Next up in our “Tequila Mix Master” series is the always-entertaining Adam Stemmler of the Blind Tiger Cocktail Company. Adam is constantly coming up with innovative tequila-based cocktails, and his “Heartland Smash” is no exception. It uses Fortaleza reposado tequila, muddled fruit, and lots of crushed ice.
“It’s a basic play on a smash, which is a term that applies to anything that has muddled fruit or muddled herbs in it, kind of in a shaken format,” Stemmler said.
“We are calling this cocktail the “Heartland Smash” with Fortaleza tequila being the star of the show. With Fortaleza being right in the town of Tequila, which we like to call the heartland of Mexico, I think it’s an appropriate name for what we’re about to do,” he said.
The resulting drink is a balanced mix of fruit with a touch of wood from the reposado. The aromatics of the mint contribute to make this a really refreshing cocktail.
Drink Name: The Heartland Smash
Mixologist: Adam Stemmler, Blind Tiger Cocktail Company
Tequila Used: Fortaleza Reposado
Filmed At: Cafe Coyote, San Diego, CA
Directions:
1.) Add 5-6 small pieces of pineapple to a cocktail tin (shaker)
2.) Add 4-5 leaves of fresh mint
3.) Lightly muddle the pineapple and mint in the tin
4.) Add 1 1/2 ounces of Fortaleza Reposado tequila
5.) Add just under 1/2 ounce of Aperol
6.) Add about 1/2 ounce of agave nectar
7.) Squeeze half of a lemon into the tin
8.) Add a few dashes of Bar Keep Baked Apple Bitters to the tin
9.) Shake the cocktail vigorously
10.) Double fine strain the cocktail into a glass of crushed ice
11.) Add a little mint sprigs to the top for garnish
Thanks for the recipe, guys! We have been making batches of it for the past couple of weeks for house guests, and everybody is hooked. The only problem is how potent the recipe is, and how it is dependent on shaved ice. I modified it and use cubed ice and a little bit of club soda to brighten it up a bit.
-Andy
Yes, you can most certainly come up with your own rpeceis.One of the funnest things when I bartended was to try to create new drinks.Sometimes the bartenders would get together and discuss coming up with new drinks for house specials.Other times we would try to create new ones to send in to Bartender magazine to see if they would publish them.Knowing all the different liquors and liqueurs and mixers helps a lot as you know what they taste like and what would be a good mix or blend of flavors.Then there is the fun of naming your concoction. You can come up with some strange names-Funky Monkey, Windsail, Texas Hold Em’, Barfly, whatever you can think up.There are a lot of standardized rpeceis for drinks, many have been around for years and years. Like a Singapore Sling is pretty standard but a Zombie, Hurricane or a Blue Hawaiian is mainly rum and fruit juices and knowing what color to make it. Sometimes the difference is just floating a little 151 rum on top.Take a Long Island Iced Tea. It usually is three white liquors(vodka,gin and rum), triple sec, sweet and sour juice and a splash of coke for the color. Add tequilla and you have a Texas Tea. Use 7-up instead of coke and you have an Electric Lemonade. Take a White Russian and splash it with coke and you have a Colorado Bulldog.The majority of drink rpeceis are loose and vary greatly. I know there are a lot of books and websites out there that profess to give you the actual rpeceis. Most were written either by bartenders or researched by authors who asked bartenders. Depending on where the bartender worked, you can have conflicting rpeceis.A good bartender tries to memorize as many rpeceis as he/she can. Good ones also keep a small card file for drinks that are not asked for often and add to it every time they learn of a new recipe. A lot of times the recipe is something they already know with a slight variation.To sum it up, yes, create your own rpeceis and experiment with them. If you like the way it tastes, you have a good recipe. Be sure to name it.Have fun, be safe!