Happy Memorial Day, readers!

We have a feeling that many of you are celebrating this venerable day with an appropriate amount of day drinking and meat grilling. We support you!

But even with the holiday we are hard at work as usual, bringing you a delicious drink to whip up for your Memorial Day party, and any day of the week after!

So put your thinking cap on and focus up on this recipe–it’s time to get down to business.

Tequila, it certainly is a magical elixer. Smokey, smooth, and a little sweet, it is the perfect springboard for drinks with an extra kick. We love to experiment with flavor in our drinks, and when we want something complex and a little unusual, tequila is always our go-to liquor of choice.

The Tequila BBQ throws several flavors into tequila’s backyard, but instead of “Get Off My Yard” -ing them, tequila gathers them all up to create one big, happy, delicious family.

For the Tequila BBQ you will need:

• 2 dashes aztec (spicy) chocolate bitters
• 2 oz reposado tequila
• 2/3 oz Falernum
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1/2 tspn agave
• cayenne pepper (to taste)

Gather all of your ingredients plus your fruit press, jiggers, measuring spoons, cocktail shaker, and serving glass.

(As you may notice from the photos, we are visiting some FamilyAtTheBar this week, and so please forgive our inappropriately sized jigger use–when you’re in a bind, you do what you gotta do.) 

First, put your 2 dashes of bitters directly into the bottom of your shaker glass. Remember to hold your bitters bottle vertically, directly over the glass. Each shake is one dash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, add in your 1 oz of lime juice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, add in your 2/3 oz Falernum. This is serving partially as your sweetener in this drink, but the herbal flavors in the liqueur add a lot of complexity to the overall profile of the cocktail.

Falernum alone is not enough to properly balance the tart lime juice in this drink, so you need to add a small amount of agave. You do not need much, 1/2 an ounce will do. You will need to stir your measuring spoon around in the liquid to make sure all of the agave gets into the drink.

Now add in your tequila!

Last step before you shake, add in a sprinkle of cayenne. You will also use a small amount as garnish on top of the drink, but we like to shake the drink with some of the spice to integrate it into the cocktail. Use your judgment when you add your cayenne–it adds a major kick to the drink, and the level of spice you want is up to you. We recommend about this much:

Now fill your shaker with ice and shake that baby for 30-60 seconds!

Add ice to your serving glass and strain that baby in there!

Last but not least, add a touch more cayenne to the top of the drink for garnish. Again, the amount you add is up to you. Start small, you can always add more. We recommend that you shake the cayenne into your palm and add a pinch on top that way– you don’t want to risk shaking in more than you need!

(Please welcome a very special contributor to The Woman At The Bar, who desperately wants to taste the Tequila BBQ: StellaAtTheBar!)

And there you have it! The Tequila BBQ. Perfect for all of your morning, day, and night drinking needs!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday, everyone!