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Tequila

Drinks
Drink a Desert Rose Margarita for Cinco de Mayo

Who doesn’t love a margarita, especially on an important drinking holiday like Cinco de Mayo? As you’re probably aware, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s equivalent of the Fourth of July. May 5 was the date of an important battle near the city of Puebla where the Mexican army defeated French forces. Here in the US, it makes a great time to enjoy Mexican beer, tequila and margaritas. There are so many great twists on the classic lime and tequila cocktail (Pink Cadillac anyone?), so I thought of a way to add some of my favorite tropical fruits to the drink while I was writing my champagne cocktail book The Bubbly Bar. A few drops of rose water, guava and passion fruit make my Desert Rose one of the most fragrant margaritas you’ll ever enjoy. Desert Rose In this sultry sparkling version of a margarita, guava nectar and passion fruit…
May 5, 2012
The Bubbly Girl Drink of the Week: Blood Orange Margarita

Ian Ward makes some of the tastiest and most creative cocktails in San Diego, but alas they’re not usually the kind of drinks mere mortals can make at home. Take the super tangy Blood Orange Margarita that Ian made for me on a recent visit to Whisk’n’ladle. Turns out that he mixes it with a hibiscus blossom infused-tequila; and then the nice pink layer on top is a blood orange foam that includes gelatin and coconut. The thing that I took away from the experience though is remembering the intensely tart flavor of blood oranges. On early visits to Northern Italy, I fell in love with the sweet tart taste of blood orange juice, since that’s usually what you get when you order a glass of fresh orange juice. You’ll find that although many blood oranges aren’t ripe enough to eat on their own, they really shine when mixed with…
May 15, 2009
Desert Rose: A Sparkling Cinco de Mayo Cocktail Recipe

Whew, it’s been a busy cocktail week with Cinco de Mayo coming hot on the heels of Champagne Juleps for Derby Day this weekend! Fortunately, I created this fun and fragrant sparkling tequila cocktail called The Desert Rose for my book The Bubbly Bar. It uses the same sweet-tangy-tequila formula as a margarita, but I thought a blend of guava and passion fruit juices would give this drink a tropical flair. It gets its sparkle from cava, the sparkling wine from Catalonia in Spain, but any brut or dry sparkling wine would work. Segura Viudas makes several great and affordable cavas as does Cristalino. For a great in depth discussion of cava, check out this article from the Culinary Institute of America. Guava and passion fruit juices can be found in the juice aisle of any Asian or Latin grocery store. Salud! The Desert Rose Makes 1 cocktail In this…
May 4, 2009
The Bubbly Girl’s Drink of the Week: Angel Eyes at La Puerta

With spring turning into summer — at least in San Diego — it seemed the perfect time for a fresh floral cocktail. I love the complexity and hint of mystery that floral flavors add to cocktails. When they’re used with champagne, the bubbles take those wonderful scents into the air and add another dimension to the experience. Rosangel is a new hibiscus infused tequila by Gran Centenario that has a subtle floral flavor and just happens to be a gorgeous shade of pink. Jennifer Queen, the head bartender at the hip Mexican restauant La Puerta in San Diego, uses Rosangel and a vintage liqueur called Creme de Violette to craft a seductive champagne cocktail she calls Angel Eyes. If pink, hibiscus flavored tequila strikes your fancy, then check out the gallery of Rosangel recipes like a Rosangel Ruby Fizz from Julier Reiner and other top mixologists from around the nation.…
April 24, 2009