Shelley visits Strip House in Houston for a media tasting.
Tequila and steak? Not quite. Pulling up at the Strip House in downtown Houston for the Milagro Tequila tasting night, that’s what I assumed we were in for, but I was wrong. And by we I mean me and my boyfriend Rob. I should have read the invitation a little more carefully. The actual title of the evening was “The Evolved Cocteleria Session” and that’s exactly what we got: a night full of evolved cocktails. Tequila is not just for margaritas anymore!!!
The evening began with an abbreviated cocktail hour, we were just warming up. And this time by we I mean me, Rob, and approximately twenty strangers.Frosty frozen roasted pineapple margaritas were on hand along with nicely paired appetizers of chilled shrimp on a cucumber with a chile sauce, and bite-size BBQ pork rib and pineapple skewers. Nicely done.
First up was a drink Milagro refers to as the Mercadito. And I love it. Absolutely my favorite drink of the night. I’ll post the recipe here, but you can also find this drink recipe, along with all others, on the Milagro Tequila web site.
The Mercadito (El Pepino on the web site)
1. Place three cucumber slices, a pinch of cilantro, and a fresh jalapeno slice (or more according to your jalapeno tolerance level; personally, I’d go for two-three, and found myself wishing I’d ignored the advice to just use one…) in a “Boston shaker”, also known as a pint glass.
2. Muddle away with your muddler. You don’t really want to make cucumber salsa here, you want to muddle/mash enough to get the moisture out of the cucumbers without pulverizing them.
3. Take your highball glass, and fill it with equal parts Milagro Silver tequila and the Milagro lime juice-agave nectar-water base that can be found on their website.
4. Take your stainless steel shaker, place ice in it.
5. Pour your pint glass mixture into the shaker.
6. Put ice in your highball glass.
7. Shake your shaker with pint glass firmly affixed/inserted. I won’t go into more detail here on how to do that, if you’ve gotten this far, you either already know how to do this or should get some towels out and have reserve ingredients on hand.
8. Remove pint glass from shaker, place strainer on top.
9. Pour mixture through strainer into your highball glass.
10. Enjoy!!
Our next two cocktails were equally delicious, but I have to say that I am a sucker for jalapenos and silver tequila, so this first drink really won me over.
The remaining drinks kept me won over, but I’m just not there yet on wanting my tequila to taste more like tequila. Cocktail two was a pineapple, basil, bitter, ginger beer, and reposado tequila mixture that is really worth trying out. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name because by the time I realized I hadn’t noted it, well, I’d had too much tequila and wasn’t persistent enough in getting my question answered. Cocktail three was a surprisingly refreshing cocktail finale; a blackberry, sage, and anejo blend, the Carpe Dia did for many people at the event do just that: seize the day.
All in all, it was a great evening. Definitely out of the ordinary for us, and an event I would highly recommend to anyone looking to get their drink on in a non-traditional way. And we’re definitely drinking up some Mercaditos this weekend. You should, too!!
Editor’s Note: (excerpts from Strip House Press Release)
“In addition to “Milagro Tequila,” the Summer Spirit Series will also present tastings from Absolute Vodka on July 15th and Appleton Rum on August 19th, respectively. Each tasting will examine the crucial components of the drink experience, with cocktails designed to pair with various Strip House menu favorites.
To RSVP, please email akelly@theglaziergroup.com. The cost is $45 per person, including cocktails and passed heavy hors d’oevures; event begins promptly at 6:30 PM. Strip House is located at 1200 McKinney. Valet is complimentary.