This cocktail was inspired by a visit to Mission Taqueria, a Mexican cantina in Center City Philadelphia that boasts authentic, made to order fare and a drink menu to die for. It actually completes the holy trinity of great Mexican joints in the city, along with Lotita and El Vez. Since they’re all within two and a half blocks of one another along Sansom Street (AKA “stumbling distance”), it is neither possible nor necessary to choose a favorite. Their proximity makes for the perfect mexican-themed moveable, drinkable feast. With names like “Corn Star” (which uses corn milk, so Yay!), “Nasty Woman” and “Depearado,” on Mission’s cocktail menu, it’s probably best to get all of the giggling and cackling out of the way before the drinks come to the table, because mezcal through the nose is not fun. And it’s a waste of alcohol, which is against our “Mission” statement. *snicker* The Bad Hombre stood out for its combination of charred pineapple and chile liqueur mixed with light rum. The sweet, ultra caramelized note of the roasted pineapple was tempered by a bit of tart lime juice and played beautifully against the smoky spice of the liqueur. Yes, please.
Sadly, in the effort to recreate the cocktail at home, the ancho chile liqueur proved fairly hard to come by. A quick Google search yielded a result for Ancho Reyes, which seemed perfect excepting the sad fact that the local spirit shop wouldn’t play along. Disappointed but undeterred, the decision was made to use a homemade chile simple syrup instead. With just sugar, water, and dried ancho chiles brought to a boil and allowed to steep for an hour, you are rewarded with a beautiful dark shade of brown and a wonderfully smoky, lightly spiced syrup that sparks the imagination and excites the palate.
This syrup would undoubtedly enhance a wide variety of cocktails and probably more than a few desserts. There has been a fair amount of keening the passage of blood orange season—at least in this neck of the woods—before the advent of this syrup. The thought of a smoky, spicy Blood Orange Margarita is every kind of heaven, and the wait is going to make the slog to next blood orange season even more grueling than usual. (You can bet your bottom dollar that said jewel-toned glory will make an appearance here around the new year. Until then, it might just find its way into the Paloma Packmule to give it a little more “kick.”)
For the charred pineapple, it was a simple matter of cutting the peeled, cored fruit into chunks and roasting them in the oven on high heat for about a half an hour, turning it once at the 20 minute mark. Once summer grilling season rolls around, for even smokier results, feel free to cut the pineapple into rings and give them a nice sear over charcoal or a gas flame.
After the fruit has cooled a bit, it goes into the blender with the lime juice, providing that acidic counterpoint and enough liquid to help the purée along.
If you’re planning ahead for a special occasion, like Cinco de Mayo of even just a random (*cough* weekly!) Taco Tuesday, you can make both the syrup and the pineapple purée in advance. Store them in sealable containers in the fridge until the day arrives.
While this cocktail is fantastic and dangerously drinkable with light rum, do not hesitate to try it with dark rum, your favorite tequila or a good mezcal. And not for nothin’, but this Bad Hombre is one cool dude when served frozen. You’re gonna want him all upiña colada. You’re welcome. Cheers!
Inspired by Mission Taqueria.
- For the Syrup:
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 ounces (about 4 chiles) dried ancho chiles
- For the Roasted PIneapple Juice:
- 1 large pineapple, peeled, cored, quartered and sliced
- Juice of 2 limes (yielding about ½ cup juice)
- For the cocktail:
- 1.5 ounces rum
- 2 ounces pineapple puree
- 1 ounce chile syrup
- For the chile syrup:
- Place water, sugar, and ancho chiles in a medium saucepan over high heat.
- Bring mixture to a boil, remove from heat, and let stand for 1 hour.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and store in the refrigerator.
- For the pineapple puree:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roast pineapple 20 minutes, flip and roast another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Add pineapple slices and lime juice to blender and puree on high for 2 minutes. Transfer to a seal-able container and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- To make the cocktail:
- In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake together rum, pineapple puree, and chile syrup. Pour mixture into a tumbler glass and garnish with pineapple leaves.
Leave a Reply