher coarse grain salt 50-50. Another fun variation is mixing coarse black salt, kosher salt and Tajin in equal proportions.
Alta California
Ingredients
1 ½ ounces Jano Spirits’ California Agave Spirit
¾ ounce Damiana liqueur
¾ ounce fresh-squeezed Mexican lime juice
¾ ounce sliced English cucumber (skin removed)
½ ounce agave syrup
Sliced cucumber wheel (skin on)
Sliced Mexican lime wheel
Directions
Muddle cucumber in the bottom of a cocktail mixing glass. Add ice, agave spirit, Damiana, lime juice and agave. Shake until well combined and strain over a large-format square ice cube in a double old-fashioned glass. Place the slice of cucumber and the slice of lime on top of the ice for garnish.
Note: By law, tequila and mezcal must be made in Mexico. Agave spirits, however, can be made anywhere. Jano’s California Agave Spirit is made with 100% California-grown agave Americana right here in Woodland.
