Margarita

Margarita Standoff at Quarter & Glory

Hail to the alcohol holiday! National Margarita Day was Monday, February 22nd and I had a valid excuse to wet my whistle with a variety of margaritas. I ventured to Washington DC’s restaurant Quarter+Glory ( 2017 14th St NW) to drink and judge the Margarita Standoff Competition hosted by MIAgency and US Bartender’s Guild DC.

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Six bartenders were paired against each other in a competition-style setting.  They all had to reach into a bowl and choose blindly a slip of paper that would decide if they use Tequila or Mezcal for the competition. Ironically from left to right, the first three bartenders choose Tequila and the remaining three chose Mezcal.  They then had to run to the end of the bar and choose what items they would use in their margarita.

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There was a variety of ingredients to choose from such as fruits, vegetables, spices, juices and syrups. The competitors then had 30 minutes to make a large batch of their competition-worthy margarita.  The preparation portion of the competition was tense.  Each bartender was passionately focused on making their margarita.  The finished margaritas were complete with cool names such as God Never Dies, Sinners Delight, Desperate Cowboy, Phil Promised Me Spring, Rico Tico Tavi, and The Oopsy Daisy.

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“God Never Dies” bartender burning rosemary
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“Sinner’s Delight” bartender adding garnish and finishing touches

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Judges and guests were given one hour to sample a glass of each margarita.  We were also given ballots to vote for Best Tasting, Best Garnish and Best Name.

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Photo Courtesy of MIAgency

My personal choices were God Never Dies for Best Tasting as well as Best Name and Sinners Delight for Best Garnish. I also liked Phil Promised Me Spring because the Mezcal gave it a smokey taste and the bartender also used blood oranges the sweet taste balanced it out.

After all votes were tallied,  the winners were…

Best Tasting and Best Overall — God Never Dies

Best Garnish — Phil Promised Me Spring

Best Name — I honestly don’t remember who won this category, I did have 6+ margaritas after all

God Never Dies recipe via MIAgency

1.5 oz @vidatequila blanco, 1 oz Grapefruit Juice,  1/2 oz Lemon Juice,  1/2 oz Cointreau, and 1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Method: Add above ingredients to a shaker tin. Muddle slice of fresh ginger, Rosemary spring and jalapeño slice (with seeds) inside shaker tin with liquid ingredients. Fill shaker with ice and shaker vigorously for 10-13 seconds. Pour and double strain over fresh ice garnish : blood orange slice stuffed with a rosemary spring

Job well done to MIAgency and US Bartender’s Guild DC for the first #MargaritaStandoff! The event was organized and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Be sure to follow my foodie and cocktail adventures on Instagram.com/Arlisappetite and twitter.com/ArliBaby.

 

 

 

 

 

LaTolteca Authentic Mexican Restaurant

I remember long ago driving to Boston Street with my friends for weekend day drinking and night clubbing, but now memories of my youth in Canton have been replaced with commercial businesses and restaurants.  One restaurant in particular I love to visit at least once a month is LaTolteca (2324 Boston Street).  LaTolteca is an authentic mexican restaurant chain in Maryland. They have other locations in Belair, Cockeysville, Salisbury and Hagerstown.  I’d never heard of the restaurant until I was driving down Boston Street one day and noticed their newest location in Canton.

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The most important amenity I love about LaTolteca is they offer free valet on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Trying to find a parking space on Boston Street is hell, so they get a gold star for that!  When you walk in the restaurant, immediately you feel like you are in another place.  The furniture is crafted after colorful pieces of artwork. The table tops and chairs are adorned with 3D brightly colored lacquered art.   There are about six booths that run along the Boston Street perimeter. Each booth is positioned under a window, so patrons can open or close the window if they choose.

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The bar runs along the opposite wall of the restaurant and is lined with bar stools.  There are also high top tables situated in the middle of the restaurant.  LaTolteca has two levels, though I haven’t been upstairs I know they use that area for private parties and they’ve just started Salsa dancing upstairs on Friday nights. I was sad when Talara closed in Harbor East, because they had one of the best salsa parties but it’s good to know of another one.

