So, I’ve ignored this spirit long enough. It’s my fault tequila doesn’t hold a place on my bar. I usually keep vodka, whisk(e)y and gin in the three decanters that occupy the prime real estate on my bar.

The fact that I own tequila and rarely use it is something of a travesty.  I aim to rectify that this week using a basic tequila recipe, with a twist. We’re mixing up a margarita, but adding broiled lemon juice to the party.

The recipe comes from a new source: “The Cocktail Lab: Unraveling the Mysteries of Flavor and Aroma in Drink, with Recipes” by Tony Conigliaro:

50 ml. (1.5 oz.) Reposado Tequila

25 ml. (.75 oz.) Broiled lemon juice

2o ml. (.66 oz.) Triple sec

Sugar, for the rim.

Combine all the ingredients except the sugar in a cocktail tin and shake over cubed ice. Fine strain and pour into a chilled coupette with half a sugar rim.

Easy right? Except that whole broiled lemon juice thing.

5 Sicilian lemons

Chop the lemons in half and broil at medium heat until golden brown.

Juice the broiled lemons

Strain using a Superbag

Homogenize in four 25-second bursts

Makes about 100 ml. of juice

You all have a Superbag and a homogenizer at home, right? You don’t? Actually…neither do I. So I skipped the homogenize step and used cheesecloth to strain the juice. Sidenote: I’ve never seen a medium setting for a broiler. My oven goes from low to high. I broiled on low close to the broiler.

As to the drink? Well…it’s a margarita all right. The lemon comes through as it normally would, but with less of a bitter bite than regular lemon juice. The broiling process caramelizes the exposed lemon, and enhances the natural sugars in the juices cutting the acidity. Normally, rimming the glass seems like an unnecessary step, but in this application the additional sweetness the half sugar rim plays nicely with the rest of the drink. It is certainly delicious, but I’m not sure the extra step of broiling lemons for juice to make a one-off drink is worth the hassle. If I want a margarita, I’ll stick with Sterling’s recipe above.

(Banner image found here)