Author: Jenny Adams

Tequila Time TraveLS

By Jenny Adams

Tequila. Twenty years ago, it was the drink of choice for the guy or girl you would never take home to meet your mother. It was the wicked sidekick to a domestic draft that you deftly hoisted as you yelled along with The Champs hit single bearing the same name. It belonged in a shot glass, which belonged in a bar, which you would never admit to your mother you went into. My, my how things have changed.
In the last few years, premium and super-premium brand tequila has exploded on to the bar scene and ventured into cocktails of all kinds. No longer masked by Margarita mix or slammed down with a salty grimace and lime wedge, tequila has moved into an upper-class neighborhood and become a part of polite society. And one of its most admirable attributes is tequila’s effect on the memory. While a bottle will make you forget, a few delicate sips of a nice cocktail will make your remember –– for me, it’s those summer moments I long for all year.

Anatini & Cancun Collins, Anatole
One of the great things about a well-made tequila cocktail is that it goes great with a light afternoon meal. Sitting in the warm rays of the sunshine, protected by the large windows and soft breeze of air-conditioning, the view from Anatole out on to St. Charles Avenue makes you glad you are in New Orleans. I recommend trying either of the signature tequila-based drinks on their cocktail menu –– The Anatini or a Cancun Collins.
If you are a novice on the subject of Mexico’s errant aphrodisiac or maybe you had a few bad experiences with the cheap stuff back in college, I suggest asking for the Anatini. 1800 Reposado has a very smooth taste, and it is further softened by Midori Melon Liqueur. A little fresh limejuice is added at the end, and it brings a nice finish to the candied, green-apple taste.
The Cancun Collins is the same tequila unless you specify otherwise, but it is definitely a libation meant for someone with a tequila inclination. A full body flavor, it has a splash of lime juice and club soda and is a nice twist on the classic with a slightly sour after finish that goes great with this particular spirit.
Both of these sell for $8, and combined with the Curly Endive salad or the fresh lump crabmeat appetizer, the beautiful seascape-inspired artwork by Martin Welch and the excellent service, these tequila drinks just might hatch a future vacation conversation amongst friends.

Sangrita, Vega Tapas Café
With all the great food in the city proper, sometimes it takes a good drink to send you on a side trip. Vega Tapas Café on Metairie Road has just such a cocktail. If you haven’t experienced Chef/Owner Glen Hogh’s mastery of the “small plate” and the delectable atmosphere yet, the Sangrita cocktail is your third good reason.
The décor of the front bar makes you feel as though you stumbled upon some “hole-in-the-wall” gem in Spain with deep ruby and green accents and funky lighting from blown-glass candle holders. The main dining room is the type of place where you either take a date, or take your best friend to dish about a date. And what better cocktail accompaniment for that than tequila?
The Sangrita has a beautiful strawberry color with a lime garnish and a salt rim, and it reminds me of standing in my front yard in summer, eating salted watermelon and watching the lightning bugs blink on and off at dusk. Instead of a full sour mix pour, they only use a third with two-thirds of red Sangria and Patron Silver tequila, unless you specify another. Since the plates are small, I recommend six for two people, with a serious recommendation of the rare tuna with guacamole. It sends this drink and your taste buds over the edge, as seafood and tequila are better together than apart. Just like summer weather and a rekindled sense of childhood abandon.

Matt Carroll Sets Us Straight
Tequila is as confusing, if not more so, than scotch. Taste, appearance and price may vary depending on what location it was produced in, the amount of time it was aged and the processes employed. Matt Carroll is the Vice President of Marketing for Patron Spirits out of Dallas, Texas, and he was kind enough to explain a few things.
“There are two types of tequila produced,” Carroll says. “One-hundred percent agave and mixto. A mixto is made from 51-percent agave and 49-percent neutral cane spirits, as in sugar cane.
“If you’re talking about mixto, there is really no difference between gold and silver tequila. It is the same tequila, but the coloring –– called caramel –– is added. It’s a big vat, and they put a few drops in, and it spreads. So it doesn’t affect the flavor at all.
“In your 100-percent agave, the coloring comes from aging in oak barrels, which does effect the flavor. The most popular is silver, and it is the purest form –– full agave flavor, without any added flavor from the oak barrels.
“Then you have reposado. The base is the same as the silver, but by Mexican law it must be aged for at least two months in oak barrels. Some companies age theirs longer.
“Añejo, the final one, must be aged in oak for at least one year.
“You can really start to get into the way the agaves grow, like wine. You want a higher sugar content for a smoother tequila. The actual agave plant looks like a giant aloe-vera plant. It is not a cactus. It is a member of the Lilly family, but you won’t believe it if you back into one.”

Recipe of the Month:
Cocktail Japón, by Dale DeGroff, mixologist and author of "The Craft of the Cocktail"

Preparation

• 1 1/2ounces Patrón Tequila Reposado
• 1 1/2 ounces grapefruit
• 1/4 ounce simple syrup
• 1 ounce Momokawa Sakè
• 1/2 ounce Cassis
• Slice European cucumber

Preparation
Assemble all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a thin slice of European Cucumber.

