The Day of The Dead, AKA Día de los Muertos, is fast approaching. The Mexican holiday following Halloween is a great opportunity (excuse?) to honor our dearly departed friends and relatives with a tequila cocktail. Or any cocktail. Here are seven recipes to try.
Mexican Zombie
(shown atop)
1 oz. Don Julio Blanco tequila
½ oz. Don Julio Reposado tequila
½ oz. Mezcal
½ oz. Velvet Falernum
½ oz. Passion fruit
1 oz. Grapefruit
½ oz. Lime juice
4 dashes of Absinthe
Add ingredients to a shaker. Shake and strain contents into glass with crushed ice, lime wheel and cinnamon stick torched until smoky.
The mixologists at Zuma Las Vegas created this recipe.
Frida’s Flowers
2 Parts Mijenta Blanco tequila
¾ part Strawberry or hibiscus syrup
1 part Fresh lime juice
¼ part Creme de cacao
Shake all ingredients vigorously with plenty of ice. Strain into a coupe or Martini glass. Garnish with edible flowers.
The mixologists at Mijenta created this recipe.
Otoño Sangría
1 ½ oz Hiatus Tequila Blanco
1 oz. Blood orange juice
1 oz. Orange juice
¾ oz. Lemon juice
½ oz. Simple syrup
1 oz. Red wine floater
Build all ingredients in a shaker tin. Top off with ice, then shake hard for roughly 10-15 seconds until the outside of the tin begins to frost over. Strain into a highball filled with ice or a wine glass. Top off with a float of red wine. Garnish with a dried wheel of blood orange.
Lana Vesselova, bartender at Analogue in New York, created this recipe.
Rest Thy Spirit
1 ½ oz. Pure blueberry juice
¼ oz. Demerara syrup
5 dashes Cocktail Experiment lavender bitters
1 dash Fee’s Brothers lemon bitters
3 oz. Chandon Brut sparkling wine
Build in shaker tin, shake, strain into Nick ‘n’ Nora glass. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with blackberries and three plumes of dried lavender in loop.
Mixologist Joe Witkowski created this recipe.
Mango Star-Rise
2 oz. Espanita Reposado tequila
2 oz. Mango juice
1 oz. Orange juice
1 Starfruit (also known as carambola)
1 oz. Grenadine
Slice one starfruit and remove visible seeds with a tip of a knife. Muddle sliced starfruit in a pulp, measure 1 oz. of pureed star fruit in a jigger and add to the Boston shaker. Add mango and orange juice (freshly pressed juice is preferable), tequila and a handful of ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass filled with fresh ice. Gently pour grenadine down the inside of the glass so that it does not get mixed with the cocktail and slowly sinks to the bottom of the glass. Garnish the drink with a slice of a starfruit.
The mixologists at Espanita created this recipe.
Higher Spirit
1 oz. Santo Mezquila
¾ oz. Aperol
½ oz. Yellow Chartreuse
¾ oz. Fresh lime juice
¼ oz. Agave nectar
Add ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a long, thin grapefruit peel.
The mixologists at Santo Mezquila created this recipe.
The Cider Skull Sangria
1 bottle of Campo Viejo tempranillo
1 ½ cups Apple cider
3 oz. Brandy
2 Honey crisp apples, sliced, plus more for garnish (optional)
2 Cinnamon sticks, plus more for garnish (optional)
1 Star anise, plus more for garnish (optional)
Add all ingredients into a large pitcher and stir to combine. Cover pitcher and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. Stir together ½ teaspoon cane sugar, ½ cinnamon, and a pinch of salt on a dish. Wet the rim of the glasses by running a slice of lemon around each one and dip the rims into the mixture. Fill glasses with ice then pour sangria over top. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, star anise, and apple slices, if desired, and serve.
Brielle Galekovic of The Gilded Bellini created this recipe.
