Tequila has become one of my favorite spirits, and I thought I had finally figured out why. Because the agave beverage can only come from Mexico, it’s infused with a natural terroir, a funky sweetness that comes straight from the soil and the climate of Jalisco. Cool, huh? It’s Mexican through and through.
But I also love the diversity of flavors a good bartender can pull out of it in a cocktail, as I was reminded last week at Austin’s Icenhauer’s bar on Rainey Street. There, one of the new summer drinks was the Clare, a refreshing twist on the Silver Monk. It’s a contemporary cocktail that doesn’t simply rim a margarita glass with thick grains of salt, as so many tequila drinks do. This one, instead, calls for a pinch of salt added to the complex herbal concoction of blanco tequila and yellow chartreuse.
The result of that subtle saltiness draws out a side of the tequila you don’t often taste or that gets overpowered by too much salt: a sort of vegetal, earthy quality rounded out nicely by the muddled mint and cucumber.
It’s not your typical margarita.
The Clare
1 1/2 oz. of Espolon Blanco tequila
1 oz. of yellow chartreuse
1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
3-4 medium size mint leaves
1 large round slice of cucumber
1 oz. simple syrup or agave nectar
Pinch of kosher salt
Add tequila and chartreuse in a mixing glass. Combine the mint, cucumber and pinch of salt to muddle. Add lime juice and sweetener. Shake well over ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with cucumber wedge and mint leaf.
— Icenhauer’s
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