This post is for viewing only by those of legal alcohol purchasing age. Please always remember to drink responsibly!
The first cocktail book I remember buying was in San Francisco. It is titled ‘The Art of the Cocktail’ and is a cleanly formatted, beautiful book with a simple recipe on one page and an adjoining photo on the page next to it. The photos are vivid and well styled and I’ve kept it as a basic guide despite pages now falling out of the well worn paperback binding.
One of the cocktails that always intrigued me was the Pousse Café. It is a layered cocktail using colored liqueurs creating a fanciful striped affect when prepared correctly. I love it when a bit of science and magic meet food in this way and have been waiting for a chance to make one of my own. Though the original Pousse Café cocktail used a prescribed combination of liqueurs to create a colored striping, the term ‘pousse café’ has been colloquialized to the practice of layering cocktails using the density of the liquor as a guide for success.
Earlier this month is created a Halloween non-alcoholic drink in similar fashion using the sugar amount as a guide, pouring the liquid with the most sugar, or the heaviest density, first, followed by the lighter in order to allow the layers to float separately. When pouring pousse café cocktails, one uses an alcohol gravity chart to put the heaviest, most dense, first and layering up to the lightest which allows the layers to float.
I feel pretty confident I’ve passed the stage in my alcohol consuming life of drinking a cocktail made up of 3-6 sweet liqueurs and living to tell about it. I still wanted to experiment with creating the enchantment of a pousse café cocktail without the aftermath of drinking it. Instead I decided to weave my exploration into a seasonally flavored cocktail to top off the Halloween festivities that will celebrate the chill in the air beyond the 31st as well: a Cinnamon Candy Apple Cocktail.
I recently had the chance to sample a new naturally-flavored cinnamon tequila from Jose Cuervo named ‘Cinge’. Aptly described, I immediately fell in love. The tequila bears a very natural tasting cinnamon flavor that conjures smoldering warmth and meshes perfectly with the tequila giving rise to unending cocktail ideas for the cold weather season; not the least of which would be simply sipping it perhaps with a squeeze of lime.
The inspiration from the flavor and the time of year made me think of red, candied apples with cinnamon. I paired it with Sour Apple Pucker which may sound like issuing a ticket to the hangover express but I love the interplay between the two flavors. They keep each other in check, offering just enough bright apple and cinnamon to nudge toward putting on a sweater and stoking the fire, not leaving one feeling their palate has been overtaken by either flavor.
Recipe
Cinnamon Candy Apple Cocktail
Ingredients
- 3/4 ounce Cinnamon Tequila (I used Cinge by Jose Cuervo)
- 3/4 ounce Sour Apple Pucker
- Shot glass
- Spoon
- Measuring cup
- Plate
- Red food color (optional: I use India Tree Dyes which are all natural, plant based dyes)
Instructions
- Place the shot glass on a plate or a bowl (protects from spillage). Pour in Sour Apple Pucker.
- Measure the cinnamon tequila into a liquid measuring cup. Note: when ultimately pouring the cinnamon tequila into the glass to layer it, pouring from a measuring cup with spout allows more control of the liquid. Add a drop of food coloring if desired.
- Stir to fully mix color into the tequila.
- Place the dining spoon into the shot glass with the Sour Apple Pucker. Tilt the spoon at a 45 degree angle, with the end of the spoon just above the top of the Sour Apple Pucker and touching the side of the shot glass.
- Begin to pour the cinnamon tequila very, very slowly onto the spoon, allowing it to begin to layer on top of the Sour Apple Pucker. The key is the speed the tequila is poured.
- Remove the spoon and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post though I did receive a bottle of Jose Cuervo’s ‘Cinge’ with which to experiment. All opinions are my own.
rachel says
how long will the colors stay separated? could these be made a couple of hours ahead of time?
Toni Dash says
Hi Rachel. Personally I would make them before serving. If they are jostled the layers could blend. I have only made them before drinking them and though they will stay for a bit if unmoved I would be concerned about making them too long beforehand. Also if you are making them for an event, you could always make some ‘testers’ to see how long they last if unmoved.
Lillian @ My Recipe Journey says
I wish I had some cinnamon tequila right now! Maybe I can use regular tequila infused with cinnamon powder? Great recipe and instructions for pouring! Thanks! =D
Lillian says
Okay, I had to improvise because I didn’t have the cinnamon tequila. This is what I did! I used regular tequila infused with cinnamon red hot candy. Then I added 4 drops of red food coloring!
It worked perfectly! But wow…this is a strong drink! I ended up mixing the drink after I photographed it! I think I’ll add some simple syrup next time to make it taste less strong! Your pouring technique worked great! Thanks!
Toni Dash says
Hi Lillian. Just got both of your comments. I was going to suggest using cinnamon oil if it still is available rather than cinnamon powder but your idea is a good one. It is essentially a martini which as I’m sure you know is all alcohol and should be sipped slowly! I appreciate you mentioning that and will put a reminder on the post for those less familiar with straight alcohol drinks. Thanks for the link to your photo! Glad it worked and thank you very much for sending your followers to the original article for instruction. As I’m sure you know all too often that is not the case. I appreciate your integrity.
Sami says
Sounds great! I’ve never heard of cinnamon flavored tequila!
I need to try this!
Thanks!
Toni Dash says
Jose Cuervo just released Cinge and other than that I had not heard of any either. I really loved the flavor of it. You could imagine that type of flavor could taste very inauthentic or ‘chemically’ but this is a flavor you would imagine if you were chewing on a cinnamon stick. I don’t go for novelty liquors and again, loved this.