Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo!  We’ve previously featured two drinks that would be great tomorrow, the Margarita and the Oaxacan Sunrise, but here’s a new drink to help you celebrate properly: the Strawberry Tequila Daisy.

Read below for the full recipe!

Strawberry Tequila Daisy

2 oz Tequila
1/2 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Soda Water
2-3 Strawberries

Rinse and hull the strawberries.  Add them to a highball glass and combine with the Triple Sec, both juices, and syrup.  Muddle well.  Add the Tequila (make sure you use 100% agave!) and add a few ice cubes.  Top with soda water and enjoy.

This is a wonderfully light, fruity drink in which the Tequila is balanced really well.  The soda water gives it a nice zing that a regular Sour or Margarita can lack.  You can leave the pulp in and get more strawberry flavor, or you can filter before adding the Tequila and get a much cleaner drink (and no pulp when you sip – but don’t forget to garnish with a strawberry).

 

Americans have been using soda water to charge up their drinks since the 1850s, but the Daisy and its close relative the Fizz became really popular after the Civil War.  The original 1870s recipe involved spirits, sugar, lemon juice, orange liqueur, and some fizz.  Forty years later, a new-fangled recipe came along with lemon and lime juice, and grenadine in place of triple sec.  As I’ve noted before, the word for “daisy” in Spanish is, conveniently enough, margarita.  This, plus the taste of today’s drink, strongly suggest the origins of the Margarita lay with the Daisy.

Last – but definitely not least – Cinco de Mayo!  150 years ago tomorrow, a French army was marching on the Mexican town of Pueblo.  Why?  Because France’s ruler at the time was Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of the Napoleon and better known to history as Napoleon III.  Napoleon III, who was not a very good emperor, had grandiose plans to build a new French Empire to rival his uncle’s and invaded Mexico in 1861.  On May 5th, 1862, Mexican soldiers defending Pueblo defeated a much larger force of crack French troops, giving a much-needed boost of morale to Mexico’s armies.  The French went on to take over the country, but, after years of struggle, Mexico won its freedom again and drove the French out in 1866.  So, tomorrow, while you’re enjoying your Tequila Daisy, raise a glass to the brave Mexicans who fought for their country’s independence that Cinco de Mayo.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper