2 years ago

Give Some Love to the Planet While Upscaling Your Margarita in  Celebration of Margarita Day


Upscaling something while keeping it sustainable seems like an oxymoron at best, let alone when you’re discussing premium, crafted cocktails. But we asked bartenders from the Tahona Society community and they beg to differ. Follow their fresh ideas to conmemorate a more sustainable Margarita Day this February 22rd!

Celebration of Margarita Day

Did you know that for four years in a row, Olmeca Altos Tequila has again been voted as best Tequila for Margaritas by the world’s leading bartenders according with Drinks International Magazine, published in January 2023?

Megs Miller: The Agave Lover

Megs Miller: The Agave Lover

Megs Miller, one of our Tahona Society ambassadors, eagerly shares her ideas—from saving time and energy to creating delicious and exciting cordials and stocks from rapidly-degrading fruit. She has a cool point of view and, yes, she also pulls a few tricks learned from other friends, like the Trash Collective. 

IG @megsmiller @trashcollective_

1. Batching

Batching up your margaritas before your event and pre-diluting will save on time, energy and ice/water waste (no need for shaking). It also gives you, the host, more time with your guests. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 bottle Altos plata 
  • 350 ml lemon or lime juice
  • 210 ml agave syrup or local honey 
  • 350 ml water

Method:

Mix all ingredients in a pitcher or jug a few hours before guests arrive, refrigerate and serve over ice in a rocks glass.

2. Champagne Martini to Impress a Crowd

Flat champagne in your fridge?!? A rarity I know, but why not make this super delicious tequila champagne Martini? Got some fruit spoiling in the fridge? Throw that into the cordial too. We especially love strawberries in the mix.

Ingredients:

Method:

Stir ingredients over ice and pour into a chilled martini glass or champagne flute.

*For Champagne Cordial

Ingredients:

  • 500 ml flat champagne (or sparkling wine)
  • 250 ml sugar
  • 5 g (or a teaspoon) malic acid

Method:

Combine ingredients over medium heat for 10 mins (do not boil). Let cool, bottle and refrigerate.

3. Get an Extra Day From your Citrus Cuices

Using the freshest of juices is very important for the best Paloma or Margarita! But what do you do when you have leftover citrus juice and you don’t want it to go to waste? Save your juices for this salted grapefruit cordial. The sugar and salt help to preserve your citrus juice for a bit longer. 

Megs also proposes these two drinks…

4. Pink Citrus Margarita (With Trash Collective Citrus Stock)

Juicing limes? Don’t throw those husks away! Try this pink citrus recipe from our pals at Trash Collective. 

Pink Citrus Margarita

Ingredients:

Method:

Shake up all the ingredients (or try batching like above) and pour over ice in a rocks glass.

Want to doubly impress your guests? Garnish with a hibiscus salt** rim from your pink citrus. 

*For Pink citrus

10 g hibiscus and 1 L water, bring to boil and simmer 5 mins. Combine the whole thing over six lime husks and let sit 5 mins. Strain and add 20% sugar and 4% citric and malic acid (3:1).

(**Keep your strained hibiscus off to the side)

**For Hibiscus salt 

Dehydrate the hibiscus from the pink citrus. Once completely dried, blitz with a blender. Combine equal parts with sea salt.

5. Salted Paloma Fizz


Ingredients:

Method:

Build into Collins glass and top with sparkling water.

*For Salted grapefruit cordial 

Ingredients:

  • 375 ml grapefruit juice
  • 250 ml lime juice 
  • 500 g sugar
  • 5 g sea salt

Method:

Combine ingredients until sugar is completely dissolved, bottle and refrigerate.

Diana Figueroa: From Cuba with love

Diana Figueroa: From Cuba with love

We also asked the expert advice of Diana Figueroa, part of the La Mata project in Cuba. She and her partner, David Roque Gutiérrez, were the winners of the $50,000 USD to support the launch of their sustainable project through our Tahona Society Competition in 2021.

Diana gave us her view on the use of fruit… that they use from root to droop.

IG: @lamata_cuba

1. Using the Entire Pineapple

One way we use 100% of a pineapple, and give our Margarita a sensational twist, is with tepache. What is tepache? It is an ancient drink from central Mexico, in which the pineapple peel is fermented with sugar and spices.

When we process a pineapple, we use the entire fruit. The crown is used as part of the decoration of our Piña Colada, as well as part of the pulp. The rest of the pulp and the peel are used to make tepache, the fermented Mexican liquid that adds great flavor to our Margarita.

