No Margaritas today: Celebrate July 24th, National Tequila Day, with a different tequila cocktail.

Perhaps you’d prefer some tequila ice pops, too.

Here’s a cocktail suggestion from Tequila Avión, incorporating ripe summer papaya.
 
 
RECIPE #1: PAPAYA SMASH

Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. MUDDLE a slice of fresh papaya and agave nectar in a mixing glass. Add the tequila Aperol and orange juice. Top off with fresh lime juice. Add ice and give it a good shake.

2. STRAIN into an ice-filled glass and garnish with a fresh slice of papaya.

Papaya and tequila: an inspired combination. Photo courtesy Tequila Avión.

RECIPE #2: TEQUILA & COKE

Those who enjoy a rum and Coke can celebrate with the tequila version. Coffee lovers can buy Avion’s Espresso Tequila and make this cocktail, “The Rally,” with 1 part Avión Espresso Tequila and 2 parts cola.

Find more recipes at TequilaAvion.com.
 

APEROL VS. CAMPARI

Like the better-known Campari, Aperol is an Italian apéritif, a dry alcoholic beverage usually served before a meal to stimulate the appetite. Other apéritif examples include champagne, gin, pastis, dry sherry (fino or amontillado), vermouth, and any still, dry, light white wine.

Aperol is milder, less bitter and much lighter in color. Its ingredients include, among others, bitter orange, gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona. Although it tastes and smells much like Campari, Aperol has an alcohol content that is less than half of Campari (Aperol is 11% A.B.V.), with the same sugar content.

The opposite of an apéritif, a digestif is an alcoholic beverage served after a meal, in theory to aid digestion. Examples include brandy, eaux de vie (fruit brandies), grappa (pomace brandy), liqueurs, and fortified wines such as cream sherry, sweet vermouth, Port, and Madeira.