By Mariana González-Márquez | Guadalajara, Mexico (EFE) exotic that serves to satisfy new palates and surprise the public.
Raúl Arellano Reyes has been a bartender for four years in the Mexican city of Guadalajara and his inclination for fresh cocktails led him to create a “drink” made with almonds, melon seeds, strawberries, raspberries, a little grapefruit, orange mixed in form of syrups and juices to enhance the flavor of a rested tequila.
The young man told EFE that the trend in cocktails is to mix the textures and flavors of the various types of tequila, with ingredients that can offer drinks from citrus to sweet and that customers have more options to choose from.
“Tequilas have a great variety of flavors, of categories that help you for that, cocktails with tequila are beginning to be clarified because they are betting more on the sweet than on the citrus, which gives a greater range to the cocktails with tequila. , not only prepare them with lemon, grapefruit and salt, but open the range to more sour, sweeter flavors and complex processes”, he explained.
around the tequila
The Arellano Reyes drink was one of the 20 that competed in the Tequila mixology contest that brought together baristas from different latitudes of Mexico as part of the activities for National Tequila Day, which is celebrated on the third Saturday of March.
The baristas presented innovative drinks not only in the ingredients but also in the way they are presented, in which they confirmed that the public is eager to discover new ways of tasting the traditional drink of tequila.
“The new generations are looking for many ingredients like Jamaica, themes with a little sweetness, it is also mixing a lot with teas and infusions and people are looking for new experiences, trying something that surprises them,” said Arellano Reyes.
The production of the Mexican drink of tequila grew by 526% in almost three decades while exports increased by 541%. In 2022, 651 and a half million liters of the Mexican drink were produced, that is, 23.6% more than in 2021, according to data from the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), a certifying body for the tequila industry in Mexico, given to meet last January.
The traditional and the innovative
Nahomi Itzel Ramírez has been a barista for three years and was part of the contest with a drink that combined the best of two worlds: the tradition of drinking tequila that her grandfather inherited and exotic flavors from certain plants as a way of reflecting that this drink is not goes out of style
“30 years ago, tequila was still classified as a very strong drink, something very typical of a canteen, and currently there has been a revolution in cocktails, it is not only a world-class distillate, but there are different types of tequila that give it It opens up all kinds of palates”, he stated.
The knowledge of new varieties of fruit and plants has contributed to the fact that both in gastronomy and cocktails, experts dare to explore new flavors and textures that enrich regional food or classic drinks, said the young woman.
“It is a trend to revolutionize old cocktails and give them a new face, so as not to lose that old school part of the bartender and also due to the discovery of new endemic species throughout the world, there are countless mixes that can be made with all ingredients that we currently have and its presentation is more gourmet”, he expressed.
The influence of social networks
Fabián Gutiérrez created a drink called “Santería” for the contest, based on muicle (a green Mexican plant that turns red when infused) with syrups and fruit juices that make the cocktail take on exotic and attractive tones.
“The vast majority of people go for the new, what they have already heard (drinks with) passion fruit, with lychee, sometimes the weirder it sounds, the more people tend to want to try it,” he said.
The barista with several years of experience opined that social networks have a lot to do with this gourmet trend among customers, since it is common for them to want to try a drink they saw on Instagram or YouTube, so as not to be left behind in this type of experience.
Gutiérrez agreed with Jonathan Cano García, another of the contestants, in that alone or mixed with other ingredients, customers look for tequila as an accompaniment to their moments of leisure or their celebrations.
“The perfect cocktail is the right tequila and kisses, without lemon, a little mineral water to hydrate, but the perfect cocktail is the one that customers want, we have to adapt to them,” Cano García concluded.