We're more than halfway
through summer, and this year, it feels like we all could use a little
pick-me-up. Lucky for you, this Friday is National Tequila Day, and we have the
perfect cocktail recipe for celebrating. We also have some tequila fun facts
for you, below.
The Mercadito(Created by Milagro Tequila National Ambassador Jaime Salas)
2 partsMilagro Silver
¾ part agave nectar
1 part fresh lime juice
4 cucumber slices
1 pinch cilantro
1 thin jalapeño slice
In a Boston shaker, muddle cilantro, cucumber, and jalapeño slice.
Add remaining ingredients.
Shake vigorously with ice.
Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice.
Garnish with cucumber slice and cilantro sprig.
Now that you're
ready to go with your Mercadito cocktail, we figured you might want a little
more information about tequila. After all, part of the joy of making your own
fancy cocktail is uploading the photos to social media with a fun fact (or
three) to demonstrate your knowledge, and we've got you covered.
1.Tequila
is old. Like, really old.
According to liquor.com, modern tequila
came around between 1700 and 1800. In 1758, the Cuervo family (yes, Jose
Cuervo's family) became the first group to officially distil the liquor, and,
in 1873, Don Cenobio Sauza realized that blue agave was the best source. But
before that, the Spanish were distilling agave in the 1400s and 1500s, which
created mezcals. In the early 1600s, they built a distillery in a city now
known as Tequila, Jalisco. But it goes back even further. In classic Spanish
fashion, the Spaniards had taken a page from the Aztecs' book. The Aztecs had
been fermenting agave, but not distilling it, for centuries, and it's likely
that the Olmecs, who date back to 1000 B.C., were doing the same. This created
a fermented drink known as pulque, and it's documented on stone walls
for the first time around 200 A.D.
2.The
margarita was an accident.
Huffpost groups the margarita in with chocolate
chip cookies, LSD, and potato chips: All of these came around as a mistake and
have arguably seriously changed the world, although we'll let you decide
whether each one has changed it for better or for worse.
So, how did it begin? In the mid-1920s, a
customer at the Turf Bar in Tijuana ordered a Gin Daisy cocktail from bartender
Henry Madden. A Daisy included liquor, lemon juice, and orange cordial, and it
had been a staple since the 1870s. Madden must've been having an off day
because he grabbed the wrong bottle, adding tequila instead of gin. But now, we
couldn't be more thankful. And about the name margarita? It's just the Spanish
word for daisy.
3.The
worm in tequila bottles doesn't exist.
We've all heard the stories about the worm that
lives at the bottom of the tequila bottle. Hate to break it to you, but it
doesn't exist. The myth doesn't come from nowhere, though, and according to delish.com,
people are confusing a larva in mezcal for a worm in tequila. We know, it's
confusing. Tequila is a type of mezcal that consists of at least 51 percent
blue agave, and it doesn't come with any creature inside of it. In fact, vinepair.com
notes that the Mexican Standards Authority prohibits adding worms or larvae to
tequila. Mezcal, however, might come with a gusano de maguey, the larva
for a night butterfly called the mariposa, at the bottom of the bottle.
This is also not traditional, and likely was a marketing ploy beginning in the
1950s. Still, it caught on, and now it's not uncommon to buy a mezcal with a
gusano de maguey in it— but now, you'll know the difference.
Now that you've got your tequila facts stored away, go make your
Mercadito and toast to National Tequila Day. You've earned it.
