Mexican Spitfire: The Actress, The Temptress, The Suicide... The Cocktail

Today's new cocktail is a tip of the glass to an exotic Hollywood star of old, Lupe Vélez.

Vélez had the distinction of being the first (or at least one of the very first) Mexican actresses to break into Hollywood. She was feisty from a young age, a deviant child sent to a convent at thirteen – which only made matters worse. By her late teens she showed a passion for the theater and vaudeville, and left Mexico to make her Hollywood silent-film debut in 1927. She transitioned to talkies and starred opposite the likes of Jimmy Durante, Gary Cooper, Lon Chaney, and Edward G. Robinson. Many films and a Broadway-stint later, she became as well-known for her exotic image on the screen as for her strong and passionate personality off it.

In the late 1930′s, she was making comedies, most notably as a fiery Mexican girl in the aptly named “The Girl From Mexico,” a role she reprised six more times in films named, “The Mexican Spitfire.” It was a fitting persona that revitalized her career and quickly became her nickname (though she apparently wasn’t happy about it).

On the other side of the camera, her life was just as torrid, including affairs with numerous co-stars (such as Gary Cooper - about whom she said 'he had the biggest member in Hollywood, but not the buttocks to use it'), a rocky marriage with “Tarzan” actor, Jonny Weissmuller, and an out-of-wedlock pregnancy with actor Harald Maresch. This was seemingly her reason for suicide. Vélez took her life and that of her unborn child on December 14th, 1944, and named Maresch as the father in her suicide note. She was 36 years old.

It’s the circumstances of her death that are even more controversial. The photos and files on her crime scene mysteriously disappeared, leading to a wealth of founded and unfounded gossip. On the positive end, the first story had her dying in a peaceful sleep in an expensive gown on her silk-covered bed after overdosing on Seconal sleeping pills. Sadly, the most prominent story was the rumour that she was found drowned in her own toilet (and vomit) – hardly a glamorous end for a Hollywood star. It was only last year – seventy years later – that a crime scene photo of a deceased Vélez was discovered and validated, showing her lying peacefully on the floor in a beautiful floral dress.

In remembrance of the lovely Miss Vélez – her talent, passion, and Hollywood suicide – we raise a glass with the “Mexican Spitfire.” It’s a tart, fiery strong, but fruity and refreshing mix of tequila blanco, fresh lime, pineapple juice, Green Chartreuse, and a touch of habanero pepper tincture (courtesy of Scrappy's Firewater).

1.5 oz tequila blanco
0.5 oz green chartreuse
0.75 oz pineapple juice
0.5 oz lime juice
dash Scrappy's Firewater (to taste)

Shake with ice, double strain. 

Modern Mondays: "Chartreuse & The Chocolate Factory"

I'm always encountering new cocktail ideas, recipes, and techniques. I hope to catalogue as much as possible on this site to encourage a sense of community and in hopes that every professional and home bartender will inspire every other so we all continue to create and share. A little alliteration helps in these situations, so "Modern Mondays" seemed fitting enough for sharing new ideas. I have no intention of doing this every Monday, but a couple a month is definitely a start. Let's get to it.

We're currently in the fall limbo between Halloween and Christmas (up here anyway, I guess all you southerners still have your Thanksgiving to come), and I'm lucky to have been sent a few fall cocktails to share before I get into my upcoming Christmas series in December. These didn't make it into my series last month, but are too delicious to pass up.

The infamous and renowned David Wolowidnyk from West on South Granville in Vancouver is sharing his herbal and chocolatey sipper aptly titled "Chartreuse & The Chocolate Factory." His story behind this is simple:
"Picture the night security guard at the chocolate factory falling asleep drunk while drinking Chartreuse and eating walnuts and somehow burning the place to the ground."

Sad but delicious - my kind of drink.

Chartreuse & The Chocolate Factory

2oz Maker's Mark Bourbon infused with Cocoa Nibs
1/2oz Green Chartreuese
1/2 oz Cynar
Dash Fee's Black Walnut Bitters

Stir ingredients with ice. Strain over new ice.
Mist surface with Ardbeg 10 Year-Old Single Malt Scotch.

