The Miracle Worker with Luis Lopez (S3 E7)

AI Transcript: S3 E7 Audio only.mp3

Announcer:
Jonathan Pogash is the cocktail guru, a mixologist and hospitality expert. Ah, see? You know big words. Dude, I'm the cocktail guru. Cheers. Jeffrey's his dad, a wine and spirits author, historian, and consultant.

Jeffrey:
Well, I do my homework.

Announcer:
With decades of experience, they're always looking for the next big thing. Join this father and son duo for a few laughs as they explore the hottest trends in hospitality with the service industry's leading trailblazers and tastemakers. Welcome to the Cocktail Guru Podcast.

Jonathan:
Welcome to Hollywood and Vine, Dad. What? Yeah, we're in Hollywood.

Jeffrey:
Did I ever tell you something? What? You're going to Hollywood, John.

Jonathan:
OK, that's I understand. Yeah, no, I understand where you're coming from, but it's a little early in the morning for me to take your humor.

Jeffrey:
Well, I'm sorry, but we're in downtown Hollywood.

Jonathan:
And, you know, we're at a really amazing cocktail bar called Lost Property Bar that allows us to come in and wreak havoc and basically tear the place apart. No, we're good tenants, but it's great to be here. We've been in L.A. for a few days.

Jeffrey:
now, haven't we? A few days. Yeah, it's been great so far. Yeah, it always is in L.A. Lots of lots of visits to various places. It's a beautiful place. Lots of great restaurants for hamburgers, hot dogs, all Mexican food, great cuisine.

Jonathan:
We had a great hot dog feast yesterday, didn't we? Yes. Chili John's, right? I know the crew is like still stuffed from from that, but we took care of everybody, didn't we? Chili John's in Burbank. That's right. Yes. If you're ever there, we're going to have him the owner on as a guest as well.

Jeffrey:
Yes. If you ever fly into the Burbank airport, go straight to Chili John's. Yeah.

Jonathan:
But let's bring in, should we bring in our very special guest? I think we should. So yeah, we have a very, very special guest who happens to work on a very, very special tequila brand that we love and have loved for many, many years. Really, ever since we met our mutual friend, Madam, Charlotte Voicy, who started off as the Hendrix brand ambassador, one of the very first brand ambassadors in the U.S. of the modern cocktail age. And Charlotte is a dear friend. And we've done lots of work with William Grant and Sons, specifically with Malagro Tequila. And we want to bring on an amazing guest who has agreed to be on the show with us, believe it or not.

Jeffrey:
Yes, we're very lucky. And I'm very thirsty, so I hope we're having a great Milagro tequila cocktail.

Jonathan:
Mr. Luis Lopez, welcome to the Cocktail Guru podcast.

Luis Lopez:
Hi there. Thank you for having me.

Jonathan:
I appreciate it very much. And you are a local Los Angeles representative of Milagro tequila. Is that not right? That is correct.

Luis Lopez:
That is absolutely correct.

Jeffrey:
And celebrity.

Luis Lopez:
We are in Hollywood, you know. I'm missing my star out there, but you know, we'll make it happen someday.

Jeffrey:
Just a few thousand dollars and you got it. That's what it costs for a star?

Luis Lopez:
Something, I think, something. I mean, yeah, I'm gonna look into that. That'd be pretty cool.

Jonathan:
Can you pass that bottle of Milagro to me, Dad? I just want to kind of put it... Let me gaze at it.

Luis Lopez:
The positioning, the Milagro positioning. It's beautiful, beautiful. But you know,

Jonathan:
Louise, I always love chatting with our guests about how they got into the world of hospitality, and I think I read that you started off as a busser, barback, kind of working your way up, which is how I started too. I started off as a barback many, many years ago, more than 20 years ago, working in a bar, and then eventually made my way up. But what was that experience like for you?

