LIQUOR.COM - TEQUILA GRAND TASTING

Photography by Jerry T. 
contributing www.liquor.com photographer
 

***Zengo*** www.richardsandoval.com
turned into a Tequila and Mezcal extravaganza in the middle of Saturday afternoon, thanks to Liquor.com. I had such a blast at the Rum Grand Tasting about a month ago so when I was invited to the Tequila Grand Tasting, how could I possibly refuse? The fifteen brands that we had the fortune of having our way with were; 1921, Alacran, Charbay, Don Julio, Karma, Illegal Mezcal, Luna Sueno, Mijes Mezcal, Oro de Oaxaca Mezcal, Pierde Almas Mezcal, Riazul, Scorpion Mezcal, Talero, Tanteo and Tierras.

I decided to try the tequila blancos first, Resposados second, Anejos third and all of the Mezcals last! I had a feeling that I would be twisted by the end of the event, but I was up for the challenge! I went to each station; smelling, tasting, schmoozing and listening as much as I could! I was on the hunt to see who had the best products on the market and was ready to get a little bent in the process!

I walked around with a couple of friends and some “hot blonde” with big boobs from the Alacran station stopped my guyfriend to chat. Next thing you know my guyfriend got all exited and the blonde vanished right before our eyes as my guyfriend was left talking to some bald dude about Tequila! A classic bait and switch but it always works! Alacran’s Blanco tequila was delicious and tasted a bit like saki. Another one of my favorite Blanco Tequilas, was Talero Tequila which was organic and very smooth. The president of Talero Tequila, Dylan Doherty said, “We don’t inject our agave plants with anything extra and don’t rip them out of the ground prematurely like all of these other brands.”

My favorite resposado belonged to Don Julio – which had a great cocktail station too! See below for cocktail list. Mixologist Brian Van Flandern designed the cocktail list and it was a pleasure to pick his brain for a few minutes as he mixed us some bangin’ shots! Luna Sueno had a delicious resposado as well as Riazul. Riazul’s Brand Ambassador, George Summer was a sweetheart and even told me that he would buy me a couple of rounds outside of the event. Wink, Wink.

 Anejo’s are my favorite type of Tequila. The complexity and similarity to scotch has me hooked! You don’t go around shooting Anejo Tequilas, you go around sipping them. It’s for the mature and evolved drinker. I may not be too old but I’ve been throwing them back for quite sometime now. My favorite Anejo Tequilas include; Tierras, Don Julio 1942 and Riazul. I didn’t get to try Don Juilo’s Real Tequila which retails for about four hundred dollars a bottle because they didn’t have a bottle at their station. I call shenanigans!

 By this point, I was feeling a little "nicey nice." It was finally time to visit the Mezcal stations. Scorpion Mezcal was very good. I didn’t love the Scorpion Mezcal bottle but then again, am I going to drink the bottle or the booze?  Barbara Sweetman was great to chat with and said, “Remember, Tequila is a type of Mezcal.” Hmm… I thought it was the other way around, interesting! Pierda Almas Mezcal gave me this beautiful book about agave plants and the making of Mezcal. Their mezcal was excellent and easy to drink. Illegal Mezcal was my favorite because of the smoothness, smokiness and ability to maintain its complexity. They gave me a bunch of stickers and gave my guyfriend a bottle with about two shots of mezcal in it left because my guyfriend was raving about it! 

The event was over and everyone was packing up to leave. My guyfriend and I walked out and decided we were going to search for a place where we could eat some Mexican food. We were walking in the street when a police car stopped my guyfriend. My guyfriend walked over to the police car and bent over to talk to the cops. I saw my guyfriend pull the almost empty bottle of mezcal out of his back pocket which was sticking out and why the cops even stopped him to begin with! 

 The officer in the driver’s seat grabbed it from my guysfriend’s hand and I saw my guyfriend say something but I couldn’t hear. I saw my guyfriend point towards the venue and I ran over there immediately to interrupt them by saying, “officer, don’t listen to him he’s a herb!” The officer replied, “Excuse me, I’m talking!” I said, "sorry officer." The other officer in the passenger's seat said, “chug it and throw the bottle away.”  My guyfriend responded, “You really want me to chug it, officer?” The officer in the driver's seat who is still looking at the bottle said, “This doesn’t have a stamp on it, this is a federal offense.” My guy friend and I both gave each other the holy shit are we going to jail face?! 

My guy friend then said, “I don’t know why it does not have a stamp, officer.” The officer in the driver's seat looked at us for a moment then told my guyfriend to throw the bottle away immediately! My guyfriend threw the bottle away in the garbage can on the corner and the cops drove off. Thank goodness that no one got in trouble! Talk about living up to it’s name! Illegal Mezcal! 

