agave

If you’ve ever needed one cookie book, Dorie’s Cookies is the end-all, be-all. These chocolate-cornflake haystacks are sure to be your new favorite.

Before mezcal, before tequila, there was pulque — believed to be the oldest alcoholic beverage in North America. "It's pre-Aztec," notes Ross Graham, founder of the Miami Cocktail Company, which recently began using the ancient libation in its contemporary line of bottled, ready-to-serve cocktails.Like mezcal or tequila, pulque is made from the Mexican agave plant. It is fermented but not distilled,…

On the banks of the Río Hormiga Colorada (Red Ant River), a young man named Marcos shows off his new palenque (mezcal distillery) while his son runs around the gleaming copper pot stills. Marcos is handsome with a baby face and a lean, muscular frame. His eyes are large and liquid, but there’s something aloof…

The Old Fashioned is one of America's greatest cocktails. The Agave Old Fashioned that we feature here at Empellón Cocina has a bit more of a richness and smokier edge than most. I use two mezcals in this drink: a clear mezcal with a smokey back burn and a mezcal that is aged in wood,…

Ever heard of high-fructose agave nectar? That's cause it doesn't exist. Agave nectar broke out on the food trend scene several years ago as a natural alternative to processed sweeteners and it's plenty fructose-ey on its own. Plus, it comes from the same place as our beloved tequila. Here's how agave nectar differs from its…

I'm addicted to sugar in all its forms except candy, as my parents did not give it to us as kids (shocking, I know). I have a thing for all sweet things in the natural world — orange juice, jams, pie, ice-"cream," etc. Studies say that sugar is the bodies’ first addiction; there is evidence…

If you’re the sort of tequila purist who is known to bemoan the growing American domination of the industry, you may be wary of Tequila DeLeón. Like Herradura, which was bought several years ago by spirits and wine giant Brown-Forman, and El Tesoro, bought more recently by Beam Global, DeLeón was once a small, independently…

Tequila buffs are always on the hunt for the next, best artisanal producer. In this era of premium bottlings, elaborately packaged and aggressively advertised, the search for “true” tequila can be, ahem, dispiriting. Enter sotol. This extremely small-batch distilled spirit is so new to the American market that only a couple producers are currently imported.…

Author's Note: Sometime over the course of the next 72 hours I will be saying something remarkable via Twitter. If you are not yet following @TheImbiber you should do so immediately so as not to miss out on the something remarkable I’ll be saying. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Now back to our regularly…