El Charro Negro (the Black Charro)

by Al Butler

A Black Charro Cocktail

The first time I read the name of this tequila based drink my simple little mind immediately focused on the "Charro" portion. You see, for me, the name Charo has always been associated with the vivacious, fun, and sexy Spanish singer/entertainer of the 1960's and 70's. As a boy I loved watching her flit across the screen speaking very broken English, and wearing the most outlandish and revealing costumes. Her trade mark move of raising her hands over her head, and shaking her hips while shouting "Cuchi, Cuchi" brings a smile to my lips even today. However I found out rather quickly, that the cocktail we are looking at today was not named for her, but for something much more dark and seemingly sinister.

"Cuchi, Cuchi!"

El Charro Negro is a legend, from Mexico which speaks of a dark rider and his nocturnal wanderings.

Dressed all in black this apparition appears on a stallion of the same color to lonely travelers in the dead of the night. Many have seen this spirit, all of whom tell the same story. He glides out of the night riding on a tall dark horse. Silent as a whisper on the wind, he is never heard approaching. The Black Charro merely sits as still as a statue and watches the humans before him. None have ever heard him speak, nor do they know what it is he wants. They simply feel terror as his eyes, masked in the shadows of the night, watch them intently.

Stop staring at me!

One such tale tells of  a peasant being startled by El Charro Negro on a very dark country road. At the peasant's feet appeared a pouch full of coins. The peasant knew not what to do, should he take the money, or was this a trap of some sort set by the black rider before him? Eventually the poor hapless man was overwhelmed with fear and ran away as fast as he could, leaving the money in the dust and the searching gaze of the ghost behind him. To date it seems El Charro Negro has never harmed anyone, he obviously just exists to scare the Christ out of tired poor dirt farmers on their way home from the Cantina.

Thankfully, the cocktail that bears this ghost's name is not nearly as lame as the legend which inspired it.

Ingredients:
1.5-2.0 oz. Tequila
 .5-.75 oz.  Lemon Juice (fresh)
Cola to top off
Lemon wheel for garnish.

Method:
Fill a rocks glass with clean ice, add Tequila and Lemon Juice and top off with the Cola. Stir gently as to not flatten the carbonation from the cola. Add a lemon wheel as a garnish either on the rim of the glass or simply dropped inside the drink itself. *Note: You can also chose to "rim" the glass with salt by running your lemon peel around the rim and placing the glass (top down) onto a plate of salt. You have to mix your drink in a separate glass and pour it into the rimmed glass if you chose to do this* 

I found that the lemon juice really helped to cut back on the sweetness of the tequila and cola, making the whole experience a rather smooth and calming one. You can use any type of tequila you like or have on hand, but I personally prefer Reposado or Anejo as the aging in charred barrels gives the spirit a smooth, smoky, flavor which elevates this simple drink. Some people make the El Charro Negro with lime juice and garnish instead of lemon, and it seems to work fine. I suggest trying both versions, what can it hurt? if you prefer lime over lemon go for it.

This quick and easy to mix drink is simple enough that one doesn't have to think to much when putting it together however, the flavors are unique enough that you'll be making more than just one.

Cuchi, Cuchi!
AL
 

La Paloma

Tequila rediscovered

 La Paloma "the Dove" is the official drink of Mexico, not the margarita, and is in my humble opinion a much better cocktail. Who named it such or even invented it will have to remain cloaked in mystery. You will have better luck finding Cortez's golden city in the clouds than figuring out this drinks origins, but so what? No matter who came up with it, you'll not find an easier or more refreshing tequila cocktail to put together at home.

Tequila? Yup that's what I said, because tequila is not just for Anti-Semites anymore.

This liquor has had something of a bad rap associated with it. Usually upon mention, one thinks of Frat boys doing shots of Jose Quervo shouting at the top of their lungs. Or an evil coven of middle aged housewives mixing up a "pitcher of Margs" as they formulate plans to take over the local PTA so they can ban books from the library.  Lastly let us not forget, that rather famous episode with Mel Gibson, where he spewed forth an Anti-Semetic rant at a police officer after being pulled over. It seems Mel was a bit in his cups at the time and there was a bottle of tequila in the seat next to him.

Loves Tequila! Jews? not so much.

For decades I have had an aversion to tequila. The very smell of it would make me shiver as foggy memories of youthful over indulgence clawed at my mind. The night of "Thirteen Golden Margaritas" broke any and all desire to even even look at the stuff, and to this day, if asked "would you like a margarita Al?" I always say; "No, make mine a Bushmills."

