Welcome Friends welcome back to the
kitchen welcome back to cocktails after
dark today we're going to do a recipe
out of this cocktail book this is the
cafe Royal cocktail book from 1937
published in London England
filled with some incredible cocktail
recipes and it holds one of the very few
tequila recipes that you can find in
this time period tequila
prior to like the late 1960s there
weren't a lot of cocktails that used it
um
and if you're interested in Tequila I am
I'm very interested and I've been
reading these books I read this one a
while back
um how the Gringo stole tequila very
interesting story about the the the
change in Tequila over time and this is
one that on the day that we're
filming hasn't been released yet this is
an early Galley and it's called Agave
spirits
very interesting take on how
Agave Spirits Mezcal turned into tequila
and how tequila is changing how Mezcal
is made pretty much everything you think
you know this is hyperbole of course
hyperbole everything you think you know
about tequila
is a marketing story it's not truth so
um in the time period that this was
printed 1937 what they were really
asking for when they said tequila was
Vino Mezcal tequila and it could have
been any of the Agave spirits that were
made in Mexico so any of the mezcals
that you would find from Oaxaca they
could have been asking for that rather
than that 100 blue agave tequila that we
now think of as tequila which didn't
exist in 1937. so a lot of blabbering
about tequila we're going to start out
with a 100 blue agave tequila in the in
the spirit of what is available today
and so that will be in this [ __ ]
mixing glass sorry
and in this mixing glass we're going to
use
a Mezcal
much more indicative of what you would
have found in 1937.
here on it's a pretty simple we've got
red
vermouth in the Italian style
and white vermouth in the French style
foreign
and I will ice and shake these one at a
time
and
get a double strain
okay hey friends what have we got today
so we've got a 1937 tequila cocktail
okay
um one made with a sort of typical Blue
Agave
and
a Mezcal which is more indicative of a
of a traditional
from the time period 1937.
okay so um each gets a piece of lemon I
expect these to taste
very different completely different yeah
yeah
completely different okay
oh I can smell the Mezcal on this one
that is a
Smoky beverage which is pleasant and
lovely
I might get a sip
oh yeah no I thought I'd have another
one before I gave it up completely
completely different that that fabulous
smell of that particular like
oh yeah I'm guessing this one isn't
quite the same
wow
very different very different so not
unpleasant not unpleasant I wouldn't I
would but I would say they're different
very different drinks
yes
um
this one has that that lovely
combination of the two vermers which is
always lovely something I really like
and uh this is so in my mind
a little bit smooth doesn't take a whole
lot of thought you put it in you drink
it it's Pleasant you go this is really
nice this one takes a little more
thought and energy but it's still very
enjoyable yeah it's yeah that's smoky
it's got it gives it that bite
complexity the complexity is really
complex I would say bite like it's but I
don't mean it as a bad term
um interesting complexity you can fight
over this one well yes and so I mean
this is this is a cocktail it's very
indicative of 1937. there's there's
there's no Citrus
um so many of the cocktails from this
time period didn't have any sort of
juice component and today most tequila
cocktails contain a juice component of
some sort and soda water and all of
those sorts of things this is very
indicative it's all alcohol all alcohol
they play really well together and I
think this is something that um
could really be explored with a whole
bunch of different Tequilas in this cows
not to mention different different types
of vermouths there are out there oh my
goodness yes
so overall um this is a good cocktail
worth discovering more about
I'll take this one for the team
thanks
oh yeah um thanks for stopping by
see you again soon I'm enjoying my
cocktail
so this book
this guy
um the the group of authors that did
this they
um
where is it in here
you don't have one of your little yellow
stickies I didn't put it on it's only
one page back from from where I put this
it's a made for television Heritage area
he's talking about Jalisco and and where
tequila is okay made for television
Heritage area as deeply historical and
authentic as the Corn Palace in South
Dakota London Bridge in Arizona and
Dollywood in Tennessee which are now
amongst the most widely visited shrines
in North America if you wish to evaluate
the success of the denomination of
origin for preserving the Integrity of
tequila look no further than the dubious
reputation of the most widely
distributed mixto Tequilas to put it
bluntly the sugar cane saturated
facsimile Tequilas have not survived
taco bellification
compared to other agave distillates
tequila has become what Velveeta cheese
food products are to the larger world of
artisanal cheeses
wow do not look kindly on Modern tequila
I can see how why as you've been reading
this book that you've been around the
house just all sorts of random thoughts
and ideas going out there yeah it really
it really is a scathing look at
how single monoculture Blue Agave
has become this this giant corporate
entity and we're losing out on all of
these incredible flavors
so you've enjoyed the book this is a
good book I'm enjoying it
again thanks for stopping by see you
again soon