Maraschino March: "Primer Beso" from The Refinery

As promised, we move on to a cocktail that uses, no joke, a full ounce and a half of Maraschino. General manager at The Refinery, Graham Racich, informed me upon accepting the challenge this month that he was going to use it as a base, and I believed him... but maybe I didn't really believe him. Once again, Tequila shows up as a complimentary ingredient to the Maraschino, and like The Last Word, so do Green Chartreuse and lime, but it's difficult to imagine how any flavours can poke through that ounce and a half. However, in The Last Word, both the lime and Chartreuse really prove to not only calm down the Maraschino but blend really well with it, and this is, as Graham puts it, an inverted version of it. Upon tasting, you got a strong hit of the Maraschino, but it backs off really quickly and you start to get the lime flavours, then last you get all the herbs and a bit of spice from the Chartreuse and Tequila. It's a surprisingly tame cocktail considering what's in it, and while very sweet in texture, isn't too much so in flavour. There's definitely room for experimenting here with other bitters, but if you want the true experience, get to The Refinery and have him make it with his house-made lime one.


Thanks to Graham and The Refinery for the contribution!
(you can check out my review of The Refinery here)

Here is, Primer Beso (meaning "first kiss" in Spanish).

Primer Beso

1.5 oz Maraschino

0.75oz Blanco Tequila

0.75oz fresh lime Juice

0.5oz Green Chartreuse

Dash of homemade lime bitters
Shake and strain.

[[ see "Oden's Muse" from Tavern Law here ]]
[[ see "The Hemingway Solution" from Vessel here ]]
[[ see the Maraschino March introduction here ]]
[[ see "The Division Bell" from Mayahuel here ]]
[[ see "The Shibuya Crusta" from L'Abattoir here ]]
[[ see "The Unforgiven" from Russell Davis at Rickhouse here ]]
[[ see "The Rubicon" from Jamie Boudreau at Canon here ]]

The Last Word

The Last Word is an older cocktail than people realize - if they’ve heard of it at all. It disappeared for probably 40 years until one of the great modern American bartenders, Murray Stenson, brought it to cult status in the mid 2000’s at the Zig Zag Café in Seattle. According to “Bottom’s Up!” by Ted Saucier, published in 1951, The Last Word was created in the 1920’s at the Detroit Athletic Club, making it a Prohibition-era cocktail.
It is one of the drinks that got me really interested in cocktails, and one of my favourites overall.

The Ingredients
On paper, it can seem daunting if you know the flavours of Green Chartreuse and Maraschino liqueur - or confusing if you don’t. Green Chartreuse (which hails from 1700's France, is naturally green, and is made from 130 different herbs) is a very potent herbal liqueur with an extremely interesting and deep flavour, and can overpower cocktails if not used properly and probably scare off the uninitiated if tasted straight. Maraschino liqueur is also a very interesting and potent flavour that can even more easily overpower a drink if not used properly, and is even more likely to scare newcomers away. It’s not red or overly sweet or fake or related to those fake and gross maraschino cocktail cherries (often not even made from real cherries). It’s a Croatian liqueur made from Marasca cherries and their pits, and tastes a little like fruit, nuts, herbs, and, well… Maraschino liqueur. (Also, it’s pronounced ma-ra-SKEE-no).
They’re both used in some fantastic drinks – particularly Maraschino, which is a must for your bar if you’re interested in classic cocktails. The two of them together in one drink balanced by citrus works in perfect harmony. The sweetness of the Maraschino and Chartreuse balance the sour lime, the herbal Chartreuse brings out the herbal character of the gin, the Maraschino has a subtle fruit profile that fits nicely with any juice, and both the sweet liqueurs seem to calm each other down. You can really taste the character of both yet feel like you're having something new.  I think it's fair to say that The Last Word is one of the most perfectly balanced drinks there is.
Maraschino is a must for your bar, and I recommend getting Chartreuse for fun as well, if only to make this particular cocktail.

The Recipe
Combine equal parts of:
Gin
Maraschino Liqueur
Green Chartreuse
Lime juice (fresh)
In a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake, strain into a cocktail glass
3/4oz of each ingredient makes for a good sized drink, I wouldn't go for more unless you have big glasses.
For the gin, I suggest something herbal to complement the Chartreuse, like my rock, Tanqueray (he's always got my back), or my special, fancy friends - Hendrick's or Martin Miller.

