The first drink I tried in my efforts to explore how to use my excess of crème de cassis was “El Diablo”. At this point I was unsure of how I felt about crème de cassis and the cocktail seemed like a glorified Moscow mule. However, every SEO’d list of cassis cocktails led with it, so I figured it was at least worth an experiment. Worst case the ginger beer would be delicious.
What I love about a cocktail is the right ingredients, balanced in the right proportions, and mixed just right, yields a concoction greater than the sum of its parts. It’s drinkable alchemy.
An El Diablo is one of those drinks. The saltiness of the tequila comes to the front, lifted by the bubbles of the ginger beer. The ginger beer and lime do what they do best, providing a solid midrange of spicy and tart, and then the crème de cassis kicks in with earth, summery berry jam bass notes. I’m generally of the opinion that if you like a mule, then you really just like ginger beer, but this is something bigger and better. It alone makes having a bottle of crème de cassis worthwhile.
This Liquor article is correct that you should use a spicy ginger beer. Fever-Tree worked a treat. I used Espolòn Blanco and it was lovely, but I’m looking forward to trying it with Fortaleza next time I can find a bottle. Many recipes suggest a reposado tequila, and I’ll report back on that experiment when it happens. My suspicion is that I’ll prefer the blanco, but there’s science to be done.
If you take it for a spin, let me know how it goes! I’d love to hear other people’s takes on this one.
El Diablo
- 1.5oz blanco or reposado tequila
- 0.75oz fresh lime juice
- 0.5oz crème de cassis
- 2 to 3oz ginger beer
Directions
In an ice-filled shaker, shake the tequila, lime juice and crème de cassis untill well chilled. Fill a Collins glass with ice, strain the cocktail into the glass and top with ginger beer. I frequently just build it in a glass and it works just fine if you don’t want to pull out the shaker.
Some recipes call for 0.5oz of lime, but I thought a little extra helped to balance the ginger beer and cassis. There’s definitely room to fiddle with the amount of ginger beer and lime.
Links
A bit of history on the El Diablo
https://www.liquor.com/recipes/el-diablo/
A touch of history on cassis
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/dining/drinks/creme-de-cassis-cocktails.html?unlocked_article_code=1.304.bCxr.39iaKiL5J3c4&smid=url-share
A solid blanco tequila. If you don’t have a fav, this is a good one to start with https://www.espolontequila.com/en-us/our-tequilas/tequila-blanco/