Chimayó

At the bar, we came across the Chimayó in the Eric Felten's book, How's Your Drink?, a nice collection of recipes and cocktail anecdotes from the former Wall Street Journal columnist.

As Felten tells it, the story of the Chimayó goes something like this: In New Mexico, somewhere between Santa Fe and Taos, is the town of Chimayó. A local restaurant owner created the cocktail in 1965, when he was looking for a new way to use the apples that grew in abundance around the Chimayó Valley. Essentially a Diablo with apple cider in the place of ginger beer, the Chimayó cocktail eventually became the restaurant's signature drink.

I love this refreshing cocktail, which is full of fall flavors. We use Seedling Apple Cider from Michigan, which is a nice tart cider. To pull a bit more acid out of the cider we add a little bit of lemon juice, which also offsets the sweetness of the crème de cassis. The combination of apple and citrus flavors really compliments the spicy, peppery tequila. A quarter ounce of ginger liqueur to adds a touch more heat to the finish.

Chimayó
1.5 oz reposado tequila (I like Herradura Reposado)
.75 oz Briottet Creme de Cassis
.25 oz ginger liqueur (such as Koval)
1.5 oz Seedling Apple Cider
.5 fresh lemon juice

Shake all ingredients together and serve tall, over ice.

Photo by Robert Brenner.