FEATURED COCKTAILS

PINA PERFECTION                            

Don Julio Resposado Tequila  1.5 oz.          

Fresh Pineapple juice        1.5 oz.

Fresh lime juice             0.5 oz.

Agave Nectar                 0.25 oz.

Club soda                    0.25 oz.

Fresh rosemary               1 Sprig

Garnish: Rosemary Sprig

Glassware: Highball or Collins glass

Preparation:

In a shaker, muddle the rosemary. Add the tequila, juices and agave nectar, and fill with ice. Shake and strain into a highball or collins glass filled with fresh ice. Top with club soda and garnish with a rosemary sprig.

AGAVE DROP

Don Julio Blanco Tequila  1.5 oz.

Agave nectar              0.5 oz.

Fresh lime juice           0.5 oz.

Garnish: Lime wedge

Glassware: Shot Glass

Preparation:

Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake and strain into a shot glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

LIQUOR.COM - DON JULIO TASTING

Photography by Jerry T. 

contributing www.liquor.com photographer

 I was running thirty minutes late to a Don Julio Tequila Tasting at Macao Trading Co. www.macaonyc.com.  Noted mixologist, owner of Macao Trading Co. and Employees Only, Dushan Zaric, was giving a tequila presentation. We shut the hell up very quickly, as he ran his mouth about Agave Plants and tried to make a smooth entrance.

I said “hello” as quietly as possible to more friends and we found a spot for us all to sit together. The cute waitress noticed us immediately and brought us shots of Don Julio Blanco accompanied by a shot of house made Sangrita right away. Sangrita, not to be confused with Sangria, is a spicy tomato based traditional Mexican chaser. The sangrita was delicious and made that shot possible for me to do since I had not had a shot of straight tequila in years! 

Dushan, cracked some funny jokes about him being much better looking when he started bartending in 2001. He was over all entertaining to watch especially after a couple of cocktails! He explained in detail Don Julio’s four types of Tequilas; Blanco, Resposado, Anejo and Extra Anejo. Dushan said, “Tequila is aged in barrels for a very short period of time. Oak is aggressive and Agave is delicate so if you age it for too long in a barrel, you will end up with a fine Cognac.”

 The next cocktail that we had was the crowd favorite called No Mames (literally means, "Don't Suck" in Mexican slang). It was well balanced and it may even be my new favorite tequila cocktail! After that, we had the Tequila Manhattan, which I didn’t like.  I enjoy drinking Manhattan’s with bourbon and don’t want tequila anywhere near my Manhattan!  The Tequila Manhattan was obviously more robust.

Elayne Duke, head mixologist at Diageo Wine and Spirits and owner of Duke on the Rocks claimed that “the only reason why people shoot tequila with salt is because a long time ago in Mexico, Doctors would prescribe Tequila with salt for everything since they couldn’t afford medicine.” Dushan said “It's just not even necessary to use salt in a Margarita because it over powers the tequila.”  Dushan handed Elayne a Jigger and she said in a comical way, “I can free pour.” No jiggers were used and many of us laughed as Dushan looked at her a little taken back as they mixed the Agave Drop Shot, “jiggerless.” She informed us that the proper way of taking a tequila shot is to softly bite into the lime, without swallowing the juice. Then, quickly shoot the tequila shot down hatch! We all screamed “Que Viva Don Julio!” as instructed by Elayne and downed the shot together! 

The presentation was over and the party finally began! We all mingled and most of us started to drink heavily as delicious appetizers from the Macao Trading Co. menu were fed to us. Thank goodness for those appetizer's because mixologist, Vincent Vitek's cocktails were a little too crackalicious for all of our own good! A burlesque show started where half naked chics danced in the middle of the room to old school tunes as some of us watched dancing along on couches. We all could barely see straight at this point, so we all decided to call it a night after the Burlesque show. 

I was super hung over the next day for obvious reasons, but it was totally worth it! My excuse to myself was that Cinco De Mayo came early this year! Would I do this all over again even though I have been in sweats all day? Helll yeeessssss! Until next time, xoxoxo.

 EVENT COCKTAILS & SHOTS

NO MAMES

Don Julio Resposado Tequila shaken with Barenjager Honey Liquer, Gresh Lime Juice & Grapefruit Juices, finished with St. Elizabeth All Spice Dram

TEQUILA MANHATTAN

Don Julio Anejo, Doulin Rouge sweet vermouth, Mandarin Napoleon & Angostura bitters & Bitter truth Xocolat Mole Bitters

LA PALOMA

Don Julio Blanco Tequila with Lime Juice, Pink Grapefruit Juice, Grapefruit bitters served tall with Soda

EL DIABLO

Don Julio Tequila Resposado with Crème de Cassis de Dijion, Lime Juice served tall with Ginger Beer

HONG KONG

Don Julio Blanco Tequila shaken with Lemon, Dow’s Fine Ruby Port & Pandan Leaf Syrup.

