Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Sour Times

Hello once again and a happy Friday to my fellow shut ins. Hopefully you’re all practicing good social distancing and keeping inside, except for essentials. Good thing alcohol is considered essential! This week, I’m bringing you a cocktail from one of my favorite food personalities, Alton Brown. He put out a video recently of a smoky tequila sour that sounded rather delicious, and fitting for these dour (and sour) times.  It looks easy, and most importantly, delicious. Behold: the Smoky Tequila Sour:

2 oz. combined juice of an entire lime and 1/2 of an orange

1.5 oz Blanco tequila

.5 oz Amaro

2 dashes liquid smoke

1 tsp Agave syrup

Add all ingredients to a shaker, add ice and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a lime wheel.

Once again, we have some housekeeping to take care of beforehand. Lacking agave syrup, I added in an equal amount of simple syrup. Now, to the smoke factor. I do not have liquid smoke either. However, I have a kitchen torch, chunks of hickory wood, a 2 oz. jigger, a pie plate, and a French press carafe. Let’s smoke some tequila!

The tin foil helped keep the smoke from escaping from the spout on the rim of the carafe, and I would say it did a pretty good job. I smoked the 1.5 ounces of tequila for just about an hour, until all of the smoke dissipated. After that I mixed it all together. I think it did a pretty good job, as you could smell the smoke when you go to take a sip.

The hickory smoke is prevalent on the first sip, and lingers a bit before the sour flavors come in, and boy is this sour. The majority lime juice base made sure of that. The amaro I chose to use is Fernet Branca, and that shows up about halfway through the sip, bringing a nice, bitter herbal flavor that starts to become more pronounced throughout the rest of the sip. That increase in bitter really takes the edge off of the smoky-sour flavors that hit you up front. It makes for a nice, full flavored sip.

I’m very interested in trying this the proper way – that is with the liquid smoke and agave added in. The agave might add a bit more sweetness to it, while the liquid smoke would intensify the smoky flavor. The latter I’m not sure how much I would want, especially when I have the means to add my own smoke as well.

Did you notice I never mentioned the flavor of the tequila when describing the flavor palate and the overall taste? That’s because this drink does not taste like there is a lot of booze in it, which can be a good or bad thing. Overall, this is a refreshing and light bodied drinker that takes a little bit of time and effort to make, if you don’t have the liquid smoke. But we’ve got all the time in the world now right? Go forth and smoke your own tequila and make this tonight.

(Banner image found here)