Choose your poison.
Lucy, my son’s girlfriend, is my favorite dinner guest; her remarkable cocktail concoctions are the perfect ice-breaker at any get-together; what she concocted at our last dinner party has been my favorite libation to date.
I insisted upon purchasing ingredients, and – per her suggestion – went on a wild-goose chase hunting down the best mescal I could find. Like tequila, mescal (aka: Mexican firewater) is a distilled product of agave. My search landed me at The Wine Castle (across from Zingerman’s Roadhouse on Stadium).
Lucy masterminds her latest ice-breaker.
I spoke with Maher Jaboro, an expert on mescals. He told me the finest mescals, like wines, demand attention when sipping, and recommended I try the quality Wild Shot green mescal, which — unlike the less expensive brands — has a broad range of flavor and authenticity. He had finer mescals I could purchase, but I was in sticker-shock as it was.
During our discussion, another shopper piped in informing us his brother’s wife was Mexican, and thinks the less expensive Monte Alban was a great everyday mescal. (An everyday mescal? Hmm. Sounds Alan Ginsbergish.) I decided to purchase both bottles, but preferred the Wild Shot. Sadly, it was twice the price of the Monte Alban, which was still good for an “everyday.” Lucy tells me one of her favorite mescals is Vida. Choose your own poison, worm included, and tell Maher I sent you.
There were so many layers of flavor in this drink; the smoke and tart balancing the sweet, provoking adjectives such as “smoky”, “woodsy” and “citrusy”; the descriptors becoming more colorful (though forgettable), into our second round.
BTW: Lucy was disdainful of my treasured margarita glasses (who’ve been privy to many a raucous evening), and advised me to advise you that the best way to sip these etherial drinks are in coup glasses.
