The Friday Cocktail: Tequila Por Mi Amante

As much as I love Charles H. Baker’s 1939 cocktail guide, The Gentleman’s Companion, I have to say that a lot of his recipes are just garbage. Like his Parisian “Good-Morning” which calls for a jigger of absinthe, French vermouth, yellow chartreuse, anisette, and fresh lemon juice. Drink one of those and you’ll give up drinking.

And then there are some spirits that he just doesn’t seem to have a handle on. Like tequila. Tequila, writes, Baker, is “very potent, colourless, and has a strange exotic flavour which—like Holland gin—is an acquired taste.”

He then writes about going on a quest to find a tequila-based cocktail that wasn’t “a definite menace to the gullet and possible fire risk through lighted matches.”

One of the libations he comes up with is Tequila por Mi Amante, or Tequila for My Beloved, which isn’t really a cocktail—it’s just infused tequila. However, I’ve made it (recipe follows) and find that it makes a lovely margarita. Baker’s recipe calls for putting a quart of ripe strawberries in a covered jar, pouring on a pint of tequila, and letting the whole thing steep from three to four weeks.

First of all, a month is way too long. I find that a week is fine, although ten days may be better and two weeks isn’t out of the question. The best way to tell when it’s ready is to taste it every day after you turn the mixture upside down to mix it up. What you’re looking for is when the edge has come off the tequila and seems to have mellowed a bit. The minute you reach that, you’re done. Strain, dump the berries (I haven’t found any good use for drunk strawberries), and pour the mixture into a clean bottle. Store in the refrigerator (there will still be some little strawberry bits in the liquid and you don’t want them going nasty on you).

Now you can drink this straight up (chilled) or on the rocks, and it’s terrific in a Paloma (2 oz. tequila por mi amante over ice in a Collins glass topped with grapefruit soda or, better yet, fresh grapefruit juice), but do try it in a margarita as well. It’s a splendid spring cocktail.

Tequila por Mi Amante

Wash, stem, and cut into halves enough berries to fill a quart-sized jar. Add about a tablespoon of simple syrup to the berries. Pour silver tequila (do not use Jose Cuervo Gold!) up to the top, completely covering the berries. Store in a cool, dark place, turning the jar upside down once or twice a day. Start checking for taste after about a week. When you’ve got it where you want it, strain and pour the liquid into a sterilized bottle. Put in refrigerator or freezer.