Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: With A Little Help From My Friends

Happy Springtime Friday! This week the weather has finally started to warm up and feel like proper spring. Of course there is snow in the forecast for next week, but I’m choosing to ignore that, and enjoy the fact that it touched 70 here today and will be in the high 60s tomorrow. With the weather starting to turn nicer, I went looking for a seasonally appropriate drink this week. I promptly found one in my Google feed called the El Lupolo. The article says this is “…a cocktail of winter looking hopefully toward spring”. That descriptor sold me on making it

1.5 oz. blanco tequila
0.5 oz. lime juice
0.5 oz. Campari
0.5 oz. simple syrup
Top with about 3 oz. IPA
Add all ingredients except for beer into a shaker tin and shake on ice for 6 to 8 seconds. Strain into a tall glass and top with about 3 oz. IPA. Garnish with a grapefruit peel.

Special shoutout to Armed and Hammered for sending me the IPA which is Pocahoptas by Center of the Universe Brewing. He generously sent myself, BFC, Horatio and Spam a variety of beers. The four of us are working on a group review post of the beers, so be on the lookout for that.

Speaking of reviews, How was the El Lupolo? Bitter, but overall pretty good.

The nose here features a slight tequila aroma, with some lime mixed in. Nothing too strong, not even the hoppiness of the IPA shines through.

The first sip is bitter forward, much more so than I thought it would be. The source however is not what I expected. Topping with the beer, I would have assumed IPA related bitterness would be more forward. However the Camapri bitter is the flavor that dominates right out of the gate. The bitter palate and the carbonation from the beer remind me of a kind of spritz, but with much more going on.

About midway through the sip I can somewhat pick up the tequila flavor It does not start out particularly strong, but it slowly intensifies in flavor towards the end. There is a bit of tequila aftertaste that lingers on the palate afterwards.

I’m lacking the grapefruit peel garnish and I really would say I’m missing it. The combination of flavors at work would be enhanced greatly with a little bit of citric acid the garnish provides. This is a case where the garnish really shouldn’t be omitted at all.

Overall, this is a good springtime cocktail. It has a good depth and body that pairs well with the season. Be it the false Spring we’re in right now, or the real one which is hopefully coming soon.

(Banner image found here)

5 5 votes
Article Rating
Sharkbait
Sharkbait has not actually been bitten by a shark, but has told people in bars that he was for free drinks. Married to a Giants fan, he enjoys whisk(e)y, cooking, the Rangers, and the Patriots.
Subscribe
Notify of
28 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
litre_cola

Hippo needs a draw. I need scumbag Villa to win.

King Hippo

dire nil-nil, c’mon!!!

King Hippo

Very interesting. But I am still unwilling to ever approach tequila again…

It’s like the craziest ex, the one who starts fires

Last edited 3 years ago by King Hippo
bk109

Why? Tequilla (while a bit too tame ) is fun enough to drink with mates on a warm day!

bk109

Happy Saturday (an’ alleged summer) y’all from misty ‘straya (aka a country where you get serious stink-eye for having a federal government-issued quarantine exemption … pending a clean ‘rona check, of course)
Edit: … ” Pocahoptas by Center of the Universe Brewing.” Puns and an non self-aware cringe brewery name… and yet it’s not in Brooklyn (or Brooklyn-west, AKA Portland)… THEY ESCAPED CUNTTAINMENT

Last edited 3 years ago by bk109
Game Time Decision

Saturday?

Not sure if you’ve travelled way east or have no idea of the day of the week

bk109

I travelled so far to the southwest that I ended up in Canberra, lol (I’ve got a series of meetings first thing on Monday)

That said, I am regretting my choice of not extending my rest and refuel stop in Hawaii, because stuff here is still under a serious lockdown (so I’m basically restricted to my hotel)

Edit: In case Viva La Tabula Raza’s (knowledge of the USAF/defence contracts) around, I have a potential 9mm to the back of the head question for him – namely if he can think of any reason why there was a Janet over the middle of nowhere (200 miles or so west of American Samoa) ?

Last edited 3 years ago by bk109
Game Time Decision

Safe travels

bk109

Thanks! That’s the plan at least and because I’m an ungrateful bastard, I went from “I miss not being a de-facto prisoner” to … “I miss the lockdowns” faster than you can say “BOHICA and think of the pay packet XD”

Last edited 3 years ago by bk109
ArmedandHammered

My son just works there but he has joined the bearded beer hipster movement. Which is really funny as he is 6ft 3in, massive gut, and really wide shoulders. At least I talked him into getting rid of the manbun. As for the names, as his boss said, “Eh, it sells beers”

bk109

So does a shotgun pointed at your nuts, but … that doesn’t make it right 😀 As for your son, you can try consoling yourself that he’s only doing it it to survive his tour of duty with the hipsters and become “normal”* … eventually 😀
*normal in this case may vary wildly, because what is even “normal” these days? I think I’m normal, yet have tanks. Hippo seems to be normal, yet somehow is a proud fookin’ supporter both of not-Liverpool AND the Donks. RTD also seems normal, yet is asking for glorified aftershave gin suggestions 😀

ArmedandHammered

Ah, he’s doing OK, still gaming and a huge Warhammer 40k tabletop nerd. Which reminds me have you seen the Unification patch for Dawn of War: Soulstorm which added a bunch of new races and units to the base computer game. I am going to give it a try later as I think you can play as the Tyrannids now. Plus new units for the older factions.

litre_cola

I love when my mix is booze.

Game Time Decision

Goes well with the “turf and turf”
-Nick Offrrman

ArmedandHammered

Glad to be of help and I look forward to your reviews, especially of the beers from Burial which was probably my favorite brewery when I could still drink beer, followed by Green Man ESB (English Style Bitters) which I miss so very, very much.

Dunstan

Can’t remember the last time I had an ESB, though it’s a style I remember liking. Used to get Red Hook ESB occasionally, but I don’t see ESBs of any kind around much these days.

ArmedandHammered

I think that is why I tried it, had never heard of it till I went to Greenman’s brewery. I think that is all I drank that weekend. I found it down in Raleigh as the brewery is small and is located in Asheville. Speaking of which, if you ever want to tour a bunch of breweries then Asheville is a great place. There is a place called the Thirsty Monk, which has there own beers plus lots of others, the basement bar only served Belgian beers at the taps. I lost a good part of a day there….

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

I crashed at Warren Wilson College in Asheville one night. The next day we started driving and didn’t stop (other than for gas and food) until we hit Las Vegas.

bk109

that’s what 30-something hours driving the speed limit (give or take) ?

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Yeah, I think it was like 28.

bk109

Nice, I made a similar run (but with the wife eastwards that was a lot longer, because she got massive food poisoning at a Taco Bell between KC and St Louis (so onwards to Boston was … “eventful” 😀 )

bk109

… your beer sense didn’t triangulate every concentration of beer higher than a sixpack per square meter automagically?! Are you like unwell… or did all these cocktails dull yer senses?

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Our lime tree is dropping fruit right now so I’ve got to use them; I was thinking gimlets. Which gin would be better – Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire?

Warthog

Gin rickeys are nice for sitting in the sun.

Dunstan

Also, I have a song to go with them

King Hippo

Sapphire!