Luis Lopez:
It was a beautiful experience. I would not change a stepping stone from that because of the position themselves and the responsibilities that have been given to you at Bard. You actually get to respect not every role, but also every bartender you encounter, every person you encounter, because it actually humbles you. And you also realize the importance of a bar back or a busser, because without them, the entire restaurant will fall apart or the bar will fall apart. So knowing that I actually have the privilege of the sweat and tears and dragging, you know, nasty floor mats from out of the bar. Yeah. Hey, man, I know I made a difference for sure. And as a whole, I've been, I guess you could say like 13 years from 2000, let's say 10, 2011 till now. So, 13 years roughly give and take. But you were mentioning before, I represent in Los Angeles, Milagro Tequila. Well, I actually represent the whole West Coast of America. So, it's pretty exciting. I get to travel a lot for Milagro Tequila. That's a massive region. LA is definitely my hometown. I represent big out here. But anything, I guess you would say, this way from Texas. Wow, is is not your territory. It's you know, let's go have some fun out there. But yeah, I started off as a buster and a barback. And I want to say it was out here in Hollywood. And many people don't know this, but I made a very like it's like a pinnacle decision, you would say. I was part of the cadet program of the police here, LAPD. Oh, really? And from the cadet program, you naturally graduate to go on to the police academy, right? I was like top of my class of the cadets. I actually was a representative speaker for our class in front of our graduating class. Oh, wow. And then one day one of my friends called me and be like, hey, I know you told me if I ever have an opportunity for you to get into the bar scene. you'll take it. And don't get me wrong, this was not a bartending role. This was literally the first role I would consider my busing role. And it was from the iconic bar out here, no longer exists, but it used to be called Piano Bar, which was four blocks away from here. Everybody knew it because you walked in there and there was always a great pianist and great environment in there. So I started that first day and never looked back at the academy. So you could say, some people call me a fool. Some people call me like, You know, smart in what I do because hospitality is in my nature. They say education, the way you speak, the way, you know, you're... the way you say good morning, good afternoon, good evening starts at home. You know, it's just how your mother or your father raised you. Right. And that's one of those things where I I feel like I already has hospitality in my blood. Yeah. Because, you know, being an Angeleno, but from the Guatemalan background or Latino America, we usually when you pass each other, you say good morning, you say good afternoon, you say good evening. And that's just natural in America. Many times you pass by people just left and right. You don't cross words. It's just not part of the culture. Maybe hi or hey. That's it, hello. But so we kicked off over there as a busser and for me I didn't look at it as cleaning glasses. It's like some people will look down on that job in a way, you know, but for me it was like Man, I'm keeping this place afloat. People need glasses in order to drink cocktails.

Jonathan:
And the bartenders need to make drinks in order to make money.

Luis Lopez:
Correct. And it was like a full circle thing. You know, you're realizing that. And busing, it just became a good thing. Good worth ethics suited, came from that. And then I got promoted to a bar back. What did that mean for me? I did not know what the difference was, but I knew it meant a higher tips. I was like, I'm in same hours. I'm in. So after that, uh, you know, we get into the bar backing with some, some iconic bars out here. Um, I know you said you were from currently live in New Jersey.

Jeffrey:
I guess I do. Yeah.

Luis Lopez:
Born and raised in Massachusetts. That's right. Yeah. So maybe you probably know these bars or not, but there's some great bars here. Very, very long, long standing bars. But let's just say I didn't have a set shift as a bar back in one place. So. For a couple of years, I was barbacking like at 10 different places because nobody gave me a set schedule. And it was just kind of on call. Yeah. At the same time, I was going to the university. So it kind of worked out for my schedule. That's great.

Jonathan:
That's great, too, because you get a little bit of a taste and introduction to different styles and different places so that you could basically go to any place after that. Pretty much totally set. But, you know, I was just thinking we forgot to ask you a question. And at the beginning of each Interview, we always ask our guests, what is your desert island cocktail? So like you're stranded on a desert island and there's one thing available to you. What is that?

