The Best Tequila Cocktails Every Home Bartender Should Know
There are rules in cocktails—Good ones. Anyone can make great drinks by following a few very simple principles, and by and large, the reason most of your collegiate mixological fumblings ended up terribly isn’t from bad liquor, it’s from bad technique.
The mid-90s to the mid-00s were an exciting time in the cocktail world because we were rediscovering and codifying what those rules are, like the syntax of a forgotten language. When to shake and when to stir, for example, is a foundational one, and for this I’ll quote no less of an authority than Dale DeGroff, writing in his foundational 2002 The Craft of the Cocktail: “Drinks that contain spirits only—such as Martinis, Manhattans, and Rob Roys—should be stirred. Drinks that also contain fruit or citrus juice should be shaken.”
The Hot Lips, created by Jessica Gonzalez at Death & Co. breaks the rules to fantastic effect. This is essentially a stirred spicy Margarita, but the ingredients she uses makes for stellar cocktail despite the heresy. Here’s how to make the Hot Lips and the spicy tequila you need for the recipe.
- 0.75 oz. Jalapeño-Infused Rial Del Valle Blanco Tequila*
- 0.75 oz. Del Maguey Vida Mezcal
- 0.5 oz. lemon juice
- 0.75 oz. pineapple juice
- 0.75 oz. vanilla syrup
- 0.25 oz. cane syrup (optional)
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and stir on ice for 15 to 20 seconds. Strain over a large cube into a salt-rimmed rocks glass. No garnish.
*Jalapeno-infused blanco tequila: This is among the easiest infusions you can do: Buy jalapeños, slice them, and put them in tequila. As for what kind of tequila, make sure it’s blanco and something you like, but it’s not too terribly important—a solid, not too expensive blanco that 100 percent agave would be perfect, like Real del Valle, Olmeca Altos, or Cimarron.
As for the infusion itself, I like to use two or three jalapeños per two cups of tequila, and let it sit for about 24 hours. It’s too precious or fragile, you can eyeball it. Some people only infuse for 15 minutes, others for a week. I wouldn’t let it go longer than a day or so, but shorter is fine. Infuse to your heat preference.