2. Margarita Jíbara 

Ingredients:

  • 60 ml Altos tequila blanco
  • 20 ml triple sec liqueur (You can also step up your game by expressing and infusing 700 ml of your liquor of choice with 50 gr of the peel of Sevilla/bitter oranges for six hours.) 
  • 20 ml freshly squeezed lime juice

Method:

Top with your artisanal pineapple tepache* Rim half the glass with agave worm salt (optional)

*For Pineapple tepache 

Ingredients:

  • 2500 ml of filtered water
  • 440 g of piloncillo, or substitute brown sugar
  • 1 kg of pineapple peel and cores (approximately the equivalent of 3 large ripe pineapples)
  • 50 g of chopped ginger
  • 20 g of coriander seeds
  • 5 g of whole cloves
  • 10 g of pink pepper
  • 2 cinnamon sticks

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in batches, and then put in a sterile container. Cover with a very fine mesh, and leave to ferment for 24 to 48 hours, depending on the seasonal temperature. In cold climates, the process can take up to a week.

Simon Kistenfeger: Go bananas!

Simon Kistenfeger: Go bananas!

Simon Kistenfeger has a great recipe which rescues banana peels from the trash bin, and extracts their incredible flavor. Here’s how you can do it too!

IG: @the_real_vikingo 

1. Go Bananas

Ingredients:

  • 50 ml Altos reposado 
  • 30 ml fresh lemon juice 
  • 20 ml homemade banana syrup*
  • ​​2-3 dashes Angostura bitters  
  • Dehydrated banana chip, to garnish

Method:

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a pre-chilled coupette glass. Garnish with a dehydrated banana chip.

​*For Banana syrup

Cut two banana peels into small pieces and place them in a jar that has a lid. Add 300 g (1½ cups) of brown sugar and give it a good mix. Place and tighten the lid. Let sit for 24 hours at room temperature. Strain the liquid through a fine strainer and bottle it. 

Kelsey Ramage: Save Those Rinds!

Kelsey Ramage: Save Those Rinds!

Kelsey Ramage, winner of the Tahona Society Cocktail Competition in 2016, is an involved member of our bartender familia. A sustainability educator and cocktail consultant, she is currently at the helm of the Trash Collective and is a co-founder of the Black Lagoon Pop-up in Canada. She proposes that you use that leftover wine and a mix of unwanted citrus rinds to make a delish vermouth that you can then mix with Altos tequila for the perfect Martini-style cocktail.

​IG: @kelseyramage

@trashcollective_ 

@blacklagoonpopup

1. Skin Vermouth Made with Citrus Rinds 

This recipe is a great way to make use of wine you’ve left open a bit too long, and you can get as complicated or simple as you’d like! Feel free to omit the ‘dry ingredients’ and just have a super light low-ABV style drink on its own or use it to spice up your tequila and soda!

Skin Vermouth

Ingredients:

  • 200 g spent white wine 
  • 300 g pineapple pulp 
  • 400 g dry vermouth 
  • 160 g honey
  • 30 g dried lemon rinds* 
  • 30 g dried orange rinds* 
  • 10 g cacao nibs
  • 11 g burdock root 
  • 3 g wormwood 
  • 1.4 g chamomile

*If you have a dehydrator, just zest your citrus before juicing and dehydrate the rinds. 

Method:

Add all wet ingredients to a blender. Flash blend until honey is dissolved and pineapple pulp is integrated. Add mixture and dry ingredients to a vacuum sealed bag and sous vide cook for one hour at 60 ºC/ 140 ºF. If you don’t have a sous vide, add everything to a pot and heat until just before it starts to simmer. Remove from heat, allow to cool, cover and leave to infuse for 12 to 24 hours. Strain mixture, bottle and refrigerate.

Here’s to you: making cocktails from what would’ve ended up in the bin! Happy sipping on Margarita Day. Salud! 

New From Altos Tequila: Ready-to-serve Margs!

New From Altos Tequila: Ready-to-serve Margs!

Since this is Margarita Day, we wanted to share the news about our premium Classic Lime and Strawberry Ready-to-Serve Margaritas. Combining Altos plata tequila, triple sec, natural lime or strawberry flavors, and agave syrup, Altos Margaritas deliver an easily-accessible, bar-quality imbibing. The blend heroes Altos Plata—a smooth tequila with a clean, complex flavor profile which has been consistently voted as one of the top tequilas for Margaritas by bartenders across the globe.

With the Altos Classic Lime Margarita, time-pressed consumers can enjoy quality cocktails at ease, in the comfort of their own home, without any of the hassle – whether they’re elevating an evening in, or looking for the perfect dinner party serve.”

~ Michael Merroli, CEO House of Tequila – Pernod Ricard