Barrel-Aged Tequila Cocktail with Grapefruit Juice and Tarragon

Barrel-Aged Tequila Cocktail with Grapefruit Juice and Tarragon

We went out for a night of pre-vacation drinking that started out with an tasty oyster and beer happy hour (Upstate)...

Coffee Imperial Stout at Upstate

migrated to a smelly yet loveable dive bar (International Bar), slightly upgraded to an Irish pub (St. Dymphna’s), meandered to a hot dog joint for some cheesy tots (Crif Dogs)...

Post-cheesy tots empty table at Crif Dogs

...then stumbled into the fantastic mixology of a faux-speakeasy (PDT). 

Mosaic mirrored walls in the PDT bathroom made by an EV artist

Not to be outdone, we figured what better way to end the evening than with a nightcap back at home. 

What resulted was a bit of intoxicated genius.  They say Faulkner wrote his best work while on the sauce so I suppose a bit of alcohol can, in fact, expand your thinking.  

Ingredients

1 TBS fresh tarragon leaves (frozen is ok too)

1 part barrel-aged tequila (or reposado tequila)

2 dashes angostura bitters

3 parts grapefruit juice

1 big old ice cube

Cocktail ingredients - bitter/sour fruity/boozy/green/cold

I can’t take credit for the oak barrel sitting on my kitchen cabinet.  The silver tequila that were poured into said barrel and eventually aged until it was a caramel-colored reposado, was also out of my hands.

Just your standard issue kitchen oak barrel

If you don’t have a man who will age tequila for you, I suggest giving it a whirl yourself or just buying some golden tequila like a normal person.

Formerly clear tequila is now dark and mellow

Start by adding the tarragon leaves to your glass and muddling gently with the back of a spoon.  The really just need a few nudges to give off their essential oils. 

Muddling

Next add 1 part tequila along with your giant ice cube.

Booze and cube

Shake in two dashes of angostura bitters and stir.

Dashing!

 Top with roughly three parts grapefruit juice and give the glass another stir.

Cheers!