Thirsty Thursdays * Estoy listo para un cóctel!

Sometimes unexpected happiness just happens to you. A Royals game two home run. A talk with your mom just when you need it. Or maybe it's stopping for lunch on a gorgeous Saturday and discovering a new favorite cocktail.  

The Hubbs and I were out running errands Saturday and decided some sustenance was in order.  After our usual, "Where do you want to go?" "I don't know. Where do you want to go?" exchange, we decided on Mexican and headed to Gonza Tacos near our house.  They  are one of our top three Mexican restaurant choices, have a couple of locations in the City of Oaks and opened one up not too far from our house this year. And they have a patio. Did I mention that it was a gorgeous day? And they have a patio? 

Our server Art came out to tell us about the specials and mentioned they had a cocktail special - The Ginger Tamarind Margarita. Needless to say we were all ears. I mean this place knows their tequila. It's literally their last name. Turns out that Art is also the restaurant's Beverage Director/Head Mixologist and he created the recipe. <angels singing> Unexpected happiness heading our way.

Chopped ginger and a ginger root

We started chatting with Art after tasting the little bit of heaven (because let's be real - I had to have the recipe) and in a cool twist of events, they even have a drink that was a take on last week's Thirsty Thursday cocktail, only Mexicanified (that's totally a word). But I digress. Here's the ingredients list for this week's cocktail:

Tamarind pods and beans

1 Tsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped coarsely 1.5 oz tequila (Art recommends reposado or blanco. If you don't know the difference you can learn about it here) .75 oz of your favorite orange liqueur (Triple Sec or Grand Marnier) a splash of sour mix (they make their own - here's a recipe if you'd like to do the same) 3 oz of tamarind puree (tamarind is a seed. You can make your own or buy some here) Juice of two limes Sea salt
Step 1) Muddle your ginger and lime juice but don't smash it up too much - a few good twists of your hand should do
Step 2) Add ice, tamarind paste, sour mix, tequila and orange liqueur into a shaker
Step 3) Shake thoroughly, but not like you're shaking a martini - three or four good hard shakes will suffice and pour into a rocks glass rimmed in sea salt (here's how to rim a glass if you've never done it before)
Makes two drinks

Gracias, Arturo, Beber y isfrutar. Y de nada.