Cena para desayuno, or Tommy's Margarita vs. Tequila Sunrise

Two tequila drinks in one challenge - I'm not a tequila guy, so this should be interesting.  I've never understood taking a shot of tequila - you know, salt on the hand, lick the salt, take a shot, eat a lemon wedge.  Maybe it's the brand I've always had it with (Jose Cuervo), but I've never been able to enjoy doing tequila shots.  Someone once told me to skip the salt and lemon and just chase it with a shot of tomato juice - that worked but then what was the point?

First up is Tommy's Margarita.  Who is Tommy, and why does he get his own Margarita?  I searched high and low, just for you (well okay, for me too). The deal is that this Margarita was created by Julio Bermejo whose family owns Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, and if you're in town and feel like tequila, this is the place to go.  Tommy was Julio's dad who passed on in 2011, and is the namesake of the drink.

Tommy's Margarita Ingredients

Tommy's Margarita

1 1/2 oz. Tequila

1/2 oz. Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

2 Bar Spoons of Agave Nectar

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Tommy's Margarita

Now the Tequila Sunrise is a gorgeous looking cocktail tha....OH I JUST REMEMBERED!!!  IT NEEDS GRENADINE!!!  Man oh man!!!  Remember when I said that I let myself down because I used the bottled stuff and I said that the next time I'd be making grenadine?  Well this is the next time!  Aren't you excited?!?!?!?  Woo hoo!!!

Ready?  Here we we go:

Ingredients

Grenadine

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Cup Freshly Squeezed Pomegranate Juice

1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

2 to 3 Drops Orange-Flower Water

1. Heat pomegranate juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until steam rises from the surface and a few bubbles have formed around the perimeter of the pan, about 5 minutes. (Do not boil.) Remove from heat.
2. Add sugar and stir until it has dissolved and the liquid is no longer cloudy, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in lemon juice and orange-flower water and let the syrup cool to room temperature, about 40 minutes. 
4. Transfer to a container with a tightfitting lid and refrigerate for up to 1 month.

The above was borrowed stolen from Chow.com - awesome site if you have a chance.

Clear - kinda

Cooling

So the Tequila Sunrise has been around for a while, in two versions - the one the IBA uses was introduced sometime between 1930 - 1940 and it is fantastic!

Tequila, Orange, and Grenadine

Tequila Sunrise

1 1/2 oz. Tequila

3 oz. Orange Juice

1/2 oz. Grenadine

Pour tequila and orange juice directly into highball with ice cubes.

Add a splash of grenadine to create chromatic effect (sunrise), do not stir.

Garnish with orange slice and cherry.

Tequila Sunrise

Wow this was tough deciding which one I liked better.  Tommy's Margarita has it's charms, but the Tequila Sunrise is so good that I just couldn't eliminate it.  So what could I do?

Well...if it can be done on American Idol, gosh-darn-it, it can be done on Drinking the IBA - both drinks are moving on to the next round!  Don't tell Simon I'm using his idea.

To keep things even, I had to decide on a drink to drop - that was fairly easy - the White Lady was gone.  No tears spilled over that one!

The Winners!

Now - if I could only remember where I left that worm...

The Ingredients

For Tommy's Margarita:

Tequila - Espolon Reposado Tequila

Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

Agave Nectar - Madhava 

For the Tequila Sunrise:

Tequila - Espolon Reposado Tequila

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Homemade Grenadine

Up Next - Lounging with the Scorpian, or Between the Sheets vs. Stinger

The Drinks That Fun Forgot, or Americano vs. White Lady

From the title, you can tell that there was no real winner in this installment, so let's just move on to the next.  Thanks for dropping by.  See you next time.




























Kidding.  I wish.  Man - how did these two drinks make it to the IBA list?  I know, classics and all, but wow these are scary bad!  Maybe I just built up expectations.  I hadn't tried either of these before, but was looking so forward to them.  I read that the Americano got its name because it was so loved by Americans visiting Italy - any drink that's loved by Americans has to be awesome, right?  Look at the Old Fashioned!  Coca-Cola!  Starbucks!  The Americano is not Starbucks worthy, my friends.

Americano Ingredients

Americano

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. Red Vermouth

Splash of Soda Water

Mix the ingredients directly in an old-fashioned glass filled with ice-cubes, add a splash of soda water and garnish with half orange slice.

Seriously you guys?  I've never eaten pencil shavings, but if I ever do, I would imagine that they would taste exactly like the Americano.  I tried adjusting portions of ingredients, but there was nothing I did that made this thing taste better except to leave all of the parts out, and adding gin, tonic, and lime to the glass - then it was truly a great drink, but something different altogether.

Things in the White Lady

White Lady

1.3 oz. Gin

1 oz. Triple Sec

0.7 oz. Lemon Juice

Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into large cocktail glass.

The competitors

The White Lady was okay, but nothing I'd order, or want to order - its sourness was over powering.  It wasn't bitter like the Americano-oh-no, but just sour.  If I want that, I'll suck a lemon and do a gin shot, thank you very much.  Anyway, another bust however, the White Lady wins because it wasn't quite as bad as the American-void-o.

The least worse of two

Maybe my ingredients weren't the best?  Let me know your thoughts!

Ingredients
For Americano:
Campari - Campari
Red Vermouth - Martini & Rossi Rosato
Soda Water - Canada Dry

For White Lady:
Gin - Citadelle
Triple Sec - Cointreau
Fresh Lemon

Up next... Faces of Elmer, or Angel Face vs. Whiskey Sour