5 agave cocktails to try on Long Island
Paloma En Cantarito, Lagrimas De La Llorona and La Chingona cocktails at Ruta Oaxaca in Patchogue. Credit: Megan Schlow
It’s rare to be handed a menu these days that doesn’t include an agave-based cocktail — like a margarita, made with tequila — but often two or three, some even substituting the smokier mezcal as the base spirit. And we’re not just talking about Mexican restaurants. These days, it seems like at any bar and every restaurant, agave rules the cocktail handbook.
FROM TEQUILA TO AGAVE
Remember when tequila was the barroom bad boy that came out at bachelorette parties and raucous spring break trips to Mexico? It was the shot of choice on 21st birthdays across college campuses nationwide. Nowadays, tequila, and its larger agave family, are savored alongside citrus wedges and salt-coated glass rims. It's analyzed in tasting flights and gussied up by mustachioed bartenders in posh lounges and swank drinking holes from London to L.A. Gone are the days of tequila as farce; it is the smooth, sexy, luxury spirit that celebrities want to add to their branding portfolio, mixologists want on their menus, and Mexico wants to keep exporting to our shores.
WHAT IS AGAVE?
Indigenous to the drier areas of Americas (and not to be confused with cacti and aloe which look similar with their thick, fibrous leaves and spiky teeth to discourage predators) agave grows close to the ground and requires little water or maintenance once in bloom, like most other succulents. From these plants comes tequila, which has been around since the Aztecs in the form of pulque — an early, moonshine-like, sacred beverage still found in Mexico. After the Conquistadores arrived, tequila, as we know it today, evolved through the enhancement of distillation techniques. According to Jose Castillo, the owner of Ruta Oaxaca in Patchogue and Woodbury, the ideal agave plant for tequila "takes between 6-8 years to mature."
The first tequila factory emerged in the 1600s in the town of Tequila, in the state of Jalisco, and is attributed to Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, who has since become known as "the father of tequila." Fast forward to 1758 when the Cuervo family was granted the first commercial license to make the spirit, eventually exporting it to the United States, becoming a modern day symbol of Mexican culture. In 1974, tequila production, much like French wine, began to follow strict production protocols: Tequila could only be produced in the Mexican state of Jalisco and only use the blue "Weber" agave plant, one of the sweeter agave varieties from the highlands, or Los Altos. In 2006, UNESCO went further and declared the encompassing "Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila" a designated World Heritage site in 2006.
AGAVE VERSUS MEZCAL
Mezcal, conversely, is less regulated, and can be made from a combination of up to 30 agave plants. It has a less sweet, more smoky profile, with the various agaves adding tropical notes, earthy notes, and more flavor to the category. "Mezcal has evolved over the last 10-15 years," explained Castillo. "It’s too smoky for most people, because the cooking process, which is under the ground, offers the smoke little room to escape. The smoke flavor is much more concentrated." Other variations of agaves, include the less known raicilla, sotol, and bacanora, rarely found in the States, but plentiful south of the border.
Long Island doesn’t lack for watering holes and eateries that trade in the art of making fanciful tequila and mezcal cocktails. With Cinco de Mayo on the horizon, we scoured the scene for some of our favorites — from classic to au currant — as a way to honor our southern neighbor and the rich, cultural beverage that connects to their food.