The History
In the early 20th century, Detroit was named the “Paris of the West” because of its beautiful architecture, and its Washington Boulevard, which was "lit up" by Thomas Edison. Construction was a huge industry here at the time, as were automobiles, and Americans were flooding in from the south and immigrants from Europe to get a piece of the job market and the bourgeoning businesses. (As an aside, having so many Europeans coming to Detroit probably brought an influx of European spirits and liqueurs, like say perhaps Chartreuse and Maraschino…) Because of this, population actually increased 6-fold from 1900 to 1930. Unions were being formed to protect workers, but of course the Great Depression had a huge impact on such a big city with so many jobs.
Due to the population booms, Detroit became a big jazz city like New Orleans, Chicago, and New York. One of Detroit’s biggest jazz names at the time was William McKinney and McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, and soon Don Redman (from Fletcher Henderson’s band) joined up and the orchestra became as impressive and influential as even Duke Ellington’s. Redman was integral to the development of big band swing and jazz arrangement.
So let’s celebrate The Last Word with some Detroit jazz, courtesy of Don Redman with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, and tip our hats to both Ted Saucier and Murray Stenson for keeping this fantastic cocktail alive.

The Margarita

To top off the series of posts on tequila, here is one exclusively on the most famous of tequila drinks, and one of the most famous cocktails there is - The Margarita.
Unfortunately, there's no definitive birth of the drink, but I'll go through each of the supposed stories. Double unfortunately, this drink is often butchered by use of artificial sour and fruit mixes, and blenders, so below I'll give you the most traditional recipe we know of, as well as some fun variations if you want to try something new.

The History
There are several stories as to how, when, and where the drink was created. One such story is that Don Carlos Orozco at Hussong’s Cantina in Ensada, Mexico, invented it in 1941. Orozco was visited by Margarita Henkel, the daughter of a German ambassador, and offered his latest experiment to her before naming the drink after her.
Carlos Herrera also possibly created the drink at the Rancho la Gloria Hotel near Tijuana, where he invented it for a dancer named Marjorie King, who was supposedly allergic to all alcohol except tequila, which she still refused to drink straight. The owner of La Plaza Hotel in San Diego brought the recipe from Mexico to the U.S. where it became popular after 1947.
Another story for which I can’t find much detail is that Santos Cruz created the drink for singer Peggy Lee at the Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas, in 1948.
There is also a story of a bartender in Juarez who was asked to make a Magnoliia cocktail, but couldn't remember any ingredients except Cointreau, so just made up something new and named it after a different flower - the Margarita.
Lastly, and most likely, it appears to just be a variation on the very old and constantly evolving Daisy cocktail, which hails from the mid to late 1800’s and originally contained brandy and lemon with dashes of curacao, rum, gum syrup, and soda. In the early 20th century, this evolved into brandy and lemon with grenadine and sugar, or brandy and lemon with curacao (which eventually became The Sidecar), and then other spirits started to get used, leading to a Gin Daisy (which evolved into the Cosmopolitan with vodka), or even a Tequila Daisy in the 1940’s. Increase the amount of orange liqueur and switch the lemon to a lime and you have a Margarita - which actually means "daisy" in spanish. Such is the evolution and creation of almost any cocktail. There are hundreds of recipes that vary only slightly on different themes and ingredients, but they all basically break down to a handful of classic recipes - the Cocktail, the Crusta, the Daisy, etc.

Stories and decorated histories is part of what makes cocktails so much fun, but most of the time there are just a lot of bartenders everywhere at the same time doing simple variations on a theme and coming up with new ideas.

The Recipe
The traditional Margarita is just tequila, triple sec (Cointreau is best), and lime juice, served on the rocks (with a salt rim or not), and definitely not blended.  Below are 3 separate recipes for you to try at home, starting with the most basic.

Traditional Margarita
There are countless recipes for this drink, so the best thing to do is experiment and find what you like. 3:2:1 or 4:2:1 (like the Sidecar) is always a good way to go for a sour, so let's do that!
2 oz tequila blanco or reposado
1 oz Cointreau (or other triple sec / curacao to taste)
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. 
Garnish with a lime wedge if you like, and salt the rim if you like (but I would suggest not if you have a really nice tequila).
How to salt a rim? Well I can't find a video anywhere at the moment that doesn't either do it in a rimmer tray by dunking the glass in, which is not only messy but also not nearly as classy as it should be, or one that does the rim really messily. I'll find good pictures or a video and do a whole post it on next time.

Margarita Especial
I got this one from Charlotte Voisey on her Small Screen Network show, The Proper Pour. It's a fun way to play with the agave flavour of tequila. If you can't find agave nectar, you can use agave syrup (which you can just buy in Safeway or just about anywhere), but you need to cut down the amount by half because it contains a lot of sugar.
2 oz tequila (reposado preferred)
1 oz agave nectar (or 1/2 oz agave syrup)
1 oz fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain over a rocks glass filled with ice. 
Garnish with a lime wedge.

