Oh, It's, ..uh.., Good.... For You.



 Disclaimer: I used Rose's Grenadine. Get over it.

If one searches online one will find a recipe for a drink called El Cid.  Likely named after Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar.  The recipe(s) you are likely to encounter will contain (among other things) Rose's Lime, Midori and orange juice.  The connexion being....Valencia? I dunno.

Anyway, in one of my books is a drink called El Cid that bears no resemblance.  Having, as I did, a new bottle of tonic water and not one in need of using up before it`s bubbles expire I decided to give the El Cid (is that redundant, like The La Brea Tar Pits?) a try.

El Cid as written:

El Cid
1½ oz. tequila
1 oz. lime juice
½ oz. almond-flavoured syrup
tonic water
dash of grenadine


1. Pour tequila, lime juice, and almond syurp into a Collins glass
2. Stir well
3. Fill with tonic water
4. Add a dash of grenadine to top
5. Garnish with a lime slice

from: The Complete Bartender by Robyn M. Feller

So, let's see, we've got pomegranate lowering blood pressure and fighting cancer, almonds lowering cholesterol, limes warding off scurvy, quinine warding off malaria and fighting fever, inflammation and pain.  Then we've got tequila and sugar....undoing it all?

Ok, so it isn't actually good for you. But it is made of things I have on hand and sounds refreshing.  Let's give it a try.

El Cid as made:

El Cid
1.5 oz El Jimador Resposado¹
1 oz lime juice
0.5 oz Tina Orzata
2 oz GV Tonic Water²
dash of Rose's Grenadine³
lime wedge

El Cid


Shake tequila, juice and syrup over ice.  Pour over ice in a Collins highball. Top with tonic.  Add a dash of grenadine.  Leave lime wedge on cutting board and take a photo of the drink.

Turns out this is quite refreshing.  Pouring in the pop and not stirring means that the first few sips contain the most soda, and the most noticeable taste of the tequila.  Sort of like a Tequila & Tonic giving way to a fizz, or a fix, or a daisy, or something. The basic formula then is 3:2:1 of spirit, citrus, syrup, topped with something fizzy and a dash of something. Watch out, this format may just catch on...

Cheers!

¹ I expect that blanco was intended in the original recipe but as I have on hand two reposados and one anejo I chose one of the former(s)
² My spies tell me this is made by Cott for Wal-Mart.  It's damn tasty! Ranking somewhere above Boylans but below whatever brand of Tonica it was we drank in Cuba.
³ I can't bring myself to throw this out. It's almost gone, honest. I will make my own or buy better stuff. Besides, it was mostly for colour in this drink anyway.

Comments

Doug Winship said…
Dude. I can't "get over it".

Look, we all argue about Rose's Lime Cordial in Gimlets. Some of us debate the merits of fresh only versus bottled lime juice....

But Rose's (or any other commercial) grenadine? It takes 5 minutes to make awesome, life-changing grenadine. You could get ex-communicated for this sort of thing.

I think you've probably made Blair and Rick cry with this.
Dagreb said…
So, this isn't the sort of controversy of which you approve?

What sacrilege will I perpetrate next?

Stay tuned.

Popular Posts