Tequila cocktails are, just like tequila itself, unfortunately not as widespread as one could hope. This is a pity since Tequila is an absolutely multi-facetted and promising spirit and cocktail ingredient. Of course there are a lot of good recipes for such drinks out there, especially in the Americas, but they are not really popular in Europe at all. Besides Margarita and Tequila Sunrise most people will certainly start sweating when asked to name some drinks based on the agave spirit. Today I would like to present a simple, yet sophisticated recipe which, in my opinion, is a really good recommendation especially for very high-quality tequilas.

Of course at this point you could now start discussing if particularly high-quality tequila must be mixed in a drink at all. Of course it does not have to. Is it allowed then? Here I think that it depends very much on the drink you’re up to. As I’ve already said in my article about the Cassa Noble Reposado, in such situations I would rather opt for drinks where the tequila clearly plays the lead. And if possible without any juices at its side. Of course a lot of people will immediately think of the category of Old Fashioned cocktails and although I do not want to exclude to use the Casa Noble Reposado in such a drink one day, today I chose a drink with another famous paragon that recently gained a lot of its long lost reputation. I’m talking about the Aviation Cocktail. Anyone who will now immediately think of the Agaviation cocktail, is, however, wrong. Although this one-to-one tequila adaptation of the Aviation is also a great cocktail, I did not want to mix a cocktail with lemon juice. Instead it is the Spring Fling cocktail, a drink from the One Market restaurant in San Francisco, where it was created by Justin Blackwood. It is only loosely influenced by the aviation because the lemon juice has been dropped completely, while the Maraschino is replaced by St. Germain Elderflower liqueur. I like this very much since St. Germain is much more subtle than the very intense Maraschino and skillfully enriches the tequila with its floral notes. For the sky blue color Créme Violette makes its  appearance and also bestows a nice touch of wonderful violet taste upon the Spring Fling Cocktail.

I came upon the Spring Fling Cocktail during an online research. Unfortunately, there was no exact recipe given, so experimented a little bit with the ingredients until I was pleased. The result is a very nice cocktail with plenty of tequila and some floral magic.

Recipe (version adapted by me):

6 cl Casa Noble Reposado Tequila
2 cl St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3 bar spoons of crème violette

(Oil of a lemon zest)

Preparation: Mix all the ingredients except the lemon oil in a stirring glass on ice and stir until cold. Then pour into your glass filled with fresh ice cubes and spray the oil of the zest on top of it.

Glass: Tumbler

Garnish: Lemon zest

Buying sources: The ingredients can be found in specialized stores or online.