Now here's a really awesome one that my brother made me in San Francisco, but I'm not sure where he found the recipe. It's a totally different collection of flavours, but they all really compliment the tequila. It's definitely worth trying out if you have the ingredients and want something new!
3/4 oz Mezcal (or tequila reposado)
3/4 oz tequila blanco
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
My brother tells me you're supposed to float a peaty Scotch over the top of the cocktail, which would really accent the smokiness of a Mezcal if you have it, but just the above by itself is fantastic. If you do want to experiment with smokey flavours, you can also try throwing a dash of Lap Sang Su Shong tea or infused syrup in there.

Experiment, switch some ingredients, throw dashes of new things in there (maraschino pairs with tequila in a cool way) and have fun!

The Culture
California in the early 20th century was really a progressive and unionized state, and by WWII they had old-age assistance, unemployment compensation, workplace safety rules, and over 120,000 union members in many professions. Los Angeles became the centre of the universe in terms of film-making, San Francisco became an industry power-house, and San Diego became a hub for American military and defense.
California really acclimated itself to Mexican culture, particularly in San Diego (which was for a time actually part of Mexico), and Mexican food, film, music, and the Spanish language all became integrated into American life there.
The biggest musical influence of Mexican music was Mariachi, which had become prevalent in the mid-1800’s and really accepted into America in the 1940’s. Mariachi actually originated in the state of Jalisco, which is where tequila is made (see how I came full circle there).

Perhaps the most famous and prolific film and music stars in Mexico throught the 1930's to 1950's was Pedro Infante, who not only made over 60 films through the golden age of Mexican film, but also recorded more than 350 songs. Listening to his music you can really hear a Mexican tradition but also an American influence in the production and arrangements, which pairs very nicely with the Margarita which also has a blend of the two cultures.
Enjoy your Margarita of choice while enjoying this classic by Pedro Infante - Serenata Tapatia.

The 6th thing you need to start mixing drinks at home

BOOZE

Ok, so you picked up some cheap glassware, a shaker, some citrus fruits, some sort of measuring tool, and you made your simple syrup (you learned all this from Part 1). All you need is some alcohol to mix.
Here are the most basic and cheapest things to pick up so you can start making some drinks...

A Base Spirit
The cocktail "base" is the alcohol you're using most in a drink. Everything else you're adding to accentuate certain flavours in this spirit. Probably the most commonly used spirit in cocktails, especially traditional ones, is gin, so that's definitely the first thing you should pick up. I have a beginner's guide to gin Part 1 and Part 2 coming soon, but for now I'll simply tell you to go buy Tanqueray or Beefeaters. They're both cheap ($23-26 for a 750mL bottle) and versatile. Tanqueray is more interesting and more herbal, Beefeater is much simpler and a little citrusy.

The next most common and classic base spirit is probably whiskey. A lot of drinking novices cringe a little when you say whiskey, but there are not only some really tasty and easy-to-drink ones for cheap, there are also a lot of easy cocktails you'll probably like even if you don't like whiskey itself. My lady is a great example - we used to go out for drinks and she'd make faces when I'd order whiskey cocktails and even made faces after trying some of them. Then she tried a Red Hook... then a Bensonhurst... then a Manhattan and a Brooklyn and so on and so forth and now she loves whiskey.
If you're new to whiskey, I suggest getting bourbon. It's sweeter with a little spice, mixes really well, and is very sippable if you're not used to rye or scotch. Get a bottle of Jim Beam or Wild Turkey - they're the cheapest at $23-26 per 750mL bottle, but they're definitely fine in cocktails and easy to use. They're not great sippers, though, so I'd just use them for mixing.
Don't buy Canadian Whiskey. It sucks and it's boring (sure that's a generalization - but a pretty accurate one).

I would go with one of the above to start, but if you're past that or have a bunch of money to spend and want more, move on to rum or brandy. For rum, pick up Mount Gay Eclipse gold or silver rum. They're only $27 for 750mL bottle, they're delicious, they mix really well, and they're tasty enough to drink straight. I'm much, much less knowledgeable about brandy, and I honestly buy cheap, small bottles because I rarely make drinks with it and I never drink it straight. Couvoisier VS is a very decent one, but will cost you $56 for 750mL bottle (I'm finding any good brandies or Cognacs are very expensive). I just usually get St. Remy VSOP, which is only $12 for a small bottle, and I only really use it for mixing a couple drinks. There is a very dramatic taste difference between a cheap brandy like this and a decent Cognac, as I'm sure you would imagine, but if you're just mixing some new drinks, it's not necessary YET. (Soon I'm going to do a guide on brandy to build my own knowledge and guide collection)