AGAVE DROP

Don Julio Blanco with Lime Juice & Agave Nectar

SPANISH RAINDROP

Don Julio Anejo with Oloroso Sherry, Lime Juice

SANGRITA RECIPE

1/4 cup Pureed Jalepeno                                                            
3/4 Tablespoon white pepper-more or less to taste
2-1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
5 oz Fresh Orange Juice
46 oz Tomato Juice
3/4 Tablespoon salt-more or less to taste
3/4 Tablespoon white pepper-more or less to taste
Tabasco to taste
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher. Mix well. Chill. Taste to test seasoning. To serve: Pour into shot glasses alongside ice cold tequila shots.

XIAO LONG BAO, NOW!

XIAO LONG BAO a.k.a. "soup dumplings," pronounced Shou (rhymes with “how”) Long, Baow, literally means, small steaming basket bun, but is often seen on menus as soup dumplings. Make no mistake, this is a BUN (bao) actually called a baozi, not a dumpling, even though; they resemble a jiaozi, or a classic dumpling. They come from Eastern China, especially Shanghai and Wuxi.

 Xiao long bao, is a steamed bun usually filled with pork.  It can be made with any number of fillings such as crab, shrimp, chicken and sometimes even vegetables.  In addition to the filling, it also contains a rich soup derived from a pork-based aspic. When you steam the bao, the aspic liquefies and creates the internal soup. My favorite kind of xiao long bao, which is probably the most popular type, is crab and pork mixed!  If you just want pork xiao long bao, it will be cheaper.

When making xiao long bao, one needs a great recipe for the dough and for the filling.  You must make sure the skin of the bun is delicate enough to not over power the filling/broth and sturdy enough so that the filing/broth doesn't cause the bun to fall apart. I am a strong believer that your cooking is only as good as the ingredients that you use, hence the filling should be made with top of the line meat, seasoned to perfection.

For the rookies, there is a very unique process in eating xiao long bao but don't let this turn you off! It won't take you long to get the hang of it and once you do, you will become a Xiao Long Bao eating Ninja, like me! Xiao long bao is extremely delicate so the trick is too enjoy them without having them fall apart. They are served in the small round basket that they are steamed in, and usually come with metal tongs, a spoon, a small plate of thinly sliced ginger in soy sauce and of course chop sticks.

Gently, pick up the bao with tongs by the top aka "nipple" of the bao, place onto your spoon which is on your plate.  Put two small pieces of thinly sliced ginger on the bao using your chopsticks, then pick up the bao in the spoon with your left hand and take the chop sticks in your right hand.  Lift the bao from the top using your chopsticks in your right hand, holding the spoon in your left for support under the bao. Take a small bite  while holding the bao with chopsticks, pour some of the broth on to the spoon and drink this deliciousness! Continue eating the bao and enjoying this unique experience. It usually takes 2-4 bites per bao, depending on the size of the xiao long bao.

When prepared properly with good ingredients, xiao long bao is one of my favorite appetizers in the world! It's such a wonderful experience and just having the chance to teach someone the proper way of eating this unique dish, brings me so much joy! Here are my Top 5 Most Ballin' & Bangin' Xiao Long Bao Spots in N.Y. and if you ever need a partner to eat them with, I am down!

5 MOST BALLIN' & BANGIN' XIAO LONG BAO SPOTS IN N.Y.

5. Joe's Shanghai - 9 Pell Street, NYC (212) 233-8888   
www.joeshanghairestaurants.com
Crab & Pork Xiao Long Bao $7.25
* Super casual, very busy, tasty buns, 15% grat. automatically added on to your check, packed with tourists.

4.  Shanghai Cafe - 100 Mott Street, NYC  (212)966.3988
Crab & Pork Xiao Long Bao $6.95
*Very casual, clean, the price is amazing, staff is rude but very delicious!

3. Philippe Chow - 29 East 61st street, NYC 212.644.8885     
www.philippechow.com
Pork & Crab Soup Dumplings $19.00
* Great service, fine dining, expensive and small xiao long bao but they are delicious! If you ask for the wine room downstairs, you can discreetly blaze at your table and plug in your own I-Pod.

2. Nan Xiang Dumpling House -  38-12 Prince Street, Flushing, N.Y. 718.321-3838
Crab & Pork Xiao Long Bao $6.50
*Small place, packed, very casual, tasty and fresh, authentic experience.

1. Chinatown Brasserie - 380 Lafayette street, NYC (212) 533-7000    
www.chinatownbrasserie.com
Shanghai Soup Dumplings $15.00
*Best Chinese restaurant in all of NYC, nice but still casual, friendly staff, clean.