5 Ingredients or Fewer

Tequila por Mi Amante (Strawberry Infused Tequila)

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June  2, 2010
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Tequila por Mi Amante (Strawberry Infused Tequila)
  • Serves 4 - 6
Author Notes

More of a technique than a recipe, this is adapted from the delightful, but little-known-today two-volume book called "The Gentleman's Companion." This tequila-strawberry delight requires three ingredients: tequila, strawberries, and lots of patience. It comes from the second volume, subtitled "Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask." The author was one Charles H. Baker Jr., a writer, bon vivant, and world traveller. "The Gentleman's Companion" is partly a travelogue, partly a recipe book, and entirely a cracking fine read of tall tales, funny stories, and rip-roaring drinking bouts. Baker writes of encountering the Tequila Por Mi Amante in Mexico City in 1937. Start with the ripest, freshest strawberries you can get your mitts on. If they're a little bruised, so what? You aren't serving them to Michelle Obama; you're soaking 'em in booze. Use a good quality, 100%-agave tequila, preferably reposado. You'll be sipping this (in about three weeks, that is), so you want good tequila. I like Cazadores Reposado, which you can find for about $27-32. —adashofbitters

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 quart strawberries, washed, hulled, and halved
  • 375 milliliters reposado tequila (or approximately half of a 750ml bottle)
Directions
  1. Add the strawberries to a quart jar (or split them between two pints, whatever works for you). Completely cover the berries with tequila. Store in a cool, dark place, shaking the jar(s) every day or so to agitate the berries. Store for three weeks. Strain tequila into another jar or container. I find that the berries don't have much color or flavor left at this point, having given their all to the liquor, so I simply discard them.
  2. Serve in a cocktail--a margarita would be nice, or maybe a Paloma. Or do as we do: serve it alone over lots of ice.
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adashofbitters
I'm a home bartender/mixologist who also loves to cook!

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18 Reviews

JoanG
JoanG June 19, 2010
I just made this today with a great crop of ripe local berries.
After I strain them out, how long does the straweberry infused tequila last? indefinatly?
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 19, 2010
It's hard to answer that authoritatively. We go through ours quickly enough that it doesn't last long. It should keep for a long time, though. It contains sufficient alcohol that it shouldn't spoil. Of course, it'll keep longer if you refrigerate it.

I hasten to add, though, this only counts if you actually rack the tequila off the berries and discard them, as the recipe calls for. Even in 80 proof tequila, the berries will very likely spoil.
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld June 9, 2010
My strawberries are ready and waiting for the tequilla. I make cherry bounce with rye but it takes almost two years to come into its own but it is worth the wait.
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 16, 2010
Thanks, Thirschfeld. I really want to try cherry bounce some time. Maybe now's the time!
 
lapadia
lapadia June 4, 2010
Lovely presentation, our strawberries are never ripe until mid to late June (PacNW), I'll be ready to try this..saved it!
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 4, 2010
Waiting until late June would kill me.
 
cheese1227
cheese1227 June 3, 2010
Oh, I think I will try this.
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 4, 2010
Hope you like it!
 
acalamar
acalamar June 3, 2010
I had this in New Orleans last month and went home and made some. It is just about ready.
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 4, 2010
Funny, I had it first in New Orleans, too.
 
Lizthechef
Lizthechef June 3, 2010
What time is cocktail hour?! Thumbs up -
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 4, 2010
It's after 5 here, so it's fair game.
 
dymnyno
dymnyno June 3, 2010
I have the not original books, but I have also sourced this same recipe from another blog somewhere when I googled tequila and strawberries. I was looking for a Mexican twist to a strawberry recipe. I hope more Food52 ers try this...it is good!
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 3, 2010
Thanks!
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 3, 2010
Thanks, Mrs.! I am submitting this but because of the three week lead time , I don't expect much to come of it. I just want to raise its profile on Food52 so more people will try it.
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 3, 2010
Sorry for the randomly placed punctuation. I typed this on my phone earlier.
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin June 3, 2010
Wow, I think I'm in love. Hope you're submitting this one to the contest.
 
adashofbitters
adashofbitters June 2, 2010
The original volumes of Gentlemen's Companion are long out of print in their original, oversized format, but they're available in a reprinted form as two separate books: "Knife Fork and Spoon," and "Jigger Beaker and Glass." The originals come up on eBay from time to time, but they're usually expensive.

Incidentally, Tequila por Mi Amante supposedly translates to Tequila for My Beloved, but native Spanish speakers laugh when I tell them this. There's the whole para/por thing, and whether Amante is the proper word for "beloved." We can have this conversation, but only over drinks. Make mine Tequila por Mi Amante.