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The cocktail menu includes a variety of margarita and tequila specials.  They offer eight different margaritas that range from sweet to spicy – strong and stronger.  They also have three different pre-made frozen margaritas ready to serve from the frozen drink dispenser. They also have bottled beers, beers on tap and Mexican beers such as Dos Equis.

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Every customer is given warm chips and dip when they sit down.  They give you two dipping sauces, one is salsa and the other is a creamy white dip that I later found out was Queso Blanco Dip (White Cheese Dip). The queso dip is amazing!  I always end up getting a second serving.

Now this may sound crazy, but I’ve been to LaTolteca about six times and I always get the same exact thing.  The menu is very extensive, every Mexican dish you can think of they serve at LaTolteca.  The first time I browsed the menu, the seafood fajitas caught my attention and they were so good that I’ve never really wanted anything else. The “Del Mar Fajitas” include shrimp, crab meat and scallops cooked with onions, tomatoes and bell peppers with a tilapia fillet on top. Served with rice, beans, guacamole, lettuce, sour cream and tortillas on the side.

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Del Mar Fajitas

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My friends are more adventurous than me and they’ve sampled quite a few of the other entrees such as the Hawaiian Fajitas made with grilled chicken, shrimp and charizzo mixed with grilled pineapple, onions and tomatoes inside half a pineapple with melted cheese on top. Served with Spanish rice, fried beans and guacamole salad.

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Hawaiian Fajitas

All entrees range in cost from $15.00-$30.00 depending on the ingredients and serving size.

My next visit will be on Friday and I plan to eat, drink and visit the upper level for Salsa dancing.  Maybe I’ll wear my emoji girl red dress – 💃🏾

For more information on LaTolteca, visit their website at http://latoltecamd.com.

 

Citronge Margarita

Salted rim or Sugar ? Frozen or On the Rocks? Spicy or Sweet?  With so many ways to mix the perfect Margarita, everyone can get in on the action during National Margarita Day (February 22).

I was recently gifted a bottle of Patron Citronge Orange Liqueur  and I used it to make the perfect Citronge Margarita. Patron is the popular brand that makes one of the finest tequila,naturally it only makes sense for them to venture into liqueurs especially an orange flavored liqueur because Triple Sec is very popular and in many recipes.  The classic Margarita recipe includes, tequila, sour mix, and triple sec.  For those that don’t know, Triple Sec is an orange-flavored liqueur used to make a variety cocktails.  In the recipe below,  I’ve replaced the classic triple sec for a more natural and pure orange flavor found in Patron Citronge. 

What you need:

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1 oz Gold Tequila

1 1/2 ounces of Patron Citronge

1 Lemon, 1 Lime, and 1/2 Orange

Instructions

Juice the lime, lemon, 1/2 orange and pour into a cocktail shaker (I sometimes like to make my own sweet/sour mix for margaritas, mainly because it gives the drink an authentic taste….More on my juicing method in an upcoming post)

Add Ice, Tequila Gold, and Patron Citronge

Shake Well and Serve with Orange slice

*Makes 1 serving

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What is your favorite Margarita?

Follow me on Instagram.com/arlisappetite

 

Rock Star

Last weekend my best friend and I made our way to Joe’s Crab Shack to give it a whirl because the  commercials always look like a good time… Way to advertise Joe!

I was in the mood for a Margarita (as I’ve been all Summer, Fall, and now Winter) and I was excited to see there was a “Pop Rocks Pomegranate Margarita” on the menu.  Whoooaahh! Sold!! I get super pumped when sampling new trendy drinks!

The bartender warned us about putting the poprocks in the drink, she said they would pop everywhere.  So I closed my eyes and went for it and wowzers! They popped in my face, in my hair, and down my shirt…dangerous, but fun nonetheless.  The actual margarita wasn’t the best, it was a little weak as most frozen/blended drinks normally are (unless you are drinking at Wet Willies), but overall a gun drink.

 

 

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