Something VintagE

I am as big a fan as any when it comes to a Saturday afternoon spent flipping through miss-matched coat hangers at the Salvation Army or quaint second-hand shop. I often find myself plotting warm weather cocktail parties, decorated by my friends in floppy hats or wildly printed dresses. But, while these are usually trapped in the realm of mere daydreams, I do find myself out with my companions quite often wearing my latest second-hand find. This past weekend, I began considering what I sip in these moments of fashion tribute to decades past. A cultivator of vintage couture, could I also cultivate nostalgia in a glass? This month’s Hip to Sip is homage to the cocktails of old. There is no better way to spend a weekend than shopping for and then sipping on “Something Vintage.”

Sazerac, Carousel Bar at Hotel Monteleone
Few places can honorably claim to be a favorite among both locals and tourists as much as The Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone. When out for a night of vintage cocktails, it is an institute of higher learning for the city’s most signature drink ­­–– The Sazerac.  Sitting, spinning and chatting with mixologist in residence, Marvin Allen, is a great way to get your cocktail history.

The likes of Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Etta James have all raised their glasses and spirits here - - in more than one sense of the word. Whether they were sipping a Sazerac at the time remains unknown. But it is likely, since this cocktail symbolically sends the city to bed each night and wakes her again in the morning.

“I think the Sazerac is one of these “old” New Orleans cocktails making a big strong comeback, because the drinkers today are drinking better,” says Allen. “It is, I believe, one of the original cocktails.”
Local apothecary Antoine Peychaud gave the city her first scents and sips of Sazerac back in the evenings of the 1830s.

“What we do here,” Allen says taking us back to present, “is we coat the glass with Herbsaint. We make a classic Sazerac with Sazerac  Rye whiskey, a splash of simple syrup and three to four drops of Peychaud’s bitters. Then, we shake it till it is chilled well, strain into the Herbsaint-coated glass and serve it with lemon twist.”

Mint Julep, The Library Lounge at the Ritz Carlton
With his baritone voice and hearty laugh, mixologist Chris McMillian is one of the best reasons in and of himself to stop in The Library Lounge and inquire about vintage in a glass. A studied and accomplished cocktail creator, he is just the man you want when drinking on a historical note.

When we asked him for one vintage creation he felt was standout, a list of sentences such as “a Collins is very good this time of year,” and “I love a Ramos Gin Fizz,” abounded. But it was the Mint Julep that won out. Amongst the lounge’s russet and toffee tones, high-backed chairs and chess sets, a Mint Julep is the chalice of sophisticated hospitality and vintage galore, and you need to snag one of the four barstools to do it up right.

“I serve them in silver Julep cups,” explains McMillian. “It is really the only proper service.”
McMillian provides his own authentic glasses, so he prefers to keep them at the bar. An advocator of correct cocktail preparation, he instructed us on the use of silver instead of glass.

“Metal is a conductor, whereas glass is an insulator,” he explained. “You want to use metal because the coldness of a Julep is one of its main appeals.”

At The Library Lounge, McMillian uses premium bourbon on most occasions and peach syrup to add flavoring in subtle layers to the bourbon. It is served on crushed, hand-beaten ice and garnished with a sprig of mint drenched in caster sugar.

“Cocktails like the Julep and Collins,” McMillian says, “are foundations as far as the classics. They are what contemporary drinks are built on.”

Café Adelaide & the Swizzle Stick Bar • Corpse Reviver II
While you have most likely come in contact with the previous two, I wanted to share a third, slightly more esoteric vintage suggestion. Based on the name alone, one might assume that the Corpse Reviver II is a native drink of this voodoo-steeped city, but it originated in the late 1800s in Europe, and evolved into two recipes over the years. While it was first published in 1895, famed cocktail author Harry Craddock wrote of the Corpse Reviver II sometime in the 1930s, “four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again.” A great quote for a great cocktail, the Corpse Reviver II is a wonderful starting point for those who have not yet found themselves fond of gin.

Lu Brow of Café Adelaide says she found the recipe and history of this drink in the book “Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails” published by Ted Haigh, a.k.a. "Dr. Cocktail." –– a veritable historian on the art of vintage cocktails.

Brow mixes a fabulous Corpse Reviver II, and it should here be reiterated –– for those that haven’t gotten my subtle hints yet –– that when drinking vintage creations, you want to have a bartender worth his or her salt since the drinks often require diligence of craft.

With the taste similar to lemonade with an adult kick, The Corpse Reviver II has a thick layer of crushed ice floating on the top and is refreshingly cool. The soft pale yellow coloring makes this cocktail worthy for all seasons and a nice ordering choice on Café Adelaide’s menu of classic cocktails. In addition to the drink, who can resist the atmosphere from a barstool at the Swizzle Stick Bar? If only Adelaide Brennan were still around to come out sipping with us. Her memory stands out to many as a classic New Orleans dame, flamboyant in fashion and ostentatiously present at parties, and it is only right that her attributes (and mischievousness) live on in the form of a lounge with such great cocktail offerings.

Drink of the Month:
Corpse Reviver II, Café Adelaide & the Swizzle Stick Bar
The Corpse Reviver #2

• 1 ounce of gin
• 1 ounce of Cointreau (no, triple sec will not do)
• 1 ounce Lillet Blanc
• 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 drop of Herbsaint
• Shake well in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled Martini glass.
• Drop a stem-less cherry into the bottom of the glass.