Mixing It Up

The Modern's Study in Agave

This one is somewhere between a margarita and a mojito.

2 ounces Herradura Añejo
16 fresh curry leaves, chopped fine
1 teaspoon white sugar
Maldon sea salt

In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the Herradura with the sugar and the curry leaves. Shake vigorously, strain into a low rocks glass or margarita glass. Sprinkle a bit of Maldon sea salt over the top, leaving the crystals whole and large.

Jay McCarthy's Cactus Ritas

Margaritas have long been among the most innovative cocktails in the country, though they receive little notice outside the Southwest. This marinated prickly-pear drink resembles Monica Pope's ratafia cocktails, except it's made with tequila. Chef Jay McCarthy invented it in the early 1990s at the Zuni Grill on San Antonio's River Walk. The Zuni Grill once sold as many as 1,500 of these blood-red margaritas a day.

10 large purple prickly-pear fruits
Crushed ice
1 bottle (750 ml) tequila plata
1/2 bottle (1-1/2 cups) Cointreau
10 limes

Peel each prickly-pear fruit and put the peeled fruit in a large glass jar. Pour in the tequila so that the fruit is completely submerged. Seal tightly and allow to sit for three to four days.

For each margarita, remove one prickly pear. To remove the seeds, mash the flesh through a large-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard the seeds. Put the strained fruit into a blender. Add 1/2 cup crushed ice, two shots (two ounces) of the prickly-pear-flavored tequila, one shot (one ounce) of Cointreau and the juice of 1 lime. Blend until slushy and serve in a large martini glass.

Makes 10.

Sazerac

To experience America's oldest cocktail in its original form, use cognac and absinthe. Absinthe made with wormwood was outlawed in the early 1900s, but legal versions are now available. They taste just like anisette. Peychaud bitters are native to New Orleans but available in Houston at Spec's.

1 shot cognac, rye or bourbon
1 crushed sugar cube
3 dashes Peychaud bitters
4 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash of Herbsaint, Pernod or absinthe

Fill a shaker with ice cubes, and add the brandy, rye or bourbon. Rinse a chilled old-fashioned glass with Herbsaint, Pernod or absinthe. Drop the sugar cube into the glass and shake the bitters over it. Add the chilled liquor and stir until the sugar dissolves. Garnish with a lemon twist. Traditionally served neat, but also excellent on the rocks.

Makes 1.

Watermelon Cooler (adapted from Raising the Bar by Nick Mautone)

The frozen watermelon cubes are a great idea. Nick Mautone says this drink is even better than wine with great barbecue. But be forewarned, he thinks hot dogs are barbecue. (I wonder what wine he drank with his hot dogs before he discovered watermelon coolers.)

1/2 small watermelon
8 ounces simple syrup
4 ounces fresh lemon juice
4 ounces fresh lime juice
Ice
12 ounces dark rum
8 ounces vanilla liqueur
12 mint leaves

To prepare the watermelon, cut off the rind and discard. Cut the flesh into one-inch cubes (you should have about four cups) and place them in a colander set inside a bowl. Stir the cubes gently to extract as much juice as possible without breaking up the cubes. You should have at least eight ounces of juice. Put the watermelon cubes in a plastic bag and freeze for at least half an hour.

Mix the syrup, lemon juice and lime juice with the watermelon juice. To serve, divide the frozen cubes among four glasses. Divide the rum, vanilla liqueur and juice mixture among the glasses and stir. Add ice cubes if desired. Garnish with mint leaves.

Deconstructed Mojito

Modern-day Jell-O shots, lime sorbet and mint leaves lined up on a Chinese soup spoon. When you eat them, you make mojitos in your mouth.

100 grams kosher gelatin
200 grams lemon-lime soda
200 grams Mount Gay rum
Lime sorbet
20 mint leaves

Heat the soda and rum in a microwave until very hot. Combine with gelatin. Add food color if desired. Allow to set in a cake pan in the refrigerator until jelled. Cut into one-inch cubes.

On Chinese soup spoons, place one cube of rum gelatin. Next, make one or two mini-scoops of lime sorbet with a melon baller and place beside the gelatin cube. Garnish with two mint leaves.

Serve immediately. The drink should be eaten in one bite.