This is the first in a series of tropical drink recipes.
Taste testing Partida Tequila  has brought me to a deeper understanding of tequila. In the past I’ve always enjoyed tequila in margaritas. From the moment I read through the Partida Tequila press packet I wanted to take this tequila for a real test drive.
The bottle design of Partida Tequila is simple and attractive. I also enjoyed the variety of tequila recipes on their website. The variety and interesting ingredients made me more excited about the product. I also liked that each recipe was created by a top drink chef at restaurants and  lounges around the world. This tasting experience has opened my eyes to a variety of drinks that are made with tequila.
For taste testing I wanted to start simple to take advantage of the flavor of the tequila. For my first taste I made a shaken margarita using the Partida Blanco Tequila and the Partida Organic Agave Nectar. I loved the fresh taste these ingredients produced and was excited about the organic agave nectar. I was initially interested to try Partida Agave Nectar because it’s organic. What I learned along the way is it has a natural fresh taste that I look forward to trying in other drinks and recipes. It tastes sweeter than sugar but is absorbed more slowly into the blood stream because of its low glycemic index, preventing a spike in blood sugar.
Being an island girl I wanted to try the Caliente Partida with its tropical Asian twist. This drink is made with aged Partida Reposado.
Caliente Partida
1 ½ oz Partida Reposado
3 chunks of pineapple (I used fresh)
2 ginger wheels (fresh ginger slices, cut diagonally.)
¼ oz fresh squeezed lime juice
¼ oz agave nectar
¼ oz ginger ale
In a glass mix the first four ingredients. Add ice and Partida Reposado, shake this mixture and strain over fresh ice in a high ball glass. Top off with ginger ale and garnish with a couple pieces of crystalized ginger.
This drink caught me off guard. I wasn’t prepared for the strength of it, though I enjoyed the unusual tropical Asian twist in this recipe. The recipe was created by Junior Merino “The Liquid Chef” who works in New York City. Here you can check out Talk Drinks which Junior created with another bar chef.
Maybe I’m just too wimpy but I can’t handle drinks with a high ratio of alcohol and a low ratio of mixers. I had to add additional ginger ale and additional fresh pineapple. After doing that I loved the Caliente Partida. The revealing fact; I went out and bought a larger bottle of Partida Tequila to share with my girl friends for another evening of taste testing!
Photo Credit Partida Tequila