Luis Lopez:
Okay, now my brain is just traveling at a thousand miles per hour. I would say I want something balanced, refreshing. So as of right now, immediately, I would say some sort of take on a cosmopolitan, right? Good choice. Refreshing, you know, not too much acidity, but it's mighty delicious. And then I think of like heat, right? You think of heat like on an island, and it's an island that I'm going to be on. Yeah, for sure. You know, so yeah, Cosmo. Cosmo works well for me.

Jonathan:
Right, maybe like a Malagro.

Luis Lopez:
I think that's very interesting, your background, doing the training, the cadet training.

Jonathan:
And also working in a bar is I'm not going to say similar, but it's like the you know, you're it's structured and you've got a section and you know, you're kind of it's kind of a sport when you're crazy busy and you've got eight, 10 people deep and you're just in the groove and you've kind of trained for this. And, you know, I feel like the training process is kind of similar in a way.

Luis Lopez:
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I would I would totally compare it. And so because I mean, there's regimen at a bar, you know, there's you know, when you speak from like the roles, everybody has an immediate responsibility. Servers have to do the roll ups, you know, bar bags, maybe the prepping, make sure that they restock at the end of the night. Bartenders, hey, make sure everyone's person sits down. You got to give them a glass of water. There's always like a regimen to the role. So, you know, that kind of really set me up for good worth ethics in general and also being on time. It's a big one. Oh, yeah. Just say that. When you're on time, you're late. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a good thing to have just moving forward in life in general. But yeah, I mean, that's the whole thing about being a bus and bar pack. I really appreciate the opportunity. And also, it allows me just to, like, admire the entire process from beginning to end, from what it takes to be a bar. Many people's goals is like, hey, I want to own a bar one day. And I was a preacher of that. And so current days, because I know how difficult the struggle is to maintain a bar. People just see like the joy and the cheers, but you don't see the tears that sometimes ownership goes through, you know, and it's like it's difficult, man. Maybe in Los Angeles, it's extremely difficult. Maybe in New York, extremely difficult. Maybe in the middle of America, some places might be easier because there's not as much competition and it's a variety in the offerings. But in this city, man, it's it'll be a dream to own a bar, right? You see it in movies, you know, that it's kind of like the where you want to head to. But I have really definitely reconsidered just from the fact that I was a buzzer bar back. And then you start discussing about, you know, staffing and all that good stuff. And it's like, whoo, now you know, the blood pressure is going a little higher.

Jonathan:
You know, people always ask, you know, do you want do you ever want to own a bar to me? I don't know if people have ever asked you that question. Yes, they have had many conversations about it. And I remember you've always said, well, if I have money to lose, don't do that.

Jeffrey:
You have a couple of million dollars to open up a bar or a restaurant. That's fine. But if you don't, then either you have to find a major backer to help you financially or just forget about it.

Luis Lopez:
Absolutely. This is a true state, a true state that I guess only through experience and through seeing multiple bars come and go, do you start realizing this, right? Because in the beginning, it's just easy to say, yeah, I want a bar and I'm going to do this. Because, you know, when you set your goal to some things, some people do it. But it's like it's nicer when somebody who has done it and being like, hey, man, this is this is what it takes. Yeah, this is what you're going to need. And you're like, well, let me probably reconsider this, you know? Exactly. So going back to like the roles of like being a busser and bar back, eventually with time, I had the blessing of being allowed to bartend, you know, and I say being allowed to bartend, I know like the bartending scene has changed in the past 10 years, but I say before, even prior to 10 years, you used to have to earn your keep in order to even touch tins, in order to be able to touch tools. Like, it's literally one of the things where like, you're about to go for a tin and you look at the bartender and they're like, don't do it. You haven't earned that right, you know? And I mean that in a very good way because every cocktail that comes out of whatever specific bar was like proper measurements. It was like you executed with the way, the way you garnish. When you see things happening as a bartender, don't think that they just don't have any reason. You know, the way you zest something, the way you peel something, the thickness of the pith, you know, how long they shake, the rhythm, like all these things have significance. But if I wasn't a busser or barback that was just an observer for many years before shaking a tin, I probably wouldn't value that as much. And also it's the people that I got trained by just by observing and being taught. There were some of the key players that now have moved on to being some of the most influential people in the game, you know? So, Moving on to the bartending thing, man, I never looked back. It was one of those things, once I got a tin in the right hand, and I was like, can I do the double shake? No, then the crowd goes wild.

