Week 18 in The Year of Drinking Adventurously – TEQUILA!
Yes, tequila, my old friend… we have some stories, don’t we?
I think of tequila as the official party booze. (And rum, too. But that’s another chapter.) Who doesn’t love a good Margarita on a hot summer day? Don’t answer that — it’s rhetorical. Thursday is Cinco de Mayo – not Mexican Independence Day, like most people think. Rather it’s a day that commemorates a decisive battle won against the French Army. And an excuse for Americans to get drunk on someone else’s holiday. (We do that for St. Patrick’s Day, too. Any old excuse works, really…)
Tequila is made from the blue agave plant, 
must be distilled in Mexico to be classified as tequila, but may be bottled elsewhere. Not all tequila is 100% agave tequila, so read your labels. The finer tequilas, like my current bottle, 1800 Silver Tequila Reserva, is 100% agave. This is one spirit I would never cheap out on. You will pay dearly for it, after the fact.
So how do I like to drink tequila? Well, I do love me a Margarita -Meg is short for Margaret, after all. But the first tequila cocktail I ever had was a Tequila Sunrise. And yes, it was because of The Eagles’ song of the same name. Obviously I discovered The Eagles before Jimmy Buffett or I’d have been Wastin’ Away in Margaritaville… And I might not have been of legal drinking age at the time. And I might have sneaked off to New York City with my friends. To see Siouxie and the Banshees at Radio City Music Hall. Epic…
The Tequila Sunrise:
3 ounces orange juice
1 1/2 ounce tequila
1/2 ounce grenadine
In a tall glass or Collins glass… The drink is mixed by pouring in Tequila, ice, then the juice and, lastly, the grenadine. The signature look of the drink depends on adding the grenadine without mixing with the other ingredients. A spoon may be used to guide the syrup down the glass wall to the bottom of the glass with minimal mixing. Oh! Pretty!
Of course tequila makes for a fun shot, too. You sprinkle salt on the space between your thumb and index finger, have a lemon wedge ready, pour a shot of tequila, and “lick, drink, suck.” That is lick the salt, throw back the shot, and suck the lemon wedge, people. I heard you all snickering.
Oh and the whole worm thing? You know, eat the worm at the bottom of the bottle and you’ll have hallucinations? That’s a myth. Skip the worm, that’s just gross, sorry.
So mosey on over to Lula’s blog and see how she tequila’d!
But here’s the good news! Buried in this nonsense is Dr. Meg’s recipe for Romulan Ale. And just like the version in the Star Trek universe, this stuff will knock you on your ass! Be forewarned!
Meg Sorick, Author/Artist 