Heading South

As the weather has warmed up, it seems like a good time to return to my old friend tequila. While I began, as so many do, with the lackluster José Cuervo, I saw the light last year and picked up a rather tasty bottle of Corralejo Reposado that's seen some good use since then. It has a fairly strong flavor that needs to be balanced by the other ingredients in a cocktail, but used properly it'll make for some really tasty drinks.

In an effort to get some new inspiration for drinks, I've been poking around the menus of various bars to see what's been made these days. The Eclipse from Eleven Madison Park struck me as a rather good looking combination of flavors, so I decided to tweak it a bit using the ingredients I have on hand.

Equinox Eclipse
1.5 oz reposado tequila
0.25 oz Cherry Heering
0.25 oz Punt et Mes
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a chilled glass.

I'm really pleased with how this drink turned out. The somewhat acerbic nature of the tequila played off of the sweetness of the the Heering, the bitterness of the vermouth and the acid of the lemon juice. The wine from the Punt et Mes intruded a bit more than I would have liked it too, but I'm not sure it was totally out of place with the cherry flavor. It also had a really nice orange and magenta color that reminded me of a sunset. Or maybe the corona of an eclipse (surprise, surprise). Overall a nicely balanced cocktail that I'd make again and be happy to serve to others.