It’s no secret that we love our themed dranks around here at Remezcla; we’re always looking for a reason to drink and be merry. Even in the face of la muerte, Mexicans have found a way to celebrate and honor los difuntitos on Dia De Los Muertos with tequila, the sweet nectar of the gods. While you’re building your altar and decorating your sugar skulls(or not), toast to those who have passed with one of these five cocktails that both the dead AND the living can appreciate.
HOT CHOCOLATE CON PIQUETE: For those with a sweet tooth, toast the dead with a concoction of 2 of the most delectable ingredients on the planet: chocolate and tequila.
Ingredients:
A steaming cup of chocolate caliente
1 or 2 oz of Jose Cuervo Tradicional Reposado, depending on how scandalous you plan on getting.
EL DIABLO: Even though Halloween is just passing, Day of the Dead can still bring the spooky, and you can toast with “El Diablo,” which I assure you, will bring something a little wicked out of anyone.
Ingredients:
1.5 oz of Cuervo Platino2 oz.of creme de cassis liqueur,
1 oz. of lemon-lime soda,
0.5 oz blackberry puree and lime wedge for a little garnish.
Throw everything in a shaker (except the soda) and shake, shake , shake. Pour over rocks and add soda with blackberries. Approach with caution.
If you are into tradition and like your drinks to be straight-forward and with a punch, nothing can do you better than a shot.
Ingredients:
A shot glass and 1.5 oz. of Cuervo Black Medallion.
Rinse. Repeat.
VUELVE A LA VIDA: This bracing seafood cocktail is a popular hangover cure in Mexico – and if it can bring you back from una cruda, who’s to say it can’t bring some people back from the dead.
Ingredients (courtesy of Roberto Santibañez, chef at Brooklyn’s Fonda restaurant):
3 bay leaves1 head garlic, halved crosswise
Seafood: 1 lb. large shrimp, 1 lb. cleaned calamari, 12 oz. boneless, skinless red snapper filets,16 small oysters,16 small clams
¾ cup fresh lime juice
2 tsp. dried oregano, preferably Mexican
Kosher salt, to taste
1 lb. plum tomatoes, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
1 cup ketchup
1 cup tomato juice
1 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives
1 cup finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup Worcestershire
6 tbsp. olive oil
2 serrano chiles, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 habanero or Scotch bonnet chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 avocados, thinly sliced
DAY OF THE DEAD: Perhaps my favorite cocktail for the occasion is the aptly named Day of the Dead, which is caffeine-laced and meant to give a jolt of life to its drinker.
Ingredients:
2 oz Coffee-infused tequila1 oz Grand Marnier
1 oz sugar syrup
1 oz. espresso shot
Shake and garnish with 3 coffee beans. Espresso y tequila? We’ve died and gone to heaven, and beyond.