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Vaquero cocktail
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Vaquero

Course Drinks
Servings 1 hefty cocktail

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces bourbon (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 ounce Ancho Reyes Verde, or the red, if you prefer
  • 1/2 ounce Aperol
  • 1/4 ounce simple syrup
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 3 to 4 pineapple chunks (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1 sage leaf, plus another for the garnish

Instructions

  • Put the pineapple chunks and the sage leaf in a shaker and muddle them well. Really smash the hell out of them. Then add all the other ingredients except the garnish. Toss in two or three ice cubes. Cap and give it a good shake for 20 to 30 seconds—the outside of the shaker should get nice and cold.
  • Decant into a coupe or a Nick and Nora glass. If you like (and we do), add a nicely shaped ice cube, garnish with a pretty sage leaf, and serve. This is nice on its own, or to sip through a pleasant dinner of small plates and charcuterie.

Kitchen Notes

The bourbon. We used our current favorite, Town Branch, but other mellow bourbons, like Maker’s, would work well too.
The pineapple. We used canned pineapple chunks packed in pineapple juice, not in heavy syrup—pretty small chunks.