Limoncello and Tequila for Memorial Day Weekend

I was looking through my ever growing liquor bottle stash and noticed the tall bottle of Limoncello that seems to stand out over the rest. As I pulled it out of the cabinet, I wondered what can I now do with this bottle after the Limoncello and Prosecco with Fruit Ice Cubes on Mothers Day experience. I started wondering to myself: What goes well with Lemons. It hit me immediately: Tequila!!!! Problem was, I didn't have any. Well, off I went in search of some Tequila. After making a stop at Taco Bell I stopped off at a small liquor store where I picked up two small bottles of Hornitos. One was the Plata (Silver) and one was the ever popular Bleecker Street Bar mainstay Reposado. So armed with my two Mexican spirits, I marched on home to make two refeshing cocktails for this Memorial Day weekend.

I used the Hornitos Silver first. I came across this recipe for a simple drink called the Stone Park Collins in the article TEQUILA DRINKS TO SHAKE UP AT HOME by Erica Sagon on the sheknows.com website. Based on a cocktail made at the Stone Park Cafe located at 324 Fifth Avenue, corner of 3rd Street Park Slope Brooklyn , this is recipe for the drink:

Stone Park Cocktail
1-1/2 ounces silver tequila
1 ounce Pallini limoncello
1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup

Directions:
Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, then strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with soda and garnish with an orange twist

I decided to make it in one of my trusty glasses since I don't own any highball glasses (yet, soon soon). Luckily for me I made a batch of simple syrup the other day so I was ready to go.

What I found was a nice semi sweet cocktail. The sweetness from the Limoncello and the simple syrup was balanced with the silver tequila and the lemon juice. This is one dangerous cocktail since before I knew it, the cool and refreshing drink was gone down my throat. Delicious. This might be the kind of drink to upscale and make as a punch. To place in a pitcher and have people serve themselves at their leisure. Ok, on to cocktail number two.

For this one I decided to use the Hornitos Reposado that seems to be the shooting Tequila of choice at the Bleecker Street Bar. Many a tequila monster is unleashed after a few of these are poured on a given evening. If found the recipe for a Tequila Mockingbird 2 on the In The Land of Cocktails website. Here is the recipe:

Tequila Mockingbird 2
2 ounces Reposado tequila
1 ounce Limon­cello
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 drops Angos­tura bit­ters
½ ounce Sim­ple Syrup (or more to taste)
1 lemon twist, for garnish

Fill a Mar­garita glass with ice to chill and set aside. Com­bine the tequila, limon­cello, lemon juice, bit­ters in a cock­tail shaker filled with ice and shake vig­or­ously. Add the Sim­ple Syrup, adding more if nec­es­sary. Strain the drink into a chilled glass gar­nish with a lemon twist and serve imme­di­ately. Makes one cocktail.

This cocktail is bolder and not as sweet as the Stone Park Collins. I would attribute that to the Hornitos Reposado and the bitters. The fact that it is bolder than the Stone Park Collins means that I can enjoy it longer. The Collins seemed to just disappear. Not that its a bad thing. Not at all. The drinks are just different. The drink has a light caramel or amber color to it not the darker color as in the picture on the website. I guess it would depend on which kind of Reposado that you use would determine the color of the cocktail.

I really like this drink. I like its flavor, its presentation. Its got a cool style to it. Tony Bennett and Billy Joel's jazzy version of New York State of Mind from Playin' With My Friends: Tony Bennett Sings the Blues that is currently playing as I write this compliments the drink to a "T". Life is good people. Life is good.

Happy Holiday Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla