orange anejo sour

The Blind Pig Family has had quite a week! We are headed out to soccer trip, to be followed by a hockey trip, and some other exciting adventures! We can’t wait to share the details with you next week. In the meantime, we wanted to let you know how grateful we are to all of our loyal readers and followers. Our Thanksgiving will be different this year as Blind Piglet #1 is staying in NYC and will be watching the Macy’s Day Parade from inside her office building. (It makes us tear up just to put that in writing.)

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This week we are sharing a lovely cocktail for the perfect Thanksgiving toast — Orange Anejo Sour. The flavors in this drink are complex and interesting, but don’t worry, mixing it up for family and friends will be a snap!

Before we share the ingredient list with you, we want you to bear with us and give this cocktail a chance. Most of our cocktails we share have only 3-4 ingredients. This one has a few more than that, and it you do not frequent the cocktail bar scene, may seem a little unusual to you. To make the Orange Anejo Sour you will need sliced oranges, sugar, mint leaves, anejo tequila, fresh lime juice, orange liqueur, Carpano Antica Sweet vermouth, egg whites and blood orange San Pellegrino soda.

A few notes about these ingredients: first of all, yes, this drink has raw egg whites. If you cannot be exposed to raw eggs for health reasons, obviously this is not the cocktail for you. The same goes for any guests you may be serving. You want to use anejo tequila for this cocktail. Anejo tequila has been aged for 1-3 years in oak barrels. The flavors in anejo tequila are much richer with vanilla and floral undertones. Anejo has enough flavor that it is typically served neat for sipping. You will not have the same experience with this cocktail if you use blanco or reposado tequila. Carpano Antica sweet vermouth is a wine based product that we have shared with you in other posts, such as, Orange You Glad It’s Carpano? San Pellegrino is the only blood orange soda we could find at our local Kroger. There may be others, but our Kroger didn’t have them.

To begin, we are going to slightly broil orange slices. Place the thinly sliced orange slices on a cookie sheet with sugar sprinkled over the top. Broil for only a few minutes watching closely until the oranges are slightly browned and the sugar has glazed over the top of the orange.

Next place mint leaves in your shaker and muddle. Add tequila, lime juice, orange liqueur, sweet vermouth, and an egg white from one egg. Shake vigorously until the sound from the shaker changes from a sloshly sound to a thicker sound. Open the shaker and add ice. Shake for about 15 more seconds. Pour into a coup or martini glass. There will be a froth on top. Gently lay the broiled orange slice on the top of the froth. Serve and amaze all with your bartending talents!

Orange Anejo Sour

1 orange slice
1/4 tsp sugar
5 mint leaves
1.5 ounces of anejo tequila
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1 ounce of orange liqueur
1 ounce of Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1 egg white
Blood orange soda

Place orange slice on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and broil for about 5 minutes. Remove and cool.
Place mint leaves in a shaker and muddle. Add tequila, lime juice, orange liqueur, Carpano Antica, and egg white.
Shake until frothy. Add 1 cup of ice and shake for 15 more seconds.
Pour into a coup glass. Top off with blood orange soda.
Garnish with broiled orange slice.

The Orange Anejo Sour is a great cocktail for the holidays with its rich flavors and impressive appearance. Make it next week for your Thanksgiving guests and let us know what they think!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.