Yet, as I have been on this journey of cocktail discovery, and have learned so much about various spirits and their attributes, I just had to give this national treasure from Mexico another look. What I found should be no shock to anyone, and that is; tequila has levels of quality just like every other distilled spirit out there. Without going too far into the various types of tequila, that would take ages to get through, and to be honest I doubt too many of you care,  I will touch upon the single most important point.

Harvesting Blue agave for tequila.

Tequila is made from the blue agave plant indigenous to Mexico and no spirit can be named such without this base. The more blue agave, the higher quality liquor you end up with. The Mexican government regulates this very severely and all tequilas must have at the very least 51% blue agave as part of their mash. Jose Quervo, the most commonly known brand in the US, is what is called a "Mixto". Which is a tequila made with 51% blue and 49% of whatever other agave the distiller has available. Essentially it meets the bare minimum of requirements to carry the name.  Fear not though, for brands that are 100% agave are available here in the states, Patron being the most well known. These are usually much more expensive than Mixtos, but in my humble opinion worth the cost. A tequila cannot claim 100% status without approval of their government, as such if you find a brand that says it is check the bottle over to find "product of Mexico" printed on it somewhere etc.

As I have said over and over again use quality spirits and you won't be disappointed, and in this case it is a necessity.

Now what to do with this fine spirit.

La Paloma

Ingredients:

2-3 ounces 100 % agave tequila (I used 1800 Reposado)
.5 -.75 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice
Grapefruit soda (another Mexican invention)
1-2 pinches of salt
1 lime slice

Method:

Fill a Collins glass with ice, add Tequila, Lime juice and salt, top off with Grapfruit soda and garnish with a lime slice. Viola you are done!

I had to use Izze Grapefruit soda as it was the most easily available to me at the time and it worked out great. This may be a very simple drink to make, however the complexity of blended flavors is anything but. The salt and citrus come in first along with a bit of fizz from the soda, after which the tequila rolls up softly on the tongue completing the experience. I recommend this highly for anyone who wishes to safely experience tequila again. You will be pleasantly surprised and if not, well you can donate your bottle to me to experiment with. Just make sure it's 100 % Agave before you try.

Cheers
AL

Al's Not Here, Now Is The Time To Play The Games He Doesn't Like!

Tuna, Valerie, Anthony, and I were gathered at Tuna's house where we decided it was our chance to play games that Al hates, since he couldn't make it. It was also our chance to drink and eat things that Al doesn't like, so there were margaritas and tacos. And cookies which I don't think were Mexican but what do I really know about the origins of cookies? They were awesome regardless.

We played Legend of Drizzt. It's one in the D&D series of a board games (the ones with the Encounter cards that very much mess with any strategy you make have formulated).

Tuna selected a scenario that mitigated the encounter card issue by introducing another issue: narrow passageways and few dungeon expansion options. We were now more like to get cornered and swarmed.

However, that just never happened. In fact, we won without taking much damage or ever running into trouble. Two trolls spawned but we had them pinned in a -4 AC hallway.

Was it just Al's presence that doomed us in this game in the past?

Since the first one was so quick and we had it all set up, we randomly selected another scenario. This one involved 4 fissures in the dungeon where monsters would spawn each turn based on the roll of the die. It took a total of 4 actions to seal one and you only get two actions. Meanwhile, those awesome encounter cards are drawn each round as well.

We were doing fairly well when we were faced with a decision. After you close the second fissure, the boss appears. So while we still had some monsters, we had to keep moving. Anthony summons the boss by closing the second fissure. We then draw new monsters to appear (right where we just spawned the boss) and Anthony draws the 'hunting party' card, which means that two monsters appear instead. He draws two monster cards. One is another hunting party. We now have A LOT of monsters on the board and most of use are already down between some to a lot of health.

And the boss, if you're not near her, will make you draw encounter cards. Hooray!

I can hear Al rage quitting the game from miles away.

We manage some good maneuvers, clearing a trap, taking out some enemies, and then Anthony charged the boss. And then lost all of his health. Thankfully, when the boss attacks at close range, she moves away afterwards, which was towards me and my dual swords of extra attack rolls.

Tuna ended up in the monster mix too and lost all of his health. Valerie and I took care of the boss. We used our two healing surges to revive the near-dead and quickly beat the remaining monsters down. Closing the last two fissures was fairly anti-climactic.

Valerie had to leave, so the three of us played a quick game of Forbidden Island. We made a bad move and went for the win when we should have played it safe a bit longer. The island sank and we all died. The end.

Set up for Legend of Drizzt

The first game, which was too easy

The second game, which was just hard enough