Jonathan:
What about the shake and the stir?

Luis Lopez:
Oh, the shake and the stir, that's an adrenaline rush right there. And then when you, you know, I didn't get to this point, but when you're able to shake like three tins, I'm just being a show off, but you know, It's pretty cool, it's pretty cool. The quadruple Yari glass tearing, that's amazing. All this stuff is really, really like new techniques, old techniques, but very valuable in the way that bartending is. But one thing's for sure, crowd pleaser, man. Like, it's like, I always thought like shaking, you know, when you walk into a place, like you hear the chk-chk-chk-chk-chk. or sometimes you just hear that yeah yeah that's those aren't signatures out there when you see people's signature when they write their checks or you know they sign any contract that's bartenders have signatures you could identify a bartender by the way that a tin shakes you know you walk in like oh There goes Luis Lopez, I know he's in here, you know? Or like, oh, there goes my friend Eric, you know? Like, it's super, super, super exciting. So the way that I curated, I guess you would say my shake, was observing all the shakes that I did like, also the ones I didn't like, and I combined all that together. But then there was a time, I can't remember what year, but I believe there was a brand or a seminar at Tales of the Cocktail, where they went through the importance of posture and wear and tear, right? Because as a bartender, you're using a lot of, well, I use a lot of shoulders and knees because I want to be all interactive, but there's a lot of bartenders like, you know, stagnant or just like it's strainful, you know? So it's one of the things like, okay, shake like this for the one hour, shake with the other one for the other hour, maybe two handed this way. So you keep everything in rotation, you know? combine all those things and by the time you know it I have like a salsa shake now you know oh you got a salsa shake which works best with me my rhythm of things but we'll be able to see that a little bit later Yeah, I mean and it's really really exciting you understand that like the percussion sound people love music even if they're not dancers guess what they like to throw some shoulders in there yeah and I used to work at this bar not too far from here called a descarga. Descarga is a very famous salsa rum bar. Oh yeah it's really close by and one of the best shakes I've heard up there was just literally orchestrated or designed by the bartender to go in rhythm with the salsa band. So it was the ice cubes that were enhancing with the percussion of the whole band. I was like, man. That is creative. And also you're impacting this entire room, not just with your cocktails, but like, you know, and then you see like the dazzling eyes, men and women, doesn't matter, just like staring at you like, okay, man, it's cool. That's what it is to be a bartender, you know? But yeah, I did that for so many years and wow, now currently sitting in front of you as a brand ambassador for Milagro Tequila.

Jonathan:
What about that transition from, you know, working behind the bar to being an ambassador?

Luis Lopez:
We've talked about that many times with various people. It was actually a fantastic pivot. You kind of step into a world that you didn't know existed. And I mean, the stuff that you don't see and also the capabilities and your reach and maybe the reputation you have been building for years that you didn't realize you had until you're able to remember people used to have to come to you. to one establishment, but now you could go to them. Right. And that just made an impactful thing, because now you go visit your friends. You could go, you know, meet and greet people that won't come necessarily into Los Angeles, but they live in, you know, Massachusetts. They live in Texas or again. So now you have a further reach. But overall, it's beautiful, man. It's just one of those things where, you know, in a sense, I go like this because you're you're kind of like You're graduating from one step to another. It's like another milestone. You hear how many people are like, oh, I want to become a brand ambassador. Many people don't know what that takes. And also, there are not that many brand ambassador roles in every specific brand. So there's like a selected few. So I feel very honored to be just an ambassador in general. But for Milagro Tequila, it was very serendipitous. I felt like it came full circle because now thinking about it, you mentioned earlier, like, hey, I actually enjoy Milagro Tequila. And I remember I looked at a picture in 2012 recently, I'm going like this to a bottle, and it was Milagro tequila. So bringing it all back, it's been a complete excitement to be with Milagro now, but I love it. I love the role overall. Thankfully, they hugged me back.

