Many, many cocktails use a citrus component. Citrus adds both flavor and that sharp bite on the tongue that announces, “I’m here. In your mouth. Right now."
The most common citrus partners for cocktails are lime and lemon. Oranges? Sure, for mimosas.
But, but, oranges can play a far greater role. Think about the noble Margarita:
- Tequila
- Orange liqueur of some sort
- Lime [or better lemon] juice
- Simple syrup [the secret to a complete drink]
What if you replaced the orange liqueur, like that triple sec, and the lime or lemon juice with just orange juice? You’ll have sweetness and that lovely flavor, a softer citrus, and, very importantly, that wonderful orange color.
But, with the orange liqueur gone, you need to get your full alcoholic hit from the tequila alone. You might naturally go for the deeper, rich flavor of an aged, anejo tequila.
And that step would fail. Because aged tequila comes with that signature deep color that would just not work with the orange juice. You’d end up with a murky mess.
Until now. There is a new tequila product on the market that introduces whole new aspects to cocktail construction. QUI Platinum Extra Anejo Tequila is aged for three and a half years in American Whisky and French Bordeaux barrels.
After that time, the liquid will have the distinguished colors of age. But then the QUI product undergoes a proprietary process of both filtration and distillation. The result? A tequila with all the anejo flavor notes from those barrels but the perfect clarity of an unaged blanco. And no blanco could pull off the needed step here of providing powerful, pristine tequila flavor to power this cocktail on its own.
Out of the bottle, sipped on its own, QUI will please you. The flavor is intense and tingly and, at the same time, almost delicate. Taste QUI and you taste tequila at a level of flavor purity you have not experienced.
QUI is lovely on its own and superior in this Orange Margarita.
Brian’s Orange Margarita
Yield: 1 very large or two modest cocktails
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces QUI Platinum Extra Anejo Tequila
- 2 ounces orange juice, ideally freshly squeezed
- 2 ounces simple syrup
Preparation:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the three ingredients. Shake vigorously and pour into a chilled glass.
If you desire, garnish with a slice of citrus. If you add ice to the glass, drink quickly. Do not let melting ice dilute the flavors.