When the sun shines there's literally nothing I want in my hand more than a Tommy's Margarita.
This super simple drink is a fairly modern invention,
although I suppose that the 90s are actually longer ago now than i like to accept
and it's only slightly tweaked from a classic margarita recipe which we've already covered here
but it makes all the difference. I also have my own favourite twist on the twist so stay tuned
for that because I'll show you that too and do a little taste test of the two at the end.
Given that this drink wasn't invented too long ago its origin story is pretty straightforward
for once but no it wasn't dreamt up by someone named Tommy - his name is Julio Bermejo but he
worked at his family's restaurant 'Tommy's Mexican Restaurant' and this is their house margarita. It
switches out the orange liqueur for agave which is a natural sweetener made from the same plant
as tequila so it echoes the flavour perfectly and it's served on the rocks rather than up in
a coupe or martini glass. Pedants amongst us have questioned if it can be classified as a margarita
given that the daisy family of which the margarita is a spanish-speaking cousin is defined by the use
of liqueur as a sweetener rather than for instance a natural sweetener but quite frankly I got bored
even saying that sentence so let's just ignore them. Julio has become revered in the bartending
scene for his tequila knowledge and is one of only a handful of bartenders to live to see their drink
become a phenomenon and the restaurant is still around. Have any of you guys had the pleasure of
drinking your tommy's at tommy's? It's very much a bartender's drink with the popularity really
spreading as bartenders in other countries came into contact with Julio and his concoction and
became disciples - one sip of the light floral citrusy delight is enough to convert most.
The main thing that I love about this drink is that it's served on the rocks because being quite
honest margaritas in a coupe glass can disappear dangerously quickly on a warm day and the ice
provides maximum refreshment plus just slows you down a little. Julio himself discourages a salt
rim feeling that the good quality ingredients will sort of speak for themselves and I do
totally get that and i don't tend to serve salt with tequila shots unless asked for but for me a
little dab of salt on the rim enhances without overpowering so I usually do a half a salt rim
and let people decide themselves because honestly I feel a little bit cheated if I don't get one!
Julio prided himself for switching out the house tequila at Tommy's from a mixto to 100% agave and
switching fresh limes for sour mix and the agave for sugar syrup because apparently orange liqueur
had actually been abandoned a while before he took over for cost-saving measures so basically as with
all simple drinks this hinges on good quality ingredients. I'm using Calle 23 tequila because
it has a really lovely grassy note that I love is a savoury edge in here and it's just really clean
and fresh which is perfect. Agave syrup can be found at most health food stores so you know this
drink is practically actually good for you as well as places that you would find cocktail ingredients
although the health food ones can sometimes be quite thick so a bit more tricky to work with as
i said it's actually made from the same plant as tequila so it just enhances that flavour without
being too sugary. Crawley's is an Australian one which is a really good viscosity for pouring.
So first of all we're going to juice some limes because fresh lime juice is key to fill 30 mls
or yeah around one lime should be good unless it's particularly unjuicy so then we're going to go a
full double shot so 60 mls of blanco tequila it's really very much the star of the show here so no
messing around with small measures then 15 mls of agave syrup because agave has kind of
a more distinctive flavour than sugar syrup i do find that it comes through quite nicely and you
don't have to bump it up at all unless you have a particularly sweet tooth then 30 mls of lime
then we're going to fill with ice and shake.
So i've just pulled my rocks glass out of the freezer and I've got a nice big lump of ice in
there you can obviously use just cubed ice if you prefer all right then we're gonna do
our little salt rim I'm not gonna lie to you guys I forgot to do this and I put the ice in
the glass first but it seems kind of stuck so we'll see if it manages to stay in there
then we're just going to pour the drink on top
and there we have a tommy's margarita. So that was a pretty classic Tommy's and of course it
deserves all of the credit it gets but sometimes I do fancy something heftier with a bit more depth
and when that's the case I reach for the mezcal
Tequila may have been the reigning agave spirit queen for a while now but mezcal has had a strong
surge in popularity recently as people have become more comfortable drinking flavourful spirits again
the vodka craze of the 70s and 80s has a lot to answer for of course.
Mezcal is less tightly regulated than tequila which has to be from the tequila region and
fit quite a few criteria to ensure the expected tequila taste. Mezcal varies much more and there's
definitely a whole video to be made here so let me know in the comments if you'd like me to go
into more detail but for now suffice to say that in mezcal the agave is often although not always
cooked in underground ovens which gives it a bit of a smoky flavour and it's just generally a bit
earthier and funkier and heavier and so I love the complexity that it brings to the simple Tommy's.
I prefer this drink to be rounder and richer in general as opposed to the bright and zippy
classic Tommy's so I switch up the ratio and I add a touch more agave and less lime and that
balances out with the savoury mezcal notes. Now mezcal is not a cheap spirit just due to the time
and care that goes into its production but for a reasonably priced cocktail mezcal i like Koch El
which has just started being imported here their espadin is green and grassy with a bit of capsicum
and a slight hint of smoke otherwise Vida from del Maguey is widely available and works well
it's just a little bit smokier and as always I'm sure I'll be jealous of the selection that the
viewers in the states have access to. First of all we're going to squeeze some fresh lime juice
then we're going to go in with a full whack two full shots or 60 mls
of mezcal 20 mls of agave syrup so you'll see how this one pours quite freely because it's designed
for use in cocktails sometimes when you get your little squeezy bottle ones they're a bit too thick
and it gets all stuck to your jigger then 20 mls of lime juice and this time to make sure that I
don't forget I'm going to grab my glass out of the freezer and do my little salt rim before I shake
so you can use a little lime wedge or I just like to use the husk of the lime that I just squeezed
because waste not want not and just go halfway around and give it a little dab in your salt
so I'm not honestly too precious about it I quite like there being salt almost like quite far down
the glass and it gets a bit like on your fingers and you know it's all very visceral when you're
drinking it um but what you do want to avoid is any salt being on the inside of the rim because
then it will just drop straight into the drink and sort of change the flavour of everything
as opposed to you having control over when you're drinking salt and when you're not
then we're going to fill our shaker tin with ice and give it a little shake
pop our nice big ice ball in there and then just pour straight over then i'm just going to garnish
with a little dehydrated lime wheel which is of course entirely for vanity so feel free to
leave it out. A Mezcal Tommy's. All right tasting time I always really love doing these side by side
ones because I always know which one I think I'm going to like the most but then sometimes
it's kind of surprising when you actually have them you know at the same time basically
so we'll start with a classic Tommy's so I'm going to go a little bit of salt
just so clean and crisp and fresh and
you get so much tequila flavour like it kind of just feels like tequila but like mildly enhanced
I definitely do like that little bit of salt in there um it just kind of actually you know
seasons it and gives it a bit of a like a savoury and moreish edge and now the Mezcal Tommy's
It's actually pretty crazy how different they taste I mean obviously it's an entirely different
spirit so I shouldn't be that surprised but um just changing the ratios slightly so you've got
that little bit more agave in there it's just like rounder and sweeter and richer but because
you then have that real kind of like savoury and yes i said like jalapeno kind of green capsicum
flavour coming through from the mezcal is really nicely balanced so yeah definitely not quite
as smashable and yeah i would normally always say that a Mezcal Tommy's is my favourite but
today for whatever reason I'm gonna come down on the classic I reckon that's that's what I
want to be drinking just now but both very good drinks you can't really go wrong! So now you know