Not to be confused with the Spanish wine-and-fruit-based alcoholic beverage sangria, sangrita (meaning “little blood”) is a traditional accompaniment to a tequila served completo; a non-alcoholic sipper that cleanses the palate between fiery doses of agave.
Years ago I was taught that sangrita is a blend of tomato and orange juices, with the addition of something spicy (hot sauce, typically) for a little kick. But further research has convinced me that this American sangrita recipe, while still enjoyable and certainly prevalent, is not altogether authentic.
Real sangrita from the Lake Chapala region of Jalisco is made with Seville orange and pomegranate juices, with powdered chiles added for heat. Taking into account that even the most cocktailian bartender (professional or otherwise) doesn’t typically stock sour oranges or pomegranate juice behind the bar, I’ve worked up a recipe that should approximate the flavor of this spicy little sour orange and pomegranate chaser while still providing an authentic experience.
1 oz orange juice (freshly-squeezed)
¾ oz - 1 oz lime juice (depending on the sweetness of your oranges)
½ oz real pomegranate grenadine
3 dashes hot sauce or ¼ tsp chile powder
Mix ingredients, chill, and serve.
This is far from the final word on sangrita. I’ll still continue to enjoy the tomato varieties (1,2,3), but I think you’ll find a brightness and depth of flavor from this version that plays better with a wider variety of mezcals and tequilas than its heavier gringo cousin.
What’s your experience with sangrita? Chime in with your stories and recipes in the comments section.
One question I'm often asked is "Do you have any drink-related book recommendations?" Well, funny you should ask, I've compiled a list of the ten books every professional bartender or home mixologist should own. I keep every one of these close at hand and have read most of them several times. I suggest you do the same.
It's always mojito season somewhere, so this advice is timely in your area about half the year. Wether you're making them or simply enjoying them, this advice will help you look like a pro in no time at all.
The flavors of the Richmond Gimlet are imbued with sunshine. Fresh mint mingling with the herbaceousness of gin and the tartness of lime have made this drink a Eugene classic for many years now.
You'll get a lot of snarky advice on this site about how to make a proper drink, but if you ever need to know what not to do, this is the video for you.
The world of booze can be mystifying to people that don't work in bars or around alcohol all the time. I hear a lot of assumptions about the industry I'm in that are - much like 90% of what you hear in bars - completely false. Here are a few you've probably heard yourself.
The debate rages on: Should we try to look cool and crack open the Boston shaker or be tidy professionals and use the Hawthorne strainer the way God intended? Be sure to leave your two cents in the comments section.
The traditional garnish for a Pisco Sour is a couple of drops of bitters in the foam, but I've never been particularly impressed with the way these few paltry drops of bitters sat in their little egg-white mattress and didn't play along with the rest of the drink. I envisioned a Pisco Sour with a uniformly-distributed bitters-scorched foam: slightly crisp as the fire burnt the sugars, and slightly warm as the foam insulated the rest of the frosty cocktail from the heat. A pisco creme brulée in a glass!
I get so many visitors looking for tips on how to write a bartending resume that I thought I should finally post a tutorial on how to write your own. Click the headline to read more.
I always love showing up to a party with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas, so I've decided to share my recipe. This margarita recipe is the perfect blend of strong, sweet, and sour. But be warned: this recipe packs a serious punch.
There isn't much I can say about this video that hasn't been said already. If you've read anything I've written about cocktails, you'll understand why this video symbolizes everything wrong with the state of bartending in America today. Watch and learn, but be warned: this one isn't for the feint of heart.
About Me
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the head bartender at Bel Ami in Eugene, Oregon.
I'm 36, I've been tending bar for 12 years and writing about it for 5. Mixing drinks has become something of a passion for me in recent years, and I strive to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.
The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.
We’ll never know if I came in fourth or dead last in the Tales of the Cocktail Drink Competition yesterday, but we can gaze longingly at the winner’s circle regardless.