Jonathan:
We can't not talk about one of the first things that you noticed on Luis.

Jeffrey:
The beautiful hat. Oh, that's sombrero slash cowboy hat.

Luis Lopez:
Yes, absolutely. Gorgeous, gorgeous. Can you tell us about it? Absolutely. First, I mean, hopefully the camera's on, but it says Milagro. So this hat was actually designed by Christopher J. Heller. It's fun. You bring the brighter side of tequila. I'm never lost because I always have my compass on. So North, East, South, West. And I travel a lot from Mexico to Los Angeles. And it's actually where's can I borrow that bottle real quick? Of course. Yeah. But this one here and this bottle is actually designed. Oh, this hat was designed for this bottle. And it's one of the things where the color scheme is pretty cool because it goes into the blue, you know, transparent blue. That's awesome. And yeah, that's my milagro tequila silver hat. It's a great talking point. We love we love it.

Jeffrey:
Well, if you give me this guy's phone number, I'll order it.

Jonathan:
I think we're who's thirsty. I think it's.

Luis Lopez:
I've been waiting a long time. Yeah, I'm in our bunk beds at our hotel.

Jonathan:
No, we're staying at a great place. The free hand, which is great. We're not in the same bunk bed guy, but we do.

Jeffrey:
But we do have bunk beds. Yes.

Jonathan:
And it's great. It's a lot of fun. Not much space, but it's like camping. It's a little bit like camping in downtown LA. We're going to move over to the bar over there. I lost property and make a couple cocktails.

Luis Lopez:
Absolutely.

Jonathan:
We call it tipple time. Tipple Time. You ready for Tipple Time? Let's get into it. Okay, let's do it. Cheers, man. Thanks. Yeah, man.

Jeffrey:
Tipple Time is brought to you in part by Lost Property Bar and Milagro Tequila.

Jonathan:
Well, welcome listeners and viewers. We're here with another Tipple Time segment. Luis Lopez from La Agua Tequila. You are the first guest bartender for Tipple Time. Usually it's just me alone in a room recording by myself, but here we are in Hollywood doing it together.

Luis Lopez:
Yeah, absolutely. Let's get into this. I'm super excited. Go for it. So the first cocktail we'll be making is called a Cosmo in Ciudad Mexico. So we're going to go ahead and kick off with a little Milagro Silver. There's no aging in this, so it's going to be offering a fresh agave bright notes with a peppery essence. Nice. So we're doing a little ounce and a half in there. Then we follow that with a little citrus, right? So we're going to do three quarters. A little lime, yeah? Fresh-squeezed lime. Of course, always fresh-squeezed. Fresh-squeezed makes a big difference. Best cocktails. Then we're going to go half ounce of simple syrup. Awesome. Right into the tin. And I am building everything into the tin because we're going to add ice at the end. And of course, we're going to do a little Cointreau.

Jonathan:
And everyone at home knows why we add ice in at the end. I've talked about it before at Temple Time, and that's because we want to maintain control of the dilution of the drink. And the only way to do that is to add ice last and then do our shaking. Otherwise, we're pouring liquid over room temperature, room temperature liquid over ice, and it'll prematurely dilute.

Luis Lopez:
Ice at the end. There you go, right? And as I get these tins set up, I already have my martini glass chilling over here. Nice. Give it a nice little shake.

Jonathan:
This is your salt, it's Luis' salt. Everyone has a signature shake, right? We were talking about that earlier.

Luis Lopez:
That is absolutely correct.

Jonathan:
And you take inspiration from the past shakers of your career.

Luis Lopez:
Yeah, so everybody gets a little shine here. So I'm going to get rid of this ice and I'm going to put that forward. And would you mind giving me a little lime peel, please?

Jonathan:
I would not mind at all.

