Friday Cocktails: The Tequila Boulevardier

By Betsy Andrews

Credit: Anna Stockwell

I make no bones about not loving tequila in general, but when British barman Mark Drew stopped by the SAVEUR office the other day, toting a few bottles of Herradura tequila with him, he made a good case for me to become inclined toward the stuff. The open-tank fermentation process that Herradura has been using for nearly a century and a half employs the naturally occurring yeasts found in the orchards surrounding the tanks, a process that accentuates the tequila's earthiness and lends it complex flavors of orange, rose, and mint. The green-hued, relatively young silver tequila, the mildly aged reposado, the añejo, and the caramelly "selección suprema" extra añejo�which gets three years of oak-barrel aging�are made in a facility where all the byproducts are recycled or purified, a surprisingly sustainable way of distilling for such a big-name brand.

Drew, who shook up a delicious twist on a boulevardier, swapping the bourbon for Herradura's caramelly añejo, may make a tequila drinker out of me after all. As it turns out, what I'm not crazy about is tequila in its typical guise as the booze base of a fruity, tangy drink: a margarita, or a tequila sunrise. Instead of citrus and simple syrup, his Tequila Boulevardier pairs the spirit with strongly bitter ingredients�Campari, Aperol, chocolate bitters�that muscle into the game and keep the agave's briny, green flavors in check. It's a beautifully balanced and elegant drink, one to please even a tequila skeptic like me.

See the recipe for the Tequila Boulevardier »