I’ve never been in Acapulco. I hope to get there soon but right now I’m working on issues.
Here’s today’s conundrum. What if you want great cocktail, perhaps something really new to your beverage portfolio, and you want it now. How are go going to find it and how easy will it be to make?
In this blog I hate to ask questions without supplying answers. So how about this: quick to find and easy to make. For your next experiment I recommend the Acapulco from Mittie Hellmich’s Ultimate Bar Book. The recipe is below, and, yes, I’ve faithfully done both the original version and tried some options which are suggested below, too.
I’m a good amateur mixologist. At our dinner parties, I offer to make cocktails and I always get a group vote of “Yes.” But lately, my concoctions have been delicious but complex. It takes me a while to produce a dozen glassfuls and after the group has ushered in that “Yes,” well, I can see their eyes soon begin to wander. There is unopened wine next to the appetizers on the kitchen island and some of those guests want to cut to the chase and imbibe. Waiting for me is a pain.
With my complex drinks, I can still be juicing lemons and limes — because I insist on freshness and freshness does not mean pulling hours old stuff from the refrigerator. And there’s fruit to dice and …
It takes time. What I need is a great drink in zip time with no mess to clean up. The Acapulco is the solution.
It’s a drink I imagine you actually sipping on that beach on a warm day. Or this summer around the pool. Or, heck, just today. CNN just announced there is snow on the ground in all the states but Hawaii. After two blizzards, most of the country is still digging out. Airlines have schedules that are a shambles with most flights either delayed or cancelled.
This is what God would call a Fork In Your Life Day. There are two paths before you. Option 1. You can go to the airport and struggle to get that flight to somewhere. If you do that, I admire your tenacity, but, seriously, have often have you fought the airlines and won? I once saw a beleaguered passenger hurdle a ticket counter at JFK. His screaming stopped soon after he was subdued. Subdued meant being maced and handcuffed.
Option 2 is to reach for the rum and try this beverage. You won’t earn miles this way. But you won’t be cuffed, either. Or spend hours scrubbing chemicals from your eyes. Instead you can shut those resting eyes and image the sights, the smells, the breezes of some paradise. If you need assistance, just take another sip of your Acapulco.
Ingredients [for a large cocktail]:
3 ounces light rum
1 ounce of Cointreau [Brian’s option: Mandarin Napoleon]
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
2 egg whites, optional
1 ounce simple syrup [Brian’s option: www.cookingbythebook.com//blog/recipes/sublime-citrus-sugar-syrup/]
1 mint spring
Preparation:
Shake the liquid ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with mint sprig