Sauced

Drink of the Week: Horchata at the Queen Anne Farmers Market

Creamy, cooling, made from rice milk—get to know horchata.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 01, 2010 at 08:41AM 1 Comments

Horchata

Frequenters of Queen Anne Farmers Market (which takes place tonight, and every Thursday through October 7, from 3 to 7pm) are currently all about the horchatas from Los Agaves Catering.

Horchata is a creamy (milky? somewhere in between creamy and milky?) chilled beverage that originated in Valencia, Spain, but eventually made its way to Central and Latin America—a journey that the music of Julio Iglesias would follow centuries later.

If you are familiar only with the nutty horchata de chufas that’s ubiquitous in Spain, you’re in for something of a surprise. The Mexican version from Los Agaves—made with rice water and topped with cinnamon—has a similar texture but a completely different flavor. I like the Mexican version approximately 10,000 times more than the Spanish one. (Take that, colonialism.)

You should get down to QAFM this afternoon and try yourself one. Apologies in advance for getting this song in your head.

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Tags: Farmers Markets, Drink of the Week, Vampire Weekend

Drink of the Week: Old Fashioned with Ransom Old Tom Gin

Warm outside? Ask for this warming whiskey drink with gin instead.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jun 14, 2010 at 10:21AM 0 Comments

You know how some fashion magazine articles explain how to take your clothes from one season into another by wearing them with lightweight knits or strappy sandals or, I dunno, neutral colors?

To my mind, ordering an Old Fashioned made with Ransom Old Tom Gin is like that. It’s a way to keep enjoying a favorite wintertime drink in the warm months, without losing that hefty richness that makes you love it in the first place.

Lest I be accused of product placement, let me explain why I specify Ransom among Old Toms. First of all, it’s the only Old Tom I’ve had in an Old Fashioned. Second of all, it’s aged slightly—the Oregon-based distiller wanted to recreate the shipping and storage conditions in 17th-century England, when Old Toms were imbibed in abundance.

It’s also made with both malted grain and neutral spirits (popular gins are usually made with neutral only). The result is a rich, round, spicy beverage with a hefty mouthfeel. In other words, a spirit that can anchor a whiskey cocktail.

The herbal notes, meanwhile, lighten things up enough and add that refreshing quality of a gin-based drink, thus turning your Old Fashioned from winter warmer into springtime sipper. Okay, that was some corny language right there. Sincere apologies.

PS: If you don’t like Old Fashioneds, you can, and should, mix things up by trying Old Tom in a gin cocktail like a martinez, a Tom Collins, or a negroni.

PSS: I’ve had an OF with OT at four bars, and was happy each time. I first heard about it at Rob Roy, and have since tried versions at Bathtub Gin, Sambar, and Tavern Law.

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Tags: Cocktails, Whiskey, Gin, Drink of the Week

Drink of the Week: Margarita—a Uniter, Not a Divider

Cinco de Mayo approaches, and the margarita is just the cocktail we need.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 27, 2010 at 09:42AM 6 Comments

Photo: Jessica Voelker

Generally, I try to keep politics at the bar where they belong. But holay molay Arizona, what is going on with you? This Cinco de Mayo more than any before, we have to do our diplomatic duty and celebrate our longstanding relationship with our neighbors to the south.

Because whatever your position on immigration, you can’t deny that Mexico is, er, not so happy with this recent legislation. How does this relate to drinking?

So glad you asked.

I recently reported a story about the margaritas at La Casa Azul, the North Seattle Oaxacan restaurant where I first tasted an avocado margarita. (I hear you can get avocado margs at Laredos Grill on Queen Anne, though I’ve never been.)

After poking around the margarita’s history a bit, I started to see this drink as a sort of alcoholic ambassador for Mexican-American relations. Because a well-made margarita is composed like a sidecar, which is a very North American cocktail, to my mind. Okay, so the sidecar may have been invented in Paris, but it was invented in Paris at a time when there were a lot of Americans in Paris. It was invented in Hemingway Paris, you know what I mean?

I’m really digressing here. What I mean is, the margarita’s composition is like that of classic American cocktails. But its base is of course tequila, that most Mexican of boozes. Think of the margarita as fusion mixology. Delicious fusion mixology.

Since Cinco de Mayo is approaching, let’s talk about margaritas in Seattle. I like those at The Saint, where the house rita is $5.50 during happy hour. La aforementioned Casa Azul makes a tasty marg, and they ship their mole sauces directly from Oaxaca every three days—the enchiladas are just…man, go try them. So good. Ocho’s $10 margarita is the stuff of legend, though the word on Ocho is always “depends who is bartending.” Down the street at La Carta de Oaxaca, they’re making foolproof house margs with enough of a tequila bang to remind you what you’re slurping through that straw.

And I just confirmed this morning that well-loved Huarachitos Mexican Taquería in Columbia City has added a house margarita to the menu, too. So that one is next on my list. Who am I missing?

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Tags: Cocktails, Drink of the Week

Drink of the Week: Sangria at La Casa Azul

Sangria near Shoreline? Here’s where to find it.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 02, 2010 at 08:42AM 1 Comments

Isaac Jimemez at La Casa Azul

I know you were wondering, on this inky wet day, where you could get a good glass of sangria on Greenwood Avenue, right near Shoreline. Here’s where: La Casa Azul, named for the Mexico city museum and former home of Frida Kahlo. Frida Kahlo did not look as much like Salma Hayek as you are imagining she did right now.

La Casa Azul restaurant is in a very ignorable-looking strip mall, making it what you might call a “neighborhood secret,” worth your while because it cooks up really interesting and sometimes delicious Oaxacan dishes that are served in massive portions.

I recently interviewed the owners of Casa Azul for another story, but while we were talking one of them, Armando Rizo, poured me a little of his house-mixed sangria. It was excellent: sweet, but not cloying (you gotta use Cointreau or Grand Marnier to give the thing some gravitas) and the wine wasn’t too dominant. What’s with all the sangrias that are so aggressively winey? It never tastes like that in Spain. Sangria is a punch, the flavors should be balanced. Armando adds fresh fruit to his mix before serving it, it’s delicious. And the Casa Azul is really cute. You can look at depictions of Frida Kahlo’s internal organs while you feast on enchiladas bathed in mole colorado. What could be better than that?

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Tags: Greenwood, Sangria, Drink of the Week