January 18, 2016

Clementina Caliente

With only google translate to guide me, I hope there are no double entendres or offensivenes in the name of my cocktail. It was kindly offered by a friend and seems fitting.

I have to say it's been a long time since a Mixology Monday theme was quite as fitting as this month's.

Sunday morning as I drove home from work my car informed me it was -15 C (5F) outside. I drove through a landscape covered in snow, the moon was out as was all the stars and here and there I passed through frozen mist hovering 10 feet off the ground.

So coming up with a cocktail to brace yourself - the theme Doc Elliot has chosen - seems as natural as scraping ice of the windshield. But I'll let him explain:
Winter usually evokes scenes of roaring fires with glasses or mugs filled with warming liquid fortifying us against the cold and damp. Winter provides the shared universal experience that spans language, geography and the centuries – that moment just before you step out into the cold; to walk to the bus stop, hit the ski slope, shovel the snow or feed the livestock. So what adult beverages can best prepare the body and steel the will for that moment when we  go forth into Winter?

Mind you it really isn't often -15 C in Danmark, that's further north in Scandinavia. And wearing one of these is a much better way to brace yourself keep than drinking alcohol but it also cramps your style.

The Clementina Caliente has the ratio of the Last Word and the same formula of base spirit - citrus juice - Chartreuse - liqueur.

I find that it seldom fails and in this case succeeds.

  • 3 cl mezcal - I used Ilegal Joven
  • 3 cl yellow Chartreuse
  • 3 cl Ancho Reyes chile liqueur
  • 3 cl fresh squeezed clementine juice

Shake it all with ice and strain into cocktail glass garnish with a twist of peel from the clementine


2 comments:

  1. I keep seeing Ancho Reyes liqueur in different recipes. I am going to have to get a bottle. Also, glad to see another recipe that uses yellow Chartreuse. So few recipes do. The combination sounds great.

    One question, though: Is Illegal Joven mezcal a smoky mezcal or is it a more mild one? If I remember correctly, it isn't very smoky, but I wanted to be sure. I wanted to know if you imagined this as a smoky drink or not.

    Thanks!

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  2. Hi Chad - sorry I didn't notice you comment before: But to answer your question - Ilegal Joven is not very smoky as mezcals bo so the drink is not a smoky drink, but the taste is there behind the other ingredient if you hate smoke.

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