Luis Lopez:
This beautiful pink hue. Cosmo and CDMX, which is an abbreviation for Ciudad Mexico. Ciudad Mexico. And this is just a little riff by switching out the vodka with a little Milagro Silver. And it should be a nice little pop of not only color, but flavor. That's nice. Hold on. You leave it. Leave it there because I'm going to. There you go. Strategic move from you.

Jonathan:
All right. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Reminiscent of a classic Cosmo, but that Milagro, you know, adds a really nice bit of savoriness to the cocktail itself. It actually makes it not as sweet.

Luis Lopez:
It is not as sweet. It's refreshing, bright forward. And also the question when we were doing the podcast was, what is my island cocktail? Desert Island cocktail. Yeah. And that's that's the one right there. Awesome. And I'll continue the journey here by making something we call a Milagro Kick. So this is, for me, was an inspiration was a Cameron's Kick, which is a split base cocktail. But this time around, we're going to enjoy it, have a little fun with some tequila. So as I get into this very easy recipe. So we're going to go with Orgeat Orgeat. I say Orgeat. It's an almond based syrup. We're going to go three quarters with this and then three quarters of a citrus.

Jonathan:
Lime again, yeah.

Luis Lopez:
Lime again. OK. And then I'm going to actually just do a little one on one here. So we're going to do one Milagro Silver. You're doing a split base. That is correct. Milagro split base. And then because I want to give it some viscosity, some body. How about we go with some Reposado? Reposado. So we do. Oh yeah. Hit the pop of the cork. Fresh bottle. One ounce of this, you're going to get some oak, a little bit of caramel coming in there from the aging. And what do you say we add ice? Add ice last, so we can monitor the dilution. Let's go. And then finally, coming up on the glassware. I like ice. Ice is your friend. Actually, they already saw me shake.

Jonathan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ready? Yeah, man. All right. Shake it awake, don't rock it to sleep.

Luis Lopez:
Always. And then pop that open. And then finally, you know, you show off a little bit. A little. And then let's go, let's strain it in. Every last drop. Counts. So as we pour this in here, I like garnishing this one specifically with an orange peel. Okay. Would you be so courteous? I would. The honor. So the nice, I actually like to play with color contrast as well, apart from flavors, please. Thank you. And here you have it, you have the Milagro Kik. Hopefully you could enjoy this. Dad?

Jeffrey:
Yes, yes, I thought you'd never ask.

Jonathan:
Dad, come in between us so the mic will pick you up. So the microphone will pick both of you up. Are you tangled?

Jeffrey:
Get him in your clothes, get him in your clothes. Please have a taste. I will. I love every cocktail that has Eau Jaune syrup in it. I just love it.

Luis Lopez:
It is just lovely. Hopefully you like this one.

Jonathan:
Dad takes slow sips, I've realized.

Luis Lopez:
They're flavorful sips. He's getting all the essence of it.

Jonathan:
That's really good. Well, the orange, you know, essence on top.

Jeffrey:
But the flavor of the tequila really penetrates through all the other ingredients.

Luis Lopez:
That's the biggest thing. But right here you have a split base of Milagro Silver and Reposado.

Jonathan:
It's very balanced. Dad, you want to try this one?

Luis Lopez:
Yes, I do. Do you have a steady hand? Yes. That is very steady. And just to give you a little insight, Milagro Tequila was born in 1998. So we're now in 2023. 25th anniversary. There you go. Coming up on that. And Milagro means a miracle for our non-Spanish speakers. So, you know, gotta keep it in there.

Jonathan:
Luis, thank you so very much. Cheers. Thank you.

Luis Lopez:
Salud. Absolutely. Thank you.

Jonathan:
Thanks for being a guest bartender on our Tipple Time segment. Tipple Time. Thank you for having me. Cheers, everyone. See you next time.

Jeffrey:
Cheers. Tipple Time is brought to you in part by Lost Property Bar and Milagro Tequila.

Announcer:
The Cocktail Guru presents Cocktail Commentary with Jeffrey Pogash. Sit back and enjoy the story of the Tequila Sunrise Cocktail.

