We’ve been spending a lot of time over the past year or so spreading the word about an increasingly popular cocktail – The Pepperita. Put simply, the Pepperita is a Texas take on a traditional daiquiri. Here’s the recipe:
2 oz Treaty Oak Platinum Rum
1 oz agave nectar
1 oz fresh lime juice
3 fresh jalapeno slices
3 oz club soda
Shake first three ingredients with two of the jalapeno slices. Strain over ice, top with club soda and garnish with remaining jalapeno slice.
The drink was an immediate hit for us as it allows the taste of our rum to come through, is easy for people to make at home but different from the usual drinks of choice and the jalapenos give it an undeniably Texan vibe. People always ask about how I came up with a drink like this, but the truth is...I didn’t. Curtis Cheney did.
I met Curtis a few years ago while drinking Lone Stars at Hotel San Jose. Turned out that we both had a love for food and drinks, so we became fast friends. We’ve stayed friends and he’s currently the head bartender at Del Frisco’s Steakhouse in Fort Worth (phenomenal food if you haven’t been there). Back in 2009, I called Curtis up to meet Joshua Holland and me at an event called ZestFest. I had talked the folks with ZestFest into giving us some time on stage to talk about our product and let us work our mixology magic.
Curtis agreed to come up with a few drinks for the show – kind of a fire and ice direction was agreed upon. Needless to say, the self-proclaimed "Pepperheads" at Zestfest where all *HUGE* fans of the Pepperita. The rest, as they say, is history. Here’s a video of Curtis making the Pepperita for the first time....
As always, thank you all for your support and, if you haven’t tried one already, go have a Pepperita! If you’re here in Austin, you can find one of the best ones at Jack Allen’s Kitchen down in South (and it goes great with the fried ribs). They're also a tasty partner for the chile con queso with veggie chorizo at Curra's.
-Daniel Barnes
p.s. - If you're not in the Austin area, here are a few more places you can find the Pepperita:
San Antonio
Siloh
Dallas
Eno's
Fort Worth
Del Frisco's
Houston
Bar Boheme
Anvil
Victor's
Beavers
Canyon Creek
Cedar Creek
Hotel Derek- Valentino
Bar Retro
Community Bar
Hearsay
Kublai Kahn
