The Red and Black

I totally have a foodie crush on Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman. She has single-handedly gotten me to experiment more in the kitchen with her approachable style and easy to follow instructions for all of her recipes - more than any other blog I follow. Imagine my delight when I caught one of her rare cocktail posts!!! Called The Red and Black, it's a seasonal wonder as a muddled strawberry, white tequila fizzy drink. Basically a craft margarita sans triple sec. Of course, I had everything on hand and pretty much went straight from blog to kitchen to grab a glass and test it out.

Tasting notes:

- Definitely measure out the lime juice and don't just wing it with 1 whole lime. A bit too much.
- Superfine sugar is easiest to muddle with and dissolves faster, but you can substitute regular sugar.
- If you prefer sweet drinks and are expecting this to be one, possibly add another .5 - 1 tsp of sugar just to be safe.
- Pepper is not overpowering at all, I was skeptical at first but put a healthy 6 fresh grinds in and it was a nice accent.
- Big azz strawberries like I used are fine to cut up and/or use less of - it all gets muddled into a rough puree anyway.
- I didn't have club soda on hand, just lime flavor La Croix, and it worked fine.
- Eliminating the pepper and adding mint to the muddle might be a nice variation.
- Eliminating the tequila would change the flavor a bit but would be an ok non-proof drink for the DD, pregos or kids.

She's right - it's a lovely blend, albeit quite tangy. Tastes like June, and is a decent start to any patio dining the summer brings. Her recipes haven't failed me yet!