Tandis qu'il n'y a aucun prestige particulier qui va avec être un blogger, parfois il y a une synergie unique du goût qui fait ce que nous faisons que beaucoup plus agréables. Pendant plusieurs années, j'ai été un aficionado de bon tequila ayant été tourné dessus vers lui pendant un voyage vers Las Vegas. Depuis lors, j'avais exploré les complexités de diverses différentes marques et des modèles de tequila et ne possède maintenant aucune moins de dix-huit bouteilles de de 100% agave tequila que je prélève toute heure.

Il est de 100% agave ce qui est la partie importante. Pour bon nombre d'entre nous que la première université éprouvée en nos années d'adolescent ou d'université, nos mémoires de tequila peut ne pas être la plaisante. Les gueules de bois ou le vomissement de projectile dû au boire noce avec mixtos comme Jose Cuervo a tourné beaucoup d'une personne outre du tequila pendant la vie. A mixto le tequila est un qui n'est pas fait avec l'agave 100%, et est habituellement agave seulement de 51% (ou ainsi) et le repos est d'autres remplisseurs, additifs de goût, et sucres (plus une peu de coloration de caramel) pour le rendre potable et pour le donner qui couleur d'or caractéristique. Il est souvent plus dur dans le goût et est habituellement économisé pour les boissons et/ou les margaritas mélangés.

de 100% agave les tequilas sont justes que… ait fait à partir de rien mais du bleu de Weber agave , and the heart of the plant is used to make tequila. The distillation process can make three estilicos, or styles, of tequila known as blanco, reposado, and añejo. Blanco means that the tequila is a purely white spirit that is not aged, and is bottled or stored immediately after distillation, or aged less than two months in oak barrels. Reposado means “rested” and the tequila is aged a minimum of two months, but less than a year in oak barrels. Añejo literally means “(one) year” and the tequila is aged a minimum of one year, but less than 3 years in oak barrels.

At first, I didn’t know what Tabasco Spicy Tequila was, at least in terms of style. After a lot of patient inquiry and a little prodding, I found that the tequila was a mixto and is described as:

TABASCO Spicy Tequila is a unique and perfectly balanced fusion of authentic premium Tequila with the hot, spicy and bold kick of Tabasco®. The new TABASCO Spicy Tequila adds some flair to traditional cocktails such as the brunch favorite, Bloody Maria, and the forever faithful margarita.

Well, for as much as I was excited about trying this tequila, I was concerned about giving it a fair shake because of it being a mixto and because I wasn’t sure if it even qualified to be called tequila, since it was being produced in this country through the Heaven Hill Distillery in Kentucky. Tequila can only legally be called tequila if it made with 100% Weber Blue Agave and in a particular region in Mexico. My consternation was quickly addressed from Josh Hafer of Heaven Hill:

Please permit me this quick intrusion on behalf of Tabasco Spicy Tequila. The brand is a relatively new offering from us and, indeed, can create a bit of confusion. A couple years ago, we started working with the McIlhenny Family on the development of a spirits product that properly marries tequila with the spiciness of the acclaimed hot sauce.

Tabasco Spicy Tequila is mixto completely produced at La Madrilena (a long time partner of ours) and shipped to the US. Together, Heaven Hill, La Madrilena and McIlhenny did our very best to develop a quality flavored tequila using virtually every resource at our disposal, including McIlhenny’s and Heaven Hill’s combined experience in the mixology world. As a result, we worked closely with mixologists that had experience with Tabasco as a base for cocktails.

The goal of Tabasco Spicy Tequila was to marry the spiciness of Tabasco and Tequila. We believe we accomplished that goal. It’s a very nice product. And I hope you enjoy playing around with it.

As a company that cut our teeth on Bourbon, we have a pretty good appreciation for enthusiasts’ expectations of quality. It’s an expectation that we take very seriously. I hope that sentiment is reflected in this response.

Sincerely,
Josh Hafer
Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.

So there you have it. If that explanation satisfied me as an admitted tequila purist, then it gave me the go-ahead to try this tequila out in some mixed drinks. Taking some cues from the Recipes page from the Tabasco Spicy Tequila website, I settled on a couple that looked good.

Avery Island

2 oz. TABASCO® Spicy Tequila
1 oz. Orange Liqueur
½ oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Cranberry Juice

Shake well with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and serve.

The Avery Island appealed to me because I’ve really liked the Citronge Orange Liqueur in mixed drinks. For as mediocre as Patron tequila is, they make a damn fine liqueur. I got my semi-chilled cocktail glass, a shaker canister, and the above ingredients, and mixed up a spicy drink. It looked like this:

While it doesn’t exactly photograph as well, what it DOES do is taste really, really good. It’s a bit of a margarita takeoff, with some added cranberry juice. I’m not sure how this tastes without the spicy element to it, but the spiciness in the tequila offsets the sweetness of the lime and cranberry juices quite nicely. One thing for sure is that this drink needs to be a lot more chilled than I had it. In fact, try leaving it in the freezer for a while before serving it. The colder it is, the better it tastes. A bit of a peppery bite, but nothing that would overwhelm the sensibilities of anyone who might be sensitive to hot & spicy foods.

Agave Perfection

1 1/2 oz. TABASCO® Spicy Tequila
1/2 oz. Orange Liqueur
1 oz. PAMA® Pomegranate Liqueur
1/2 Lime

Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Float a lime wheel with candied ginger.

This one definitely didn’t photograph well, but it didn’t matter too much…because I thought this one’s taste was way off as well. The only real difference in this one compared to the Avery Island was the pomegranate liqueur. I think the Pama pomegranate liqueur flavor overwhelmed the drink, honestly. If I were to make it again, I would likely only use half the amount of pomegranate liqueur and perhaps a touch more orange liqueur instead. It was tolerable, but not my kind of drink with its overwhelming sweetness that even the spiciness of the tequila could not touch.

In obligatory fashion, I did sample a shot glass full of this tequila straight out of the bottle. For a mixto, it’s actually pretty decent. I really did like the spiciness, and was glad that it didn’t taste too much like Tabasco sauce. It’s still not at all a sipping tequila by any stretch, but I dare say this makes some superb margaritas. I did mix up an ad hoc tequila using agave nectar as a sweetener, and it was also quite tasty. Probably even better had I made it blended, but certainly good enough to know that there were several ways I could have made margaritas with this tequila, and all of them could be spicy-good.

Overall recommendation: Well, this isn’t a good sipping tequila like you would expect from a 100% de agave tequila. It’s a mixto, meaning you’re going to use it in mixed drinks such as margaritas and other concoctions limited only by your imagination of what you can do with tequila. For this tequila, your mileage may vary. Given that I know of no other spicy tequilas like this one, it holds a unique place right now…or at least it will if it ever gets out of the marketing phase and into mass production. At the least, it’s worth a try in your local bar before you consider hunting down a bottle of your own. That, plus it being a snazzy-looking bottle helps too! Enjoy!

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