Take Your Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead Celebration Up A Notch With These Cocktails

Take Your Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead Celebration Up A Notch With These Tequila Cocktails

Día de los Muertos marks the celebration of remembering deceased loved ones and helping them along their spiritual journeys. The Mexican holiday honors the journey between life and death through the power of delicious food and drink offering to loved ones that have passed. Instead of mourning, it is an opportunity to celebrate life and to demonstrate love and respect for deceased family members. Traditionally, a shot of tequila or any agave-based libation to toast the spirits of the departed is offered, so we have listed a few festive tequila cocktails to help you enjoy a feast for the senses.

Take Your Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead Celebration Up A Notch With These Delicious Tequila Cocktails

Zesty Rambutan

Ingredients:

2 oz Espanita Blanco Tequila
6-7 Rambutans
1-2 Jalapeño slices, seeds removed
25 oz fresh ginger juice
1 oz triple sec
1Tbsp frozen concentrated Limeade

Method:

Grate a piece of ginger and squeeze the juice out. Measure 0.25 oz in a jigger. Next, peel the skins from rambutans, remove the seeds and slice the fruit. Place sliced rambutan flesh and jalapeño slices in a Boston shaker and muddle. Add Espanita Blanco tequila, fresh ginger juice, triple sec, limeade and a handful of ice. Now, shake vigorously and strain through the fine mesh strainer into a cocktail glass filled with fresh ice.

Mango Star-Rise

Ingredients:

2 oz Espanita Reposado Tequila
2 oz Mango Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 Starfruit (also known as carambola)
1 oz Grenadine

Method:

Slice one starfruit and remove visible seeds with a tip of a knife. Muddle sliced star fruit in a pulp, measure 1 oz of pureed star fruit in a jigger and add to the Boston Shaker. Next, add Mango and Orange Juice (freshly pressed juice is preferable), Espanita Reposado tequila and a handful of ice. Shake well, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass filled with fresh ice. Now, gently pour grenadine down the inside of the glass so that it does not get mixed with the cocktail and slowly sinks to the bottom of the glass. Garnish the drink with a slice of a starfruit and serve immediately.

Otoño Sangría

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Hiatus Tequila Blanco
1 oz Blood orange Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
.75 oz Lemon Juice
.5 oz Simple Syrup
1 oz Red wine floater

Method:

Build all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Top off with ice, then shake hard for roughly 10-15 seconds until the outside of the shaker begins to frost over. Strain into a highball filled with ice or a wine glass. Top off with a float of red wine. Garnish with a dried wheel of blood orange.

Té-quila Caliente

Ingredients:

5 oz Hiatus Tequila Reposado
6 oz Hot Green Tea
75 oz Honey
5 oz Lemon Juice

Method:

Steep green tea in a tea pot. Steep for 10-20 minutes, double the time that you would normally steep your tea. Add all other ingredients to your glass. Pour in the hot tea and stir. Squeeze the oils of a lemon twist over the glass and garnish with the twist.

Tequila Moonrise

Ingredients:

1 ½ parts Patrón Silver
½ parts Grenadine
4 parts Apple Cider
Apple Moon for Garnish

Method:

Combine ingredients in an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with an apple moon.

Margarita Monster

Ingredients:

1 ½ parts Patrón Silver
1 part Melon Liqueur
¾ parts Fresh squeeze Lime Juice
Simple syrup (to taste / optional)
Watermelon Balls for Garrnish

Method:

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake with ice to chill. Strain onto fresh ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with watermelon balls.

Jalisco Flip

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Hiatus Tequila Reposado
0.75 oz Averna
0.5 oz Cane
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
1 Whole Egg

Method:

Build all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and dry shake vigorously without ice for 15 seconds, or until all ingredients are completely emulsified. Add ice and shake vigorously , until outside of the tin begins to frost over. Double strain into a Georgian tea- like glass and garnish with a few drops of angostura bitters. Next, drag a toothpick or a garnishing skewer through the bitters to make hearts.

Smoke Break

Ingredients:

2 oz Hiatus Tequila Blanco
75 oz Grapefruit Juice
75 oz Lime Juice
50 oz Chipotle Syrup (2:1) *
3 Dashes Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Method:

Build all ingredients in a shaker tin. Top off with ice, shake for 10-15 seconds. Double strain rocks glass or goblet with one large ice cube, garnish with torched cinnamon stick.

*Chipotle Syrup (2:1): Bring 1 Pint of water to a boil, add 2-3 dried chipotle chiles, turn the heat off. Let steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain the chiles, making sure to press out all of the liquid through a chinois and measure. Add the liquid back to a pot and measure out double the weight of the liquid in sugar, add that to the pot and stir on med-high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once cooled; label, date, and store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 month.

La Revolución

Ingredients:

1.25 oz Hiatus Tequila Anejo
0.75 oz Earl Grey Tea Infused Carpano Antica *
0.50 oz Pierre Ferrand Cognac
0.25 oz Slivovitz Plum Brandy 2 Dash Burlesque Bitters
1 Dash Hopped Grapefruit Bitters

Method:

Build ingredients into a cocktail glass. Stir for 10-15 seconds depending on Ice.

*Earl Grey Infusion: Steep 40 GM of rinsed Earl Grey tea with one bottle of Carpano Antica Formula for 30 minutes. Strain with a chinois and funnel back into Carpano bottle. Label, date and store in the fridge up to 2 months.

Veracruz Water

Ingredients:

1 oz Hiatus Tequila Añejo
1 oz Lime Juice
0.50 oz Rhum Clement Creole Shrub
0.50 oz Orgeat syrup
0.50 oz Rhum JM

Method:

Build all ingredients in a shaker tin, top off with ice, then shake until tin begins to frost over (10-15 seconds). Strain into rocks glass with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Juan Coronado’s La Santanera

Ingredients:

1.5oz Mijenta Tequila Blanco
0.5oz Oloroso sherry
0.25oz ginger syrup
0.75oz lime juice
0.25 oz pumpkin syrup (Coronado recommends Monín)

Method:

Shake all ingredients vigorously with plenty of ice. Next, strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with nutmeg and a pumpkin chip, or sugar skulls and marigolds if you have them.

Micah Robinson’s Redrum

Served at Lautrec – Nemacolin Woodlands Resort

Ingredients:

2 oz Tequila
1.25oz blood orange shrub
0.5 hibiscus-jalapeno syrup
Blood orange foam
Dehydrated blood orange for garnish

Method:

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with dehydrated blood orange.

Photos: Courtesy