A Little of Fire and Ice

Mexican Fire Drill Cocktail, Nox Tucson

I am once again behind in coming to my journal. But we are off on a cross-country trip to Cape Cod from Mexico and I have already started photographing Ideas for Sal del Mar starting with a stop at Nox, a new and creative restaurant in Tucson, Arizona.

It wasn't hard to be inspired by the food and cocktails served here.  There are dishes like tacos with duck confit, hoisin, and chive and a dish of spicy rock shrimp, with a sweet chili glaze and chili aioli.

But, of course, it was the cocktail menu that captured my attention.  There are two categories:  Shaken and Refreshing and Stirred and Boozy.  (I learned that drinks that have citrus or simple syrup or thick mixes such as egg or diary are shaken versus those that stirred. Stirring is a more gentle technique for mixing cocktails and for a perfect amount of dillution.   

I spotted the “Mexican Fire Drill” cocktail because, of course, I saw it has smoked salt as a primary ingredient along with jalapeño infused tequila, pineapple, demerarra, and lime.  (I asked the bartender to serve mine on a salt-rimmed glass ).

There was a definite punch with the jalapeño infused tequila but not too much to not appreciate the savory smokey taste of the salt and the sweet of the pineapple.  

And the Nox menu....said it well:

"We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other"   - HEMINGWAY

We’ll be on the road again soon.

FIRE AND ICE

1 1/2 oz. jalapeño infused tequila

juice of 1 1/2 limes

1 oz. pineapple juice

1/2  oz. demerarra

Smoked Salt (heat enough water to dissolve smoked salt...swirl around glass and then throw out)

Sal de Cocktail  (rub lime around half the glass and dip glass into Sal de Cocktail)

Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled half way with ice cubes. Shake and serve in a Sal de Cocktail salt-rimmed glass.