A Vermouth
A long list of cocktails contain vermouth - a fortified wine with added herb botanicals - including a lot of the classics. You'll definitely need bottles around, one white (or dry or French - all the same thing), and one red (or sweet or Italian - all the same thing). I personally really dislike Martini & Rossi, but it is the cheapest way to go, and they're the only brand in Canada that offers small bottles for only $8 - which is great because vermouth will always go bad before you finish using it. If you want to go a little nicer, Noilly Prat dry vermouth is only $14, and Cinzano Rosso sweet vermouth is only $13. If you only want to buy one... look at some cocktail recipes you want and just choose. Sweet vermouth is used more often with whiskey, and dry more often with gin.
Keep your vermouth in the fridge!! You can only keep it for a month before it starts to smell and taste funky, so be prepared for that. 

Bitters
The actual definition of a "cocktail" is a base spirit, water, bitters, and sugar. A lot of traditional cocktails will call for bitters, and there are a lot being produced nowadays that really change the complexity of a cocktail.
Unfortunately in Canada, the only bitters that's easy to find it Angostura, and our government liquor stores don't sell any at all. Fortunately, you can just pick it up in Safeway for $7-8, and one of those bottles lasts me about 6 months.
If you want to experiment in the future with other kinds, The Bitter Truth will ship to you, and they make a whole range of really interesting bitters, from chocolate to grapefruit to celery to traditional-style Creole bitters. Out of a store, the Gourmet Warehouse on Hastings near Commercial has some cool syrups and a huge range of bitters, and I also hear that there is a liquor store somewhere near 16th Street in North Vancouver that sells a lot of hard to find stuff... but the store itself is hard to find. I still can't find a listing for it, nor have I learned the name, but I've had more than one bartender tell me that this magical place exists. When I find out, I'll let you know.
So hit up the Gourmet Warehouse if you want to try some new or interesting things, but to start, you only really need Angostura and an orange bitters.

Modifiers
Now, this is really up to you. A modifier is that special other ingredient that makes a drink different. Like I said, a cocktail is just bitters, sugar, and a spirit with water, but the evolution of drinking has brought in many other things. I can't tell you what to get unless you know what you want to make!

If you're past the point of basics, though, I can recommend a few things that really spiced up my bar early on:
Amari - Italian bitter liqueurs which are meant to be drunk straight, but there are lots of drinks you can make with them. Lots of bars are experimenting with amari nowadays, and they're all really delicious. Only a few are easy to find though, and Campari is a great way to start. It runs $26 for a 750mL bottle, and you only use small amounts so it will last a long time. It has a distinctive bright red colour, an interesting range of bitter herbal flavours, and is an important ingredient in some great, classic cocktails like the Lucien Gaudin, The Negroni, and The Americano. (The latter post there has some extra information on Campari as well).

Cointreau (which is the high-end triple sec, or orange liqueur) has a lot of uses, and you can pick up a small bottle for $18.

Green Chartreuse is a very, very cool thing to have around. It's an herbal liqueur from the 18th century made with over 130 different plants and herbs. One of my favourite drinks is The Last Word, which calls for Chartreuse, but there are actually quite a few other things you can make with it. It is expensive at $36 for a small bottle, so is a treat, but is so potent that you won't use a lot of it. And it's naturally green! In fact, the colour Chartreuse was named after it.

Last thing I definitely recommend getting at some point if you want to expand your horizons is Maraschino Liqueur. No, it's not a red, cherry-flavoured, sugar syrup. It's a very interestingly flavoured liqueur dating back to 16th century Croatia, and is used in a lot of very old cocktails, including the father of the Martini - the Martinez. You can't get this in the regular BC Liquor Store, but a lot of independent places have it, like Brewery Creek on Main Street, or the independent liquor store in the Park Royal South Village in West Vancouver.

I hope all this helps in getting you going and giving you some options as to where you'll start. I've had so much fun experimenting and mixing drinks and getting connected to periods of history I really enjoy, particularly Prohibition, which is when so much good art and music and style was happening. Be open-minded, use good ingredients when you can, always have ice handy, follow recipes closely, and be adventurous!
I also have to take a moment to plug the Pourhouse. It's my favourite bar in Vancouver, with probably the best bartenders in Vancouver, and they really insist upon giving you a good experience, good information, and classic cocktails. It's in gastown. If you're not really into this yet, one trip there will get you excited.