The Airstream Turkey

First off, I know a lot about gin – due to the enthusiastic consumption of it. I know a little bit about whisky (due to similar indulgences and a few tastings). And what I know about bourbon, I know from research for this article: Bourbons for your Budget.  But I don’t know diddly squat about tequila.  So when a rep from the Thomas Collective saw my article on Cocktails 101 and offered to send me some samples of Espolon tequila, I said sure. I figured that Mike knew a fair amount about it and I also figured that the novelty of receiving tequila in the mail would be enough to entertain me.  I hoped the tequila would be tasty, but didn’t expect much. I’m not going to bury the lede here.  I was wrong. Boy was the tequila tasty.

I expected airplane sampler sized bottles, so when the other Mike called to say I’d received a package at the house, I said, “Oh, it must be the tequila,” envisioning a Fed-Ex envelope much like the ones my mom would mail me when I’d left random stuff at her house on visits back to Colorado.  Again, I was wrong.

The Espolon came in packaging that looked like the designers knew my fondest wishes, and put them on a box – a vigorous skeleton riding a rooster, complete with spear.  When I opened the box, a black and silver Lucha Libre mask stared up at me. Yes, there was undignified squealing. Two grown men and two grown cats all looked at me like I was trying to contact alien-dolphins with the power of my larynx.

Being preternaturally filled with will-power (go on, laugh, I’ll wait), we decided to wait to taste the tequila until we had time to truly savor it.  No really, we did.  But then it sat there, staring at us, waiting for us… We made it until the next night, when Mike and I uncorked it filled with scientific and journalistic vigor, ready to taste, test and create.

We decided to taste it straight, then make the “Mr. Boston” margarita, and then use it in another drink we’d never had before. I’d received a bottle of blanco, and a bottle of the reposado and both had a nice silky taste. The blanco was smoother, more citrusy with hints of pineapple and very little back-bite, while the reposado is oakier and reminded me of a milder bourbon. Neither tequila produced that mouth puckery, nose-burning sensation of a Jose Cuervo, and I feel like my interest in tequila has now been piqued.  I was really intrigued in the differences between the two tequilas, how subtle they were, and what actual flavor they imparted.  I tried to use the techniques I’ve learned tasting bourbon to see where you can breathe through the flavors and they both stood up well to the scrutiny.

We used the reposado in the margarita (two ounces of tequila, a half ounce of triple sec and an ounce of pure lime juice) and it was fantastic.  I prefer margaritas very simple and not overly sweet, and the oakiness of the reposado really warmed up the drink without making it taste acidic in the way that crappy tequila often can.

Since then, we’ve found ourselves pouring a little to sip now and then, and keeping it on the shelf with the other fancy bottles to be used in nicely portioned-out amounts.  I will absolutely keep it for margaritas, in part because it opened up a whole new side of the margarita for me, highlighting what it is I taste in a typical bar margarita (mix and crappy tequila), and more importantly pointing out to me the need to avoid sugar in my drinks, and to use good tequila.  For me, particularly, I liked the subtlety of the flavors and the balance. But then, I traditionally drink my booze as mix-free as possible. I like straight bourbon and whiskey, and my gin martinis are nearly vermouth free. I like drinks that take the natural flavors of the liquor and highlight them, so discovering a tequila that is also open to that usage was great for me. (Even better is the fact that the Espolon retails for about $20-25. Too expensive to waste on crappy drinks, but not prohibitively expensive to have on hand for special occasions.  No matter how impressed I was, tequila is never going to be my drink of choice.)

Las Perlas/Mezcal addendum:

As part of the grand experiment, we went down to Las Perlas to taste the Los Muertos II that used the Espolon: ( Day of the Dead Cocktails). It was nice to be able to identify the layers of flavor imparted by the tequila.  Admittedly, in some of the cocktails that are on that menu, I think the subtleties of the Espolon would be lost (and in fact, most of the mixed drinks on the menu use Mezcal instead), and I hope to some day go down their and try a flight of the other tequilas they list (or swing by El Carmen and do the same).  But it worked for the yummy, if slightly fussy, Los Muertos II.  (Again, in truth, while I found the drink menu at Los Perlas inspiring, many of the drinks were too fussy for my palate.  I had a drink that reminded me of a mezcal-based Manhattan, which I liked but confirmed to me that Mezcal smells like a band-aid.) Looking up the menu for Las Perlas online brought me an entirely different menu than the one we ordered off of two weeks ago, so I have no legitimate advice for drink orders. The online menu is a little simpler in terms of flavor combos and is more appealing to me (and possibly just less daunting).  Perhaps, like gin is for other people, mescal is just an acquired taste and I haven’t quite acquired it. Still, Mike was happy with his choice, and we both would like to go back and sample more options!