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TEQUILA
The name ‘tequila’ comes from the region
where most of the good stuff is made.
That’s in Mexico for the geographically
challenged. Tequila is made not from
cactus as people tend to assume, but
from another succulent altogether. This
is the exotic-sounding blue agave.
That’s the good stuff, anyway. The cheap
stuff gets 49% of its sugar from other
sources like...well...sugar.
There are three main styles of tequila.
You get clear blanco or ‘silver’ tequila,
which is fairly bland like most white spirits.
(Sorry, vodka lovers!) Then there is anejo
at the other end of the spectrum. It is aged
in oak for at least one year and it is the
most expensive. However, the oak can
overpower tequila’s natural aromas and
flavours. Lastly, you get reposado.
For me this is the real stuff. Reposado
means ‘rested’ and it spends between
two and 12 months in oak and has
a hint of colour. It is best served
neat or in a margarita. Look for the
Patrón and Cazadores brands
at the 100% blue agave end
of the market.
CACHAÇA
Cachaça (pronounced ‘ka-sha-sa’)
has its home in Brazil and most of it is
drunk there. It is (like rum) the product
of distilled sugar cane. It differs from
rum in that it is not made from
molasses, but from the juice of the
cane itself. It can be aged in oak
(gold) or bottled immediately (white).
Caipirinha (pronounced ‘ky-pareen-ya’)
is the national cocktail of
Brazil and one of my favourites. It is
both refreshing and full of flavour.
Don’t use aged cachaça for this.
Stick to the ‘white’ cachaça. To make
a caipirinha, combine 20 ml of sugar
syrup and half a cut and smashed
up lime (cut into sections and use a
muddler). Cover in crushed ice and
add about 50 ml of cachaça.
The Sagatiba brand gets a hard
time from connoisseurs for being too
commercial, but I find the quality to be
high. Standard pricing in Canada is
between $37 and $40, but the LCBO
is currently selling it for $29.99.
PISCO
A friend of mine told me that a few years
ago she and a boyfriend vacationed in the
jungles of Peru. He could handle his drink
well and one afternoon she went for a nap,
leaving him by the pool in the company of
a local sergeant major. They were drinking
pisco sours. When she returned she
found him blathering and the sergeant
major said they’d had a wonderful
discussion. She found this surprising since
the sergeant major spoke no English and
her boyfriend spoke no Spanish.
Chile and Peru have been disputing
the home of ‘genuine’ pisco (pronounced
‘pees-ko’) for generations, though there
is considerable evidence that it was
created in the latter country, brought by the
Spaniards who colonized Peru. After the
gold rush and up until the 1970s, before
political upheaval in Peru nearly devastated
the production of the spirit, pisco was the
most popular drink in San Francisco. For
many years after it fell into disfavour, even
among Peruvians, and earned a
rather nasty reputation. It wasn’t
until recently that entrepreneurs
started buying back land and
producing pisco according to
artisanal traditions. As the quality
once again improves, helped by
the government-run body Consejo
Regulador del Pisco (CRP),
which oversees its production,
pisco is slowly reclaiming its
popularity and pisco-based
drinks are popping up in
bars around the world.
If you’re in the mood to
try it, or it’s the first Saturday
in February (National Pisco
Sour Day in Peru), here is
how you make a pisco sour.
Mix 60 ml of pisco, 30 ml
of lime juice, 1 egg white,
25 ml of sugar syrup and a
dash of bitters (preferably
local or Angostura if
Peruvian is not available).
Feel free to adjust the
quantities, but don’t
substitute lemon for
lime juice. Shake it
over ice before serving.
It should froth. nV
ENSEMBLE VACATIONS FALL 2009
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