Dios mio! That’s right, that’s my mean Spanish skills that helped Alice and me so famously when we visited Peru. Contrary to opening with an anecdote about Peru, this isn’t a pisco cocktail. That’s just what you’d expect us to do. This is, in fact, a cocktail about tequila. However, the name takes us down on a South American journey. A journey of intrigue, of mystery, of spice! This is El Diablo’s Circus!

Aye! NO! El Diablo! Vamos!

Now that I’m done amusing myself (sometimes, it pays to be able to make yourself chuckle), let’s dive into what exactly the El Diablo’s Circus is.

What we have here is a tasty cocktail, that once we had finished tinkering with, I had planned on not drinking — but couldn’t put down. I blame the devil.

This is a mix of tequila, chili liqueur, lemon juice and cherry heering.

To begin at the beginning, with our base booze, let’s focus on the tequila. What you’re going to want here is something aged, with character and a little whisky flair. See, this we based this on a whisky cocktail, so it helps to have those oaky, nutty, vanilla-y notes. Luckily, our friends over at Hornitos hooked us up with their Hornitos Black Barrel (finished in whisky barrels for a funky, fun flavor) so we were set on the tequila front.

Then it’s just a matter of getting the rest of the ingredients in order. Pick your favorite spiced chili liqueur. Or, if you want to go the extra mile, feel free to make your own. As we were lazy, we went with what we had on hand, but I’ll 100% give you a high five for the extra effort.

Finally, you have your freshly squeezed (we bought a new lemon press! It’s life’s simple pleasures, really) lemon juice and cherry heering.

How’s it taste? Sweet, tart, spice, intoxicating and mysterious.

There’s also a great red hue, reminding you it’s El Diablo who’s playing with you here.

Get ready to join the fun with El Diablo’s Circus!

 

July 31st, 2015 | by morgan