Legends of the Fall: Tequila Edition

Adam Bisby August 23, 2022

For freelance bartender Julie Gonzalez, the buzz of cicadas in the trees surrounding her home near Toronto’s High Park signals more than autumn’s approach. It also means she’ll soon be mixing up more than a few tequila Old Fashioneds.

“The Old Fashioned is such a classic fall cocktail, and because I’m half Mexican I often use tequila in them,” she explains, adding that Maestro Dobel Añejo is her go-to bottle.

Gonzalez’s Maestro Dobel Old Fashioned certainly looks and tastes the part, what with its rich brown hue and vanilla-nut flavours enhanced by aging in roasted oak barrels. “There are a lot of Old Fashioned purists out there, but it doesn’t take long to win them over,” she says.

Across Canada, bartenders are turning to Mexico’s national liquor as an autumn staple. Calgary’s Makina Labreque, for example, became a “Patrón Perfectionist” with her elegant evergreen-scented “Cyanocitta,” while the “Port Guava” is part of a new “Taste of Mexico” cocktail menu at the Four Seasons Resort Whistler’s Braidwood Tavern.

For home mixologists wanting to get in on this tasty trend, here are the recipes for these and other autumnal tequila cocktails.

Method: Vigorously shake together tequila, Cointreau, basil syrup and guava purée in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into a coupe glass rimmed with pink Himalayan salt. Gently pour port into the glass so as to layer the liquids. (photo credit: Four Seasons Resort Whistler)

Method: Combine agave nectar and Milagro Añejo in a heat-resistant snifter or mug. Add the boiling water. Squeeze the lemon, drop it in, and stir until agave nectar has melted. Garnish with anise star and cinnamon stick.

Method: Set two spruce tips aside and combine remaining ingredients in a shaker. Muddle the six spruce tips in the shaker, add ice, and shake for 20 seconds. Double-strain the cocktail into a rocks glass over pebble or crushed ice, and garnish with two spruce tips.

Method: Add the agave syrup and bitters to a rocks glass. Fill the glass with large ice cubes, add the tequila, and gently stir to combine. Express the oil of an orange twist over the glass, then drop into the glass to garnish.