Well, here we are. The final set of cocktails, at least for a few years. I don’t know about you, gentle reader, but this has been a long road, and I’m in the mood for something that pairs well with Reunion. Something easy to make in the Evans lounge. Something that will refresh us when we’re in Minnesota in August, and it feels like the inside of a St. Bernard’s mouth. Maybe even something that has a connection to the ’90s.
That’s right, it’s margarita time.
The margarita has an unclear origin story, and it’s hard to know who really invented it and when. It could have been created anytime between 1936 and 1953, and anyplace from Tijuana to Juarez to Galveston. Frustrating, isn’t it?
For that, and several other reasons, we’re going to make a slightly different margarita that we do know the precise origin of: the Tommy’s Margarita.
Tommy’s Margarita is named after Tommy’s Restaurant in San Francisco, and was created by Julio Bermejo, the son of the owners. Bermejo developed it in 1990, when none of us were quite yet accepted into Carleton; a bare two years before I had my first truly awful drink in Burton 131 and joined the happy fellowship of people making Poor But Hilarious Decisions.
It’s simpler than the traditional margarita recipe, omits the triple sec, and makes agave the star of the show. It’s one of the only recipes I have memorized, because it’s just so easy; a 2 parts to 1 part to 1/2 part ratio of tequila to lime to agave nectar (4:2:1 to those of you who prefer whole numbers).
Tommy’s Margarita
- 2 oz 100% agave tequila (ideally Herradura Reposado)
- 1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 oz agave nectar
Directions: Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into cocktail glass.
Notes:
- Herradura Reposado is the original tequila that Bermejo used, and gives the drink a pleasant pepperiness, but any credible tequila is a good choice here.
- Serve this on the rocks if that’s your thing. I prefer it up, but like the late lamented Shock G said, doowutchyalike.
The Tommy’s Margarita is a potent potable, though, and sometimes when you’re sweating from every inch of skin, you might want something that theoretically hydrates you a smidge. Or maybe you’ve already had a couple Margaritas, and you’re in the mood to coast a little bit, so you don’t fall asleep by 8 pm, or barf on your freshman year crush.
For those times, consider the Aperol spritz.
The spritz as a class of drink has been with us since the 19th century, and originated in Venice. The story goes that Germans in the region found Venetian wines too strong for their tastes, and asked for a spray of water (spritz) in the glass to lighten it. Eventually that water became soda, and eventually bitters joined the party.
The Aperol spritz is a variation on this old theme, and doesn’t have a charming history exactly. It was invented by the corporation that owned Aperol, who pushed it in a giant marketing campaign in the ’90s, and turned it into both a smashing success in bars and a huge driver of Aperol sales.
Even so, it’s a rare and interesting case of a drink that was created entirely for marketing purposes, and turns out to be Actually A Very Good Idea. It’s also a very pretty color, and it’s just a really nice thing in the summer.
Aperol spritz
- 3 oz Prosecco
- 2 oz Aperol
- Soda water
Directions: Fill a wine glass or tall glass with ice. Add prosecco and Aperol, stir gently to combine, and top with a splash of soda.
Notes:
- If you don’t have prosecco, just use another sparkling wine. The carabinieri will not come after you.
- Be careful not to overstir; agitating a fizzy liquid causes the bubbles to come out of solution, and you want to make sure it still sparkles when you start drinking it.
- This is also very nice with a bit of expressed orange peel, and is especially nice when accompanied by olives or some other salty bar snack.
Now over to the indomitable and steadfast Danielle, for the much more difficult job of providing mocktail versions of the same, to provide a healthier option and to make sure we can get our party permit. Party license? I can’t remember what those things were called in the dorms. Am I making this up that we had to get party permits? I’m old and don’t remember so good anymore.
(Incidentally, if you’ve been reading these columns, thanks. Really thanks. Writing them has kept me out of trouble for the last couple years. If I’m not at the 30th reunion, it’s because my idle hands became the devil’s plaything, and I ended up in jail. I’ll try to make it to the 35th, though, and I may have some new tattoos.)
Ah, tequila. Love it or hate it, but many seem to have had a bad experience with that particular alcohol. I love tequila possibly because I never had any until a decade post-Carleton. My bad college experience involved vodka that came in a plastic bottle which I consumed — straight — out of a red solo cup. But, that is not a story for this article because, my friends, instead I get the pleasure of mocking Evan’s alcoholic concoctions.
So, the Tommy’s. The internet will give you many, many options on how to make a non-alcoholic margarita, many of which involve limeade and lime seltzer. Thinking there might be something to it, I bought some frozen limeade concentrate and made several versions of a Tommy’s mockarita with that as the initial base.
Don’t bother. It has none of the smoothness of the Tommy’s. Siobhan felt my final limeade offering was passable and she drank the entire glass, but that was before she tasted the recipe I am about to gift you with. Sweet, tart, bright, fresh, hint of salty, Siobhan not only drank the entire second concoction, she asked me to make another. WIN!!
Tommy’s Mockarita
- 0.5 oz simple syrup (1:1 ratio of sugar and water)
- 0.5 oz agave syrup
- 0.5 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
- 0.5 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 0.25 oz freshly squeezed orange juice
- 0.25 oz lime seltzer
- Lime slice, coarse salt, and orange slice for garnish
Run a lime slice around half of the rim of a margarita glass and roll in coarse salt. Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake hard. Strain into the margarita glass and garnish with an orange slice. Squeeze the remaining lime juice on top as a float.
I did purchase some non-alcoholic tequila and made this same recipe then added 2 oz of NA tequila. It was all in the name of science, of course. I thought it was meh: NA tequila doesn’t taste like tequila. Siobhan thought it was downright disgusting and ruined a perfectly delicious beverage.
So on to the Aperol spritz. You may recall from a previous issue of Because Covid that Evan made negronis. “Campari… It’s what people who drank an Aperol spritz in the summer of 2019 should be drinking now. Aperol’s more mature and world-weary cousin.” I was one of those Aperol drinkers, but Evan got me hooked on Campari.
Why am I telling you this? Because, as per usual, Siobhan and I are going to diverge on the NA version of this drink that we prefer. She liked the orange juice based version with no bitters, I strongly preferred the grapefruit version.
Summer Spritz
- 4 oz diet tonic water
- 3 oz orange or grapefruit juice
- 1 tsp grenadine
- 2-3 dashes of grapefruit bitters (optional)
- Orange or grapefruit peel for garnish
Fill a glass about halfway with crushed ice. Add the tonic water and then the juice. Add the grenadine and the bitters, if using, and stir gently. Express the citrus peel.
You can use juice straight out of the carton here, no need for fancy fresh squeezed. Siobhan said this was not as good as the Tommy’s Mockarita (but who cares? it was 1,000% easier to make). For the adventurers out there, try experimenting with different kinds of bitters. I’m a huge fan of grapefruit juice and soda with celery bitters in a salt rim.
For those of you who will be able to make it to Carleton this summer, I am so excited to see you in person! I will be the one with the gray hair and cane hanging out at the cocktail table in our lounge.