Education Is More Fun With Tequila

By Kyle Thacker in Food on May 31, 2012 8:20PM

The small patio outside Cantina 46 transformed into a classroom on Wednesday night, but this was no mundane civics course. The event, Mixologia, centered on building cocktails and drinking healthy amounts of tequila. And quite honestly, a tequila-based incentive program may be an option for improving our ailing education system.

Milagro Tequila supplied the spirits for the crash course in cocktailing. Jaime Salas, Milagro’s Brand Ambassador, was the instructor. It was a hands-on experience that offered a peephole view into bartending and mixology. Though Salas had to apologize a few times for “nerding out” on tequila law and the notes of French oak barrels, the class was more about supplementing a fun time with a dash of knowledge than turning us into tequila sommeliers.

Starting with unaged silver tequila, we worked our way up to cask-aged anejo, blending the ingredients that would best complement each “expression” of tequila. All attendees got to muddle and shake his or her way through building cocktails that went well beyond the always tasty but overdone margarita. Each cocktail included tequila, lime juice, and agave nectar, the standard base for a margarita.

We started by muddling cucumbers, jalapenos, and cilantro with silver tequila for a spicy take on a traditional margarita. The second cocktail used reposado tequila and swapped in pineapple chunks, basil, and angostura bitters for a more tropical taste. We added a drop of ginger beer on top to add an extra dose of spice.

The final cocktail of the night (and our favorite) was a blackberry and sage concoction that changed our perception of sage. Sage works much better to enhance tequila than it does as incense for your hippie-friends apartment. When will they learn?

Carpe Dia
2 oz Milagro Anejo Tequila
Dash of Fee Brothers Whisky Barrel Aged Bitters
½ oz of lime juice
½ oz blue agave nectar
Two Sage fronds
Handful of Blackberries

Add the sage and blackberries to shaker glass. Add a dash of Bitters and then lightly muddle ingredients together. Combine with tequila, lime and agave. Add ice and vigorously shake for ten seconds. Strain over ice into Collins glass. Enjoy.

Additional reporting by Amy Cavanaugh.