Congratulations to those who won, and I hope the rest of you losers will post your own recipes in the comments. Here’s mine, the Brazil ‘66 (with apologies to the great Sergio Mendez and the venerable French 75):
1 large or 2 medium strawberries, hulled
.75 oz cachaça
.75 oz orange liqueur (Cointreau or Citronge)
.5 oz grenadine (preferably high-quality)
3 oz champagne
Muddle strawberries and grenadine in bottom of a mixing glass until berries form a smooth paste. Add remaining ingredients and fill with ice. Stir ingredients until cold and strain into a chilled champagne flute. Garnish with a strawberry slice and mint sprig.
Comments
15 Responses to “My Losing Drink Entry: Brazil ‘66 (with apologies to the great Sergio Mendez and the venerable French 75)”
Sounds like a great cocktail to me, Jeff. And here is my losing recipe:
Bayou Pearl
3/4 0z. Absolut Pears
1 oz. Ceres Pear Juice
1/4 oz. White Ginger Syrup (Sonoma)
3 oz. Moet White Star Champagne
Stir all ingredients gently in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a chilled Champagne flute. Garnish with a long, thinly sliced sliver of fresh pear and insert into the glass.
Hopefully things will go better this Sunday. The USBG Nevada Chapter annual competition will be taking place. This will probably be my final USBG competition for reasons that I will disclose at a later date. Wish me luck. Like I said before, you definately gotta have some luck.
Wow, Sean, that sounds like an amazing recipe! I expected as much, but wow! Great concept, I think that pear is a natural pairing (no pun intended) with the White Star. Lots of apple and pear flavors there.
Oh, my God, that sounds delicious…! I’m going to make myself one of those during my shift tonight, and I might just try to convince some other folks to order it, too. No sense an entire bottle of champagne going to waste on my one drink.
The Barmaid is here! If you haven’t read her tales of Manhattan drink culture, you’re missing out.
And I’m going to make some ginger simple tonight so that I can try Sean’s drink this weekend. Maybe I’ll run it as a special - but that means I’ll have to pick up some pear vodka… we’ll see.
If they did indeed disqualify you, I’ll bet you it’s for that foam. They had some stipulations about using easy-to find and easy-to-prepare ingredients.
However, I do like the cassis foam on top of champagne idea. Very inspired!
Yeah, probably. It is easy enough to make, and the texture is really nice. This is one advantage the local bartenders had, they could go in and prepare their own cocktail for the judges.
I wonder what Jamie B. sent in?? I bet he had some killer molecular juju going on.
Jimmy,
That sounds like a wonderful cocktail too! Can’t wait to see how you make the cassis foam.
Perhaps the four of us should have been judges rather than competitors. At least I’m sure we can count to 7 and wouldn’t just stop counting ingredients when we get to 5.
I own a small library of books on the subject of bartending. Some of these books are geared toward the professional bartender, while others are written for the home mixologist. But regardless of the intended audience, almost every book I own heartily recommends that we use paring knives for cutting fruits and garnishes. […]
18 Apr 2007 at 1:10 pm 1. jimmy
Sounds good to me. I’ll post my recipe here once I finish writing it up.
18 Apr 2007 at 1:12 pm 2. Camper English
Why isn’t your recipe listed on the recipes page on the TOTC site?
http://www.talesofthecocktail.com/2007/recipes.php
18 Apr 2007 at 2:41 pm 3. Jeffrey
I think they only posted the winning entries, Camper.
18 Apr 2007 at 10:51 pm 4. Sean Bigley
Sounds like a great cocktail to me, Jeff. And here is my losing recipe:
Bayou Pearl
3/4 0z. Absolut Pears
1 oz. Ceres Pear Juice
1/4 oz. White Ginger Syrup (Sonoma)
3 oz. Moet White Star Champagne
Stir all ingredients gently in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a chilled Champagne flute. Garnish with a long, thinly sliced sliver of fresh pear and insert into the glass.
