Cocktail Hour! The Silverano, a summer sipper.

It's only April and it's already hot. I was planning to publish this recipe later, but why wait?

First, gotta give credit where it's due. This drink is based largely on one called The Gibbons, designed by my man The Rev. Willie G of ZZ Top. I mean, I've been stealing his guitar licks my whole life, so why should this be any different?


El Gibbons: Engine-Coolant For Your Soul, Supercharged!

Secondly, why the name "Silverano," Pale Rider? It's the joining of the word silver, from the color of the drink, to the Spanish word "verano," which means summer. This baby is designed to be a refreshing summer coolerator (with a bite).

Start with a great blanco tequila. May I suggest one of my current favorites: Pura Vida or Siembra Azul. Pour a fat shot of it over lots of spring-water ice. Add in a couple ounces of Polar Lime Seltzer (or any other lime-tinged sparkling water), and here's the kicker: Drop in a ring or two of sliced jalapeño - you know, the ones that come in a jar. Pale Rider actually also adds-in a couple drops of the jal-juice from the jar. You may ask, "Why would I want a hot-spicy taste in my cooling cocktail?" And I'd reply, "Go ask the Mexicans. They live in the hottest climate in the western hemisphere, and eat blazingly spicy food every day," It's apparently an inverse theory; eating hot food makes the weather seem cooler to the body. I know from life-long personal experience, it works!

That being said, stir it all up real good, add a lime wedge to the edge and you're ready to enjoy a killin' coolin' cocktail - with a kick! The Silverano!

VARIATION: The SILVERANJO!
As above but use Orange Seltzer instead of the lime, and garnish the drink with an orange wheel.

Año de Agave, 2011 Tequila Highlights, Parte Dos

Part 2) Reposados:

Interestingly, looking back on 2011, I did not explore much new territory in the world of reposado tequila. I enjoyed plenty of old stand-byes, like El Tesoro, Corralejo and 7 Leguas. But overall it was a year of blancos and añejos.


Maestro Dobél: Multiple-personality disorder in a bottle?

It's a bit hard to believe but it looks like I only have four notable repos to talk about. The first is the outstanding Siembra Azúl, a beautiful Highland offering that is truly top-shelf. Well, in terms of taste, that is; I have joked numerous times about how the screw-top generic bottle and labeling belie the wonderful juice inside. S. A. is a soft, sweet and silky-smooth tequila, with just enough wood mellowing to create a perfect balance of agave and oak (and when I say perfect, in my book that's an 80/20 ratio). It's a classy and refined spirit. Now they should make a bottle to match. See my previous review here. 4.5 Pencas!
Siembra Azul Reposado, Tequila.net Best of 2011 Award Winner.

Next on the list would be Maestro Dobél, the so-called "Diamond" tequila. Despite looking like a blanco, it is a blend of reposados and añejos that has been filtered to remove the coloring. The result is a diamond-clear spirit. Honestly, I'm not sure why they are removing the color. I wonder if it's a marketing device to attract the large segment of Patrón Silver drinkers, who may be of the mindset that to be good, the juice needs to be clear. In this case the clear tequila has the benefit of the woody mellowing and flavorful overtones of hand-crafted and well-rested tequila. Don't get me wrong, Dobél is a nice sipper with a delectably rich taste, but at it's original price of $75, I would never have touched it. A big part of what you're paying for here is the luxruy packaging. There has been one last lonely bottle left on the shelf of my local store for like, a year. So when they lowered it to a blowout of $35, I seized my opportunity. I like it, it's not my favorite, but if you can get it for under $50, it's a worthy addition to your tequila bar. Extra points for bottle design - muy elegante. 3.5 Pencas!


"Don't open that bottle! You'll let out the....ooh, too late!"

Then there is the little devil, Chamucos. I was attracted by the funky label with the folkloric, hand-drawn figure of El Chamuco. In Spanish it means "boogie man." I went to great lengths to get this hard-to-come-by bottle. I ended up with a NOM 1558 product. Apparently Chamucos had had a hard-time finding a permanent distillery. I notice that reviews of the 1558 juice tend to run much more favorable than those of the product from the previous distillery. When I first cracked this open, it did not immediately impress. "Firewater," thought I. However, I let it decant for a couple of weeks and went back to it. You have to do that sometimes. It was surprisingly much better the second time, and even better the time after that, sort of like, well, you know... Chamook has a demonic bite with an herbal, more pungunt/punchy taste than many. Finishes with a blanco-like burn. It's a good, ol' fashioned shooter! Party Juice! Fiesta Demonica! But what else would you expect from a tequila with a name like Chamucos? Three Pencas!

