Paloma, Mi Amante
Earlier this summer, I mentioned that I was playing with an old recipe from Charles H. Baker’s The Gentleman’s Companion, for an intriguing home-infused concoction called Tequila por Mi Amante — or, Tequila for my beloved. What I haven’t mentioned is how it turned out.
Short answer: YAAAAAHHHH! MORE! MORE! MORE!
I’d been told by reliable sources that this was an excellent recipe; they understated the case. That fresh, summery brightness of the ripe strawberries marries perfectly with the sharp, peppery angles of a reposado tequila, and the result is especially toothsome.
Even better, as I’ve discovered: substitute the TPMA for regular reposado in what’s become my favorite drink of summer 2007, the Paloma.
Strawberry tequila; lime juice; salt; grapefruit soda. I feel like I’m in one of those old Warner Brothers cartoons, in which I take a sip and then my eyes should start spinning like the dials on a slot machine until they come up “JACKPOT!” as bells start to ring, my hat flies off — not that I wear a hat, but stay with me for a moment — and steam blows out of my ears accompanied by a loud, “A-OOOH-GAH! A-OOOH-GAH!”
Yes, it’s that good.
Paloma, regular style
- 2 ounces reposado tequila
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- pinch coarse salt
Add ingredients to an ice-filled Collins glass; top with grapefruit soda (Jarritos is my house brand; Squirt also has a good reputation here; if you just can’t find any, try Sprite with a healthy squeeze of fresh grapefruit).
Paloma, Mi Amante
As above, substituting Tequila por Mi Amante for the reposado. A-OOOH-GAH!
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Any particular brand of reposado you would recommend?
I blacked out for a second just reading that.
Holy Cow does it sound good!
Blair — I used the Cazadores to make the mi amante, simply because that’s what I had on hand.
I’ve found a lot to like in the Don Julio reposado, and the Herradura is very nice, too — I prefer both of these to the Cazadores.
Thanks to you, I put up a batch just a few days after reading your original posting (and picked up my own first edition of The Gentleman’s Companion on Ebay). After patiently waiting for three weeks, I strained it to find that I was left with pure nectar. I haven’t done much with it yet other than sip it with a little lime, and make margaritas, which were delicious, but I’m going to give this recipe a try. (Note: for margaritas, I found it best to use 2 parts Amante to 1 part reposado, just to let a little more of the peppery backbone to shine through).
I need to go to the Farmer’s Market this weekend to get more strawberries, so I can put up another batch while they’re still in season!
Yummm. I love me a good margarita!
The Paloma is wonderful—I’ve gone through a bottle of grapefruit soda already!
I put up some Amate over the weekend, so in three weeks I’ll have to give the Paloma Mi Amate a go…
Woah, this looks good. I’ll have to look for a good grapefruit soda, although since I have Fresca on hand I may give it a go. The Tequila pro mi Amante also looks heavenly. I just put some in the fridge a few minutes ago, so am looking forward to September.
Mmmm, tequila por mi amante … boy, I love this stuff. We usually make a batch every year around Memorial Day, when the strawberries around here are at their best (although we forgot this year, d’ohh!), and have been since I saw the recipe in TGC.
Hmm, I think I need to make a trip to the farmer’s market this weekend and see if the berries are still looking good.
My goal (although I’m never home at quite the right time) is to make a batch of this using the super-fabulous Ponchatoula, Louisiana strawberries. Oh, man.
We usually drink it on the rocks or shaken and up with a squeeze of lime, but oddly enough never made a cocktail with it. We’ll definitely try the Paloma mi Amante as soon as we can get a batch ready!
[…] Paloma por Mi Amante (created by Paul from Cocktail Chronicles) […]
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I added about 1/4oz of Elderflower liquor and a couple dashes of orange bitters and one dash of Peach bitters to the receipe. I thought it tasted a little better…a little more pop. MMM Good!!
[…] had in mind. Finally, after some creative googling, I found my three recipes. One of them, Paloma, Mi Amante, was really two recipes in one: an infused tequila that is then used to make another drink. Good […]
Thank you so much for this great recipe! It was a huge hit.
[…] the interwebs looking for recipes for this week’s cocktail, the Paloma, I came across this bit of deliciousness. Paul has taken strawberry infused tequila (Tequila por Mi Amante) and made what sounds like the […]
[…] to make use of this wonderfulness. I’m thinking a Margarita, of course, maybe a Paloma as Paul Clarke did, maybe even a riff on the Daiquiri with agave syrup and lime. The softened tequila sharpness […]