High Plains Drifter #2

Picture from flickr, by mslaura

Recently, the Speakista ran a series of posts on tequila cocktails. It made me sad, because I like tequila, yet I didn't have the ingredients required to make most of his cocktails. So there was only one solution. Buy some green Chartreuse! For the most part, that was the ingredient I was missing. And it does go well with tequila. Green Chartreuse is very herby, which meshes well with the vegetal nature of tequila.

I'm not sure this cocktail is the best showcase for that pairing, however. It's tasty, don't get me wrong. But it ends up being a bit too sweet; I think the Chartreuse ends up over powering the tequila. There's two solutions here. I could put in less Chartreuse, or I could add something. I suspect mezcal would work okay, but that would change the drink. And now that I'm transcribing the recipe, I realize I forgot the Campari. That might make a difference. Recipe after the jump.



High Plains Drifter No. 2
Recipe sourced from the Mr. Boston Holiday Cocktails book and heavily adapted by theSpeakista

• 2 oz reposado tequila
• 3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica was used)
• 1/2 oz green Chartreuse
• 1 dash of orange bitters (Regan’s was used)
• Campari
Garnish: orange twist
Glass: coupe or other cocktail glass
Tools: mixing glass, bar-spoon and julep strainer

Assembly: Rinse the serving glass with Campari and discard the excess (by drinking it of course). Mix all of the remaining ingredients in a mixing glass with plenty of cracked and non-cracked ice until the drink is well chilled and pour into the serving glass. Garnish, serve and enjoy.