It’s the end of January and we just had our first real snowfall of the winter here in Boston. I loved it, but this guy definitely did not. [Yes, I started an Instagram page for our dog. And yes, I’m mildly embarrassed. But apparently not that embarrassed since I’m willing to share it here.]
Anyway. We had several inches of snow yesterday and we’re predicted to have blizzard conditions on Tuesday with a foot and a half to two feet of fluffy powdery snow. And if you know me at all, you know that I’m thrilled! I’ve spent the weekend cooking, baking, digging out my snowshoes, and generally stocking up so I feel totally prepared for a winter wonderland (assuming we don’t lose electricity and nothing terrible happens). So now I’m ready to enjoy my Tequila Old-Fashioned Sunday cocktail with a good book and plenty of treats.
It’s actually fairly surprising that I’ve been posting so many tequila cocktails lately, given my sworn hatred of tequila. Err, I mean what I thought was a sworn hatred of tequila until I finally tried good tequila. It’s been a slow transition, but I think I’m on board. I’m most definitely on board with this tequila old-fashioned inspired by this recipe in the New York Times. That recipe used tequila and mezcal but I didn’t want to push my new fondness for tequila so I played it safe and used amaro (specifically Ramazzotti) to balance out the tequila. If you haven’t had a cocktail with amaro yet, it’s an Italian herbal bitter liqueur that is often consumed as an after-dinner digestif but has been making its way onto many a cocktail menu. So if you haven’t had it yet, I’m sure you’ll have it soon. The tequila and the amaro work really well together and create a nicely balanced cocktail. It’s pretty spirit forward, but it goes down smooth- and that’s coming from someone who generally avoids spirit-forward cocktails. Give the tequila old-fashioned a try at home or try ordering a cocktail with amaro when you’re out on the town and let me know what you think. Meanwhile- bring it to the blizzard of 2015, I’m ready for you!
Tequila old-Fashioned
Makes: 1 cocktail
Ingredients
- 1½ ounces 100% agave tequila
- 1 ounce amaro (I used Ramazzotti)
- 2 tsp agave nectar
- 2 dashes of bitters (orange or Angostura)
- Orange twist and cherry for garnish if desired
Directions
Combine the tequila, amaro, agave, and bitters in a cocktail glass and stir or whisk well. Pour into a glass over ice and twist the orange peel into the glass. Garnish with orange peel and cherry if desired.
Notes
Inspired by this article in the NYTimes
