Photo courtesy Milagro Tequila.

We love the flavors of this tequila shooter combo, part of our National Tequila Day celebration. It’s a different take on the classic spicy tomato sangrita shooter.

This recipe comes from Milagro Tequila, made from 100% estate-grown blue agave from the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico.

Instead of the spicy tomato shot, pineapple juice with cilantro and mint steps in. The tequila shot is Reposado, aged a minimum of two months.

The white and green shooter cocktail is called “El Vocho” after the white and green VW Beetle taxis that formerly swarmed Mexico City (and were recently phased out following a law mandating that cabs have four doors for safety purposes).

EL VOCHO TEQUILA COCKTAIL

Ingredients

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A consumer benefit is that happy livestock tastes better.

 
Some restaurants specialize in Certified Humane Raised & Handled animals. They don’t have to be fancy restaurants: the New York Burger Company is an example.

A Ruby Margarita is made with pomegranate
juice. Photo courtesy Tequila Herradura.

Most tequila cocktails are made with unaged blanco or silver tequila, the least complex expression.

Yet, the folks at Tequila Herradura hope that you will enjoy cocktails made with their Reposado tequila.

Herradura invented the Reposado category, and other tequila producers followed suit.

By law, to be classified as Reposado, a tequila must be aged a minimum of two months. Herradura Reposado is aged for 11 months, to create the perfect balance of wood, fruity notes, vanilla and spices.

Try these Margarita recipes, made with Herradura Reposado.
 
 
CLASSIC MARGARITA RECIPE

Ingredients For One Drink

1. SALT the rim of a rocks glass by moistening rim and dipping into a plate of kosher salt.

2. COMBINE the ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake vigorously and strain into glass.
 
 
RUBY MARGARITA RECIPE

Ingredients For One Drink

 
Preparation

1. SALT the rim of a rocks glass by moistening rim and dipping into a plate of kosher salt.

2. COMBINE the ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake vigorously and strain into glass.
 
 
VARIATION

To make a Chambord Margarita Royale, add 3/4 ounce Chambord (raspberry liqueur).

 
*Simple syrup can be substituted for agave nectar.

Tip Part 1: Season meat with salt by sprinkling it from a height of roughly 6 to 8 inches.

This ensures an even layer of salt, with no bland spots. Salt the meat right before or after you remove it from the heat. Otherwise, salt leaches moisture (juiciness) from the meat.

Sprinkling at the end also preserves the delicate flavor of kosher salt or sea salt, which would dissipate in the cooking process.

Rather than sprinkling from a salt shaker, take pinches of salt from a salt server (shown in the photo), or use a small, Tupperware-type container (or repurpose a plastic container from prepared food).

Tip Part 2: Use kosher salt or coarse sea salt instead of table salt. These salts are no different nutritionally from table salt,* but chefs prefer them for their texture. The larger, irregular grains add a bit of crunch and hint of briny flavor.

You also need less kosher or sea salt than table salt. Because table salt is processed into a very fine grain, a teaspoon of table salt contains as much salt as 1.5 teaspoons of kosher salt or sea salt.

*All salt is at least 97.5% sodium chloride. The remainder comprises natural minerals found in the salt deposit (or sea water, if sea salt), or added minerals such as iodine in iodized salt. Table salt also includes a small amount of calcium silicate, an anti-caking agent that prevents clumping.
See the many different types of salt in our Salt Glossary.

Yet, in the Middle East, the pomegranate has been a popular fruit for millennia—long before well-honed knives, running water and fine mesh strainers were household basics, and long before people knew that pomegranate was a superfruit, high in antioxidants.

If you know the easy technique shown in the video below, the pom’s thick outer layer (the pericarp*) is not really a problem. In the time it takes to peel an orange—and in less time than it takes to peel, core and slice a pineapple—you can be enjoying a pomegranate.

The pom is different from other fruits because the portion of edible fruit—actually sacs of fruit juice called arils, which surround the small, edible seeds—is tucked inside such a thick pericarp. Unlike an orange or grapefruit, you can’t simply peel it with your fingers and dig in to the fruit.

 
FOOD TRIVIA: The pomegranate, the edible fruit of a shrub or small tree, is botanically classified as a berry.

MORE about the pomegranate: history, health benefits, and how to juice and store pomegranates.

*The pericarp comprises the skin and protective layers under it. Think of the skin and pith of a lemon or other citrus, which protects the juice sacs—although in the case of citrus, the exocarp (skin), the outermost layer of the pericarp, is edible. The pomegranate is one of the few fruits where the entire pericarp is inedible.