The caboose of my 2011 Repo train is Familia Camrena reposado. This bottle, like the blanco, sells for around $21. There's a big push on to get Camarena in your face. The stores have big display boxes and posters, featuring the blanco and repo side-by-side, both at the same low price. Whereas the blanco is thin and sort of just, "meh," this spunky little repo has a nice agave pop, coated in the spicy sizzle of cinnamon and the sweet notes of vanilla. It's a surprisingly bright, bold beverage, with plenty of evidence of it's highland upbringing. This may be the perfect entry-level tequila for Noobs. Cama-repo is my new go-to for maragritas, because it both stands-up and blends really decently. And yes, I would - and DO - sip this tequila. El priceo es niceo! Three Pencas!
Camarena Reposado, Tequila.net Best of 2011 Award-Winner.

Stay tuned for part 3, Añejos!

Dos de Los Altos: 7 Leguas & Siembra Azul...

Highland Girl: Up here we like our tequilas like we like our women - full-bodied!

Last night I had a chance to do a taste-comparison between two outstanding highland reposado tequilas: 7 Leguas, and Siembra Azul.

In a previous review, I had commented that Siembra was very smooth and soft, maybe overly so. But on this occasion, maybe because the SA bottle has been open and there has been a period of decanting, I detected more nuts and spice - sort of an unexpected nutmeggy or cinnamon thing. There was a fuller flavor-profile, and I liked it even better than before (and still found it to be as smooth as a baby's bottom).

The venerable incumbent 7 Leguas is known for it's big bold taste, led by the hearty presence of highland agave. The 7L bursts with tones of sweetness, spice and wood, with a very slightly less refined taste than the SA. There's a bit more alcohol bite and a little more edge in-general, none of which gets in the way of 7L's famous agave bloom.

In fact, both of these offerings have the "corazon y alma" of the Los Altos agave taste. When you open the present, that is what's inside both of these superb tequilas. Only the "wrapping paper" is slightly different between the two. But that's the 3% that we pay the biggest money for, isn't it? It's that sublime 'enth degree of quality and subtlety that aficionados will revel in.

Some tequila people will say that the 7L wins because it's got more spunk, that you can "taste the tahona," and believe me, that's why it's an every day repo for me, being my top three or four. Also, it's a lot easier than Siembra Azul to find, let's mention.

But I gotta tell ya, what the lovely Siembra Azul revealed to me last night was more of her plumpness. She's more Rubenesque than I thought. And I found her quite sexy, indeed.

The verdict is that these are both superb tequilas, and one cannot go wrong with either. So...get both! Like they always say, "Variety is the spice of life!"

7 Leguas Review on Tequila.net

Siembra Azul review on Tequila.net

Siembra Azul: The Blue Harvest

Harvest Blue: The Plain-Jane bottle holds SWEET nectar inside.

I managed to acquire - with great difficulty - a bottle of Siembra Azul reposado. It's a delightful highlands tequila from NOM 1414. This juice is truly like liquid silk - buttery, with caramel, vanilla, wood, and maybe I detect a hint of maple syrup in there. It's sweet and light with a well-balanced presence of that delicious highland agave.

The only down-side is that it's maybe too smoothed out for some people. It's not earthy, smoky or spicy at all. Not much of a zing to it. But I do like it as a sipper, and I think tequila newbies would find it extremely palatable. The flavor-profile has really been designed to have no rough edges. There's really nothing NOT to like about Siembra Azul. I look forward to trying the blanco at some point.

One note about the bottle: People say beware fancy bottles, and I know we pay extra for that, but I really DO love the fancy tequila bottles. Siembra made the decision to go with a standard (cheap) commercial bottle and a really generic label design. That's a departure from other boutique tequila brands, and I don't know whether it helps or hurts....

Review by tequila.net

Inbound Tequilas! Coming Soon!

Acquiring some fresh bottles of highlands juice: Chamucos Reposado, Siembra Azul Repo, and Arette blanco suave.


So I look like a bottle of cooking wine from Target's store-brand section. Well y'know what? The money's on the INSIDE of this bottle baby! Now stop looking at my screw-top!

I also want to do a blanco shootout soon with Siete Leguas, Don Julio, and another player to be named later.