Make-Your-Own Top Taco
Due to several factors, the famous taco and tequila festival and competition Top Taco was not slated for 2025. Though the biggest fans are saddened by this turn of events, they can get their fill of tasty tacos and more at home.
My friends and I threw our own version of Top Taco this weekend complete with a variety of tacos, side dishes, and margaritas. Rouses had everything needed for this meal, and I brought over some Twang flavored salts, which are perfect for effortlessly customizing food and drinks. No renowned chefs are required to turn these tacos from average to exceptional.
Mixing Margs
As a standing Top Taco Judge, I always preferred to kick off with a tasty cocktail. Patrick was pleased to play bartender and created a gorgeous margarita bar with everything needed to make a totally custom drink. For a proper marg bar, a variety of tequila is necessary. We had a blanco, heartier reposado, and spicy jalapeno tequila for the base, and either Fever Tree's margarita mix or fresh limes and Cointreau for those who wanted something more robust.
Before pouring your chosen margarita into the glass, you've got to decide on the salt rim, of course. After a slide around with a lime slice, the options were Twang's Lime for the traditionalist or Chile Lime for the adventurous. A true thrill seeker would make a chile lime salt rimmed jalapeno tequila margarita with a sprig of cilantro.
Tacos For the Win
The spiciness didn't end there. For the taco bar, there were several shell, filling, topping, and seasoning options to create something totally unique and share your findings with everyone. Blake provided traditional taco beef, seasoned just enough. I made my go-to roasted veggies including onion, red bell pepper, and zucchini. The roasted veggies for tacos almost make it a fajita-taco mashup: savory, charred, yet incredibly juicy. Some people even put both on their tacos.
Of course, the vessel is the very first thing you taste. Soft taco shells, hard taco shells, and (my favorite) spicy taco shells were the options. And the toppings could include fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, and hot sauce. I like the spiciest of the spicy, just like my margarita: spicy taco shell, roasted veggies, and hot sauce. I do tend to pile on cilantro to an obscene degree that cuts the spice while adding a verdant freshness to each bite. With all of these options, the tacos can be different for each person; there are thousands of ways to make a taco.
Though tacos and tequila drinks are the main events at Top Taco, it's not a dinner party without sides. I threw some carrots on the tray to roast with the other veggies, so I created a dish of roasted carrots drizzled with honey, lime juice, crumbled feta cheese and a hefty seasoning of Mango Chile flavored salt by Twang. Denis kept more in the spirit of Mexican foods by making elote in the oven complete with a thick dollop of sauce. The Spicy Sriracha seasoned salt was awesome for this dish. I found it to be not extremely spicy, but just noticeable enough over the creamy sauce.
Somebody provided popcorn so that we could sample certain seasonings on a neutral food before committing to it in a dish or beverage, but it was the perfect backdrop for some of Twang salts when mixed with oil and drizzled on. The Hot Pickle salt was super tangy and would overwhelm some foods, but it was great on the popcorn for tangy, spicy snack lovers. Conversely, the sweeter Chamoy salt made the popcorn into a dessert. A little sweet, a little salty, and not too high in calories like a piece of cake would be. To have more variety for your home-based Top Taco, you can take your regular snacks like chips (I used seasonal black potato chips), dips, crackers, and cheese and do some interesting seasonings from what you've got in the spice drawer.
We all hope that next year will bring us Top Taco. But you've got all the ingredients you need to do it yourself right now.