WHERE TO FIND AGAVE COCKTAILS
Besito: Classic Margarita
402 New York Ave., Huntington (other locations in Roslyn and West Islip)
Mexican food on Long Island started to look different in 2006, when restaurateur John Tunney opened Besito Mexican in Huntington. This wasn’t Tex-Mex Mexican, these were the nuanced classics from the Mexican culinary canon. Think past tacos to fish Veracruzana in tomato sauce, budin Azteca layered with tortillas in a poblano cream sauce, and queso fundido served with warmed tortillas on the side, just like in Mexico City. Besito perfected the art of table side guac, and offered free churros for dessert — this was Mexican hospitality, and food, at its best. Today, Besito — now also in Roslyn and West Islip — is always packed because it is consistent. There’s nowhere we’d prefer to sip our classic margarita ($14.95) — lime, agave syrup, tequila, salt — than against the terracotta floors, multicolor fabrics and Latin music of Besito, our original authentic Mexican restaurant. More info: 631-549-0100, besitomexican.com
T-Bar: Jalapeno-Cucumber Margarita
1363 Old Northern Blvd, Roslyn
T-Bar, the lush Roslyn haunt that came to Long Island by way of Manhattan, is known for steaks and a sultry scene, so it follows that their bar is a great spot for drinks. They offer a daily happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. serving half-off drinks (so that $20 marg is only $10). T-Bar also has a dedicated margarita section on their cocktail menu, so if you’re not partial to the cool refreshing take on the above mentioned spicy margarita enhanced and refreshed by cool cucumber, there are also ginger, passionfruit and classic styles. On the mezcal side, all of those flavors are combined into a mule made from passionfruit, cucumber and lime. More info: 516-277-2466, tbar.li
Ixchel Mexican: Cielo
130 Old Town Rd, Setauket-East Setauket
Agave cocktails at Ixchel in East Setauket. Credit: Stephanie Foley
Named by owners Daphnee and Juan Munar for a Mayan goddess, Ixchel blends an appreciation for pre-Columbian cuisine with a swank design, a robust cocktail program and a crowd-pleasing repertoire. There's a whole cocktail menu based on the Mayan calendar. Try the Balam (jaguar), made from mezcal, fresh blood orange, mint leaves and citrus ($17) or the light, easy Cielo made with Il Cielo tequila, agave, lime juice, passionfruit juice and mezcal spray. If you like your drinks neat, there are rare tequilas — some aged in oak — as well as Mexican wines. The bartenders, knowledgeable and helpful here, can easily guide beginner agave drinkers, or help with selections for a tequila flight. The bar is one our favorite on the Island, its sunken room anchored by an L-shaped blond wood bar, romantic wisteria hanging from the rafters. More info: 631-526-2004, ixchelmexicancuisine.com
The Green Door: Smoked Pineapple Mule
121 N. Wellwood Ave., Lindenhurst
Lindenhurst’s stylish new cocktail bar, The Green Door, is a moody Prohibition-style speakeasy with a neat, multipage menu arranged by spirit — with a tequila section — and inventive cocktails all priced between $16-$18. Particularly refreshing: The Bees Ankles, with Milagro reposado tequila, hot habanero honey and lemon or the Lavender Fog with 400 Conejos mezcal, lavender syrup, lime and egg whites. Pro hack: Order the Smoked Pineapple Mule, but sub smoky mezcal for vodka, which offsets the pineapple syrup, ginger beer and lime to make for a rich, refreshing drink served in a silver mug, the handle of which is an elephant’s trunk. Happy hour on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m. brings $3 off cocktails and $2 off beer and wine. And if you’re hungry, bites include pork belly empanadas, grilled wings with chipotle-bourbon honey butter and crispy plantains, a burrata wedge; a slider trio and bone marrow fries. More info: 631-256-1003, thegreendoorlindenhurst.com
Ruta Oaxaca: Tequila and mezcal flights
30 E. Main St., Patchogue
8025 Jericho Tpke., Woodbury
This duo of upscale Mexican restaurants, which hails from Queens, hits the mark with colorfully decorated rooms and forward-thinking dishes from Oaxaca and beyond. Just as important, Ruta Oaxaca has an outstanding selection of agave spirits, offering wild-grown and rare varietals such as raicilla and madrecuixe, as well as sotol. Get a flight of three spirits for comparison — there are more than 150 bottles of tequila and 175 bottles of mezcal in house. Castillo, who prefers small batch tequilas that preserve the process of making the spirit, explained that the growth of agave selection in his restaurants has come as patrons are "are more open to try new things." Flights offer some of the culinary education that goes alongside. Prefer your agave sweet? The cocktails are not only beautiful, but delicious. Try the La Chingona margarita which consists of Cazadores Blanco, Cointreau, pitaya (dragonfruit) and peach puree, fresh lime juice, and poblano salt ($15) and is a vibrant shade of fuchsia. More info: 631-569-2233 (Patchogue), 516-515-9620 (Woodbury), rutaoaxacamex.com
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