Hopefully things will go better this Sunday. The USBG Nevada Chapter annual competition will be taking place. This will probably be my final USBG competition for reasons that I will disclose at a later date. Wish me luck. Like I said before, you definately gotta have some luck.
Cheers to all!
Sean
19 Apr 2007 at 1:39 am 5. Jeffrey
Wow, Sean, that sounds like an amazing recipe! I expected as much, but wow! Great concept, I think that pear is a natural pairing (no pun intended) with the White Star. Lots of apple and pear flavors there.
Jimmy Patrick is going to make us wait until he posts his recipe here, but he already has a writeup about the competition on his own site.
Keep us informed about Sunday, I think we’d all like to hear how you do. And good luck!
Any other losing recipes, folks?
19 Apr 2007 at 9:57 am 6. The Barmaid Blog
Oh, my God, that sounds delicious…! I’m going to make myself one of those during my shift tonight, and I might just try to convince some other folks to order it, too. No sense an entire bottle of champagne going to waste on my one drink.
Debra
The Barmaid Blog
19 Apr 2007 at 11:18 am 7. Jeffrey
The Barmaid is here! If you haven’t read her tales of Manhattan drink culture, you’re missing out.
And I’m going to make some ginger simple tonight so that I can try Sean’s drink this weekend. Maybe I’ll run it as a special - but that means I’ll have to pick up some pear vodka… we’ll see.
20 Apr 2007 at 11:43 am 8. jimmy
Sean,
That recipe sounds really nice! Good luck at the Nevada comp.
Jeffrey,
Here’s my loser from the Tales of the Cocktail competition
French Quarter
Champagne Flute
2.5 oz Moet White Star
1 oz. Plymouth Gin
2 dashes Fee’s Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters
2dashes Simple Syrup
Build in champagne flute, garnish with a thin layer of cassis foam.
Pictures and my Casis Foam recipe to be posted at the Cocktail Hour soon.
20 Apr 2007 at 11:48 am 9. Jeffrey
Jimmy
If they did indeed disqualify you, I’ll bet you it’s for that foam. They had some stipulations about using easy-to find and easy-to-prepare ingredients.
However, I do like the cassis foam on top of champagne idea. Very inspired!
20 Apr 2007 at 12:53 pm 10. jimmy
Yeah, probably. It is easy enough to make, and the texture is really nice. This is one advantage the local bartenders had, they could go in and prepare their own cocktail for the judges.
I wonder what Jamie B. sent in?? I bet he had some killer molecular juju going on.
20 Apr 2007 at 1:38 pm 11. Jeffrey
We’ll never know, Jimmy. You and Sean Bigley are the only two people that read my site!
20 Apr 2007 at 3:02 pm 12. Jeffrey
I contacted Jamie, and he sent his recipe along. it sounds fantastic!
Colt’s Neck Swizzle
2 oz Laird’s Applejack
¾ oz Ginger syrup
½ oz Lemon juice
2 dashes Fee’s peach bitters
3 oz Moet & Chandon Champagne
Place all but 1 ½ oz Champagne in Collins glass.
Fill ¾ with crushed ice and swizzle (stir) for 7 – 10 seconds.
Fill glass with crushed ice and top up with the remaining Champagne creating a nice fizzy “head”.
20 Apr 2007 at 3:32 pm 13. Sean Bigley
Jimmy,
That sounds like a wonderful cocktail too! Can’t wait to see how you make the cassis foam.
Perhaps the four of us should have been judges rather than competitors. At least I’m sure we can count to 7 and wouldn’t just stop counting ingredients when we get to 5.
Cheers All!
Sean
21 Apr 2007 at 7:25 pm 14. Jimmy
I can understand not being able to count to seven after a hard days graft tasting cocktails.
22 Apr 2007 at 7:17 am 15. Michael Dietsch
Man, those all look great. I’m going to have to try some of them out, next time I want a champagne cocktail.