The Toreador cocktail: when tequila and apricot brandy collide
This under-appreciated (and tequilified) Daiquiri riff leaves you wanting more.
Tequila can be a tricky spirit to tame. It can be peppery, vegetal, rich in agave aroma — sometimes it can be difficult mixing with other ingredients.
Enter apricot brandy. There’s something special to the stuff — it’s moreish, and makes other flavours pop; it plays very well with the zest of fresh lime juice, the two ingredients combining to create a mouthwatering puckering that leaves you wanting more.
And that combination, when introduced to quality 100 percent agave blanco tequila, results in the Toreador cocktail.
It’s a drink that appears in The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, published in 1937, and written by William J Darling. He was the head bartender at the said Cafe Royal in London, and in along with Harry Craddock from The American Bar at The Savoy, set up the UK Bartenders Guild in 1933 (he was also instrumental in setting up the International Bartenders Association).
Toreador cocktail
Ingredients
- 40ml blanco tequila
- 20ml Joseph Cartron Apricot Brandy
- 20ml fresh lime juice
Instructions
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Adapted from The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, 1937.
Joseph Cartron Apricot Brandy is made from apricots grown on the Mont du Lyonnais, northwest of the French alps. There's a rich, ripe apricot aroma — it smacks of the real thing — and notes of stone fruits to be had. The addition of cognac provides the palate greater weight and length, giving it a little extra oomph when mixed in cocktails.
Contact your Amber Beverage representative for more information about the Joseph Cartron range, or visit amberbev.com.au.
