Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. News

How to give your Margarita the al Pastor treatment

Glory to the Margarita informed by an iconic dish

A bartender pouring a drink
Rachel Dennis / The Manual

The first month of the year is nearing an end. We’re plowing through the Dry January recipes and awaiting snow storms. With February on the horizon, it’s perhaps time to look forward to a sun-kissed cocktail.

The weather will still say winter but this drink does not. It’s a great riff on a classic Margarita recipe, inspired by the famous Mexican pork dish. And we can genuinely say it tastes as good as it looks.

Recommended Videos

With this one, it’s all in the details. The taco mix, in particular, is worth paying attention to. Play around with it if you like, but the current suggestion of herbs and fruit is our favorite).

The following drink comes to us from Mexico City. It was created at Licorería Limontour and has us thinking about spring break destinations. Read on for the full recipe.

Margarita al Pastor

Tequila loves company, especially when it’s ingredients inspired by the ever-fetching dishes of Mexican cuisine. This drink is proof. As for orange liqueur, go with a standard or try something like Munyan’s Paw-Paw.

Ingredients:

  • 50 ml Tequila Mijenta Blanco
  • 20 ml orange liqueur
  • 50 taco mix (pineapple, cilantro, agave, serrano chile and basil)
  • 25 ml lime juice
  • Cilantro salt rim

Method:

  1. Combine all ingredients except salt in tin and shake with ice.
  2. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice (and prepped with salted rim).

Perhaps this drink will fuel future travel. If so, check out our Mexico City guide and stay tuned for other like-minded stories in the near future. And, cheers.

Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since… Read Full Bio
Tequila vs. vodka: Exploring the key differences between two popular spirits
Vodka

I’ve been writing about spirits for almost two decades. I’ve learned the ins and outs of every popular hard alcohol. But if you’re new to the spirits world, you might not know the differences between tequila and vodka. Tequila vs. vodka –this is especially true when both are unaged. In appearance alone, the two spirits look remarkably similar. When made with high-quality ingredients, distilled multiple times, and filtered a handful of times, both tequila and vodka are crystal clear. There aren’t any noticeable differences. The same could be said for a bottle of gin or a glass of tap water.

Once you take a whiff, the differences begin to reveal themselves. Unaged (or blanco) tequila carries aromas like vegetal sweetness, cooked agave, vanilla, and cracked black pepper. Vodka has different aromas based on its main ingredient (wheat, rye, corn, potatoes, or something else), but you can bet you find scents of neutral ethanol, minerality, vanilla, cracked black pepper, and even citrus peels.

Read more
The liquor gift guide for the man who has spirit in your life
Spirits

The holidays are some of our favorite times of the year. It is all about the parties and the get-togethers that bring everyone in your circle to the same place for celebration, no matter what your background is. That also means you have to spend significantly more time with people. And, if you are like me, most of these parties get a little too peopley for me, causing me to need a bit of liquid social lubricant. Whether you are like me, or you know someone like me, spirits are a great way to show someone in your life you care. So, here are our favorite gifts for the man in your life with spirit.

Tequila

Read more
Cazcanes’ new 108-proof extra añejo is about as strong as tequila legally gets
Bottle, Liquor, Tequila

There’s high-proof tequila, and then there’s tequila that’s up against the legal limit.

If you’re a fan of the latter, you’ll be thrilled with the new Extra Añejo No. 10 Tributo Edition from Los Angeles-based Cazcanes, a 108-proof, or 54% ABV, extra añejo celebrating 10 years since the brand’s first batch was distilled.

Read more