Recipe: An Easy Tequila Cocktail (With Zest and Smoke) From Shell House

Photo: Yusuke Oba

In the world of cocktails, less can definitely be more. In partnership with Don Julio, we dive into a cocktail recipe that goes light on steps and technique, letting fresh and flavoursome ingredients do the talking.

Josh Reynolds has a bird’s eye view of what Sydneysiders are drinking. As beverage and bar director for hospitality group The Point, Reynolds spots cocktail trends across venues like the four-in-one Shell House, Hotel Harry and The Dolphin Hotel, and designs menus accordingly. “Sydney still is a white-spirit style of town,” Reynolds says. “So lots of Margaritas, Gin Sours and things like that.”

Beyond the classics, though, Reynolds blends technique and creativity with simple approachability across his drinks lists. “I’ve always been a person who makes cocktails that I want people to have again and again and again,” he says. “We have a big push on seasonality and really fresh flavours.”

Reynolds’s approach to cocktails means he and The Point team create drinks that are packed with flavour while only using a handful of ingredients and limited steps – as in his recipe for The Mandarin Chapel. Here Reynolds mixes just four ingredients to make a fresh, fruity cocktail with a hint of warming spice, courtesy of the vanilla notes and raw agave in his choice of tequila blanco.

Never miss a moment. Make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter today.
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Reynolds has focused on sourcing the best ingredients at every step – starting with that base spirit, the Don Julio Tequila Blanco. “It’s really grassy and fresh and packed full of those limey, grapefruity notes,” Reynolds says. “There’s a tiny bit of that undertone of agave spice in there as well.” The crisp agave blend also emphasises the zestiness of the mandarin juice, giving a spicy warmth you can’t get with another tequila.

The next ingredient is a little less familiar. “Alma Tepec is the first Mexican ancestral chilli liqueur that’s handmade from dried, smoked pasilla mixe chillies grown in the mountains of Oaxaca,” he says. “There’s a beautiful warmth to the liqueur and it’s got a touch of sweetness.” Reynolds says this unique chilli liqueur is easy enough to find, and adds a depth of flavour and unique profile you won’t find elsewhere.

A whack of citrus with fresh mandarin and lime juice is used to balance the tequila’s prickly heat and the smoky warmth of Alma Tepec. Again, the ingredients are simple, but the best flavour comes from juicing mandarins yourself if possible.

The final touch is the mandarin salt garnish. It’s optional if you want to keep things dead simple, but making it is a straightforward process that results in a big flavour boost.

Putting it all together is the easiest part – you don’t even need a shaker or much other bartending gear. Despite using just a handful of ingredients and limited technique, the result is big on flavour.

“It’s super citrusy, really aromatic from the mandarin, zestiness and zippiness from the lime, and then that big spicy warmth and tequila spine running throughout the whole of it,” Reynolds says.

Recipe: Josh Reynolds’s The Mandarin Chapel

Makes 1 serving (Approx 1.2 standard drinks)

Ingredients:

20ml Don Julio blanco
20ml Alma Tepec Pasilla Mixe Chile liqueur
10ml fresh lime juice
Fresh mandarin juice
Mandarin salt to garnish (optional)

Method:

To make mandarin salt, pre-heat oven to 50ºC. Peel mandarin skins and bake in the oven until dry and crackable. Weigh dried skins and mix with equal weight of flaky sea salt. Blend salt and mandarin skins into a fine powder.

For the cocktail, dust the rim of a highball glass with mandarin salt. Add Don Julio blanco, Alma Tepec liqueur and fresh lime juice to a highball glass. Fill glass with plenty of ice. Top with fresh mandarin juice.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Don Julio Tequila.

Produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Don Julio.

Produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Don Julio.
Learn more about partner content on Broadsheet.

Broadsheet promotional banner