Jeffrey:
Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Cocktail Commentary. Those of us who like to study the history of cocktails are always looking for primary source material that will confirm a certain theory about the origin of particular cocktails and exactly how old they are. Well, one day I was rummaging through an antiquarian bookstore, as I often do, and found an interesting brochure. It was from the 1920s, extolling the virtues and pleasures of a place that I had read about in passing but did not really know. Turns out that the place was Agua Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico, a $10 million luxury resort that has been dubbed Satan's Playground. Yes, ominous. It opened in 1928 when Prohibition was in full force. So the rich and famous, the elite, including Hollywood's most famous stars and starlets, flocked there for leisure time activities. For example, the beautiful Rita Hayworth was discovered there performing as a dancer in the nightclub. And actor Charlie Chaplin, comedian Bob Hope, and crooner Bing Crosby were regulars. The resort billed itself as the place, quote, where drinking never ceased, end quote. And rightfully so. Bars existed throughout the resort for the convenience of its alcohol-starved American clientele. Whether you found yourself in the 500-room hotel, in the casino, lounging around in the bungalows, betting at the two racetracks, Horse and Greyhound, taking a Turkish steam bath, enjoying the nightclub acts, playing a round of golf, or sloshing around in the Olympic-sized pool, there was always a cocktail at hand to wet your whistle. So you can see that agua caliente, which means hot water in English, presented many opportunities to find oneself in just that situation if one were to indulge a little too much in the good life. And this place gave its customers every opportunity to enjoy the good life. I made a pilgrimage to Agua Caliente back in 2008 to see what remained. The answer is not much. The Greyhound Racetrack is pretty much the centerpiece of what was once a thriving luxury resort complex. I took this opportunity to visit a number of bars to taste their tequila, which is one of my favorite spirits. Now, back to the 1920s brochure, what I found remarkable is that I discovered what I believe to be the earliest reference in writing to a drink that has become a modern-day beach resort and poolside classic, the tequila sunrise. And now, the rest of the story. So does this mean that Agua Caliente was the home of the tequila sunrise? Perhaps. But to be fair, there are competing stories, which we will get to later. For the present, let's discuss the recipe that I found. It states one jigger of tequila, one half lime squeezed, exactly six dashes of grenadine, exactly two dashes creme de cassis, and two lumps of ice. Serve in a high bowl glass filled to the brim with healthful agua caliente roca blanca sparkling water. Stir slightly. Yes, this is the original tequila sunrise recipe. Really? Something is missing, you might say. Yes, of course, it's orange juice. Now, those of you who are Tequila Sunrise fanatics might lament the absence of Florida's signature beverage. And I, for one, am happy as I find that orange juice, especially the bottled version, mucks up the flavor of a cocktail. Freshly squeezed orange juice is far superior, but that's neither here nor there because there is no orange juice in the original Tequila Sunrise. A similar recipe, created in the 1930s, comes from the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, created by one Jean Sulit. The recipe is as follows. One and a quarter ounces tequila, three quarter ounce creme de cassis, fresh lime juice from two slices, club soda, and a slice of orange. Fill glass with cracked ice, add tequila, creme de cassis, and a squeeze of lime. Do not mix. Garnish with fresh orange wheel. Note that there is no grenadine in this recipe and still no orange juice. But I do like the addition of an orange wheel. It is obvious that there is an ever so slight evolution going on here. But the tequila sunrise that we know today came about much later in a completely different but equally exotic location, Sausalito, California, at the Trident Restaurant. This version of the recipe dates to the 1970s and is the simplest one yet, consisting of tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. It's a far cry from the original recipe, but America's love affair with OJ, orange juice, has made this recipe the one that has won the hearts of America. And it is the easiest one to make, quite honestly. I had lunch at Trident a number of years ago, and after enjoying a tequila sunrise, it inspired me to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge from Sausalito back to San Francisco under a very hot summer sun. And I will tell you, it takes a long time to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. But let's go for the more complex recipe and make the Agua Caliente version. And now, my friends, you know the rest of the story.

Jonathan:
That does it for today's show.

Jeffrey:
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Jonathan:
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Announcer:
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