Viva La Paloma! My Taste Sensations of 2014

While I’m squeezing grapefruits to make our Palomas, let me tell you about the three great flavor discoveries I had in 2014: a whisky, a Tequila and an IPA, all very pricey and hard to find. Mostly, it is a tale of theft, forgiveness and shameless freeloading.

My older boy, who lives in Los Angeles, left a 4-pack of Dogfish Head 120-minute IPA at our house in New York. He wanted to test their ageability in our relatively cool cellar. He trusted that I would not drink them. Ah, children. So naive. Because, one night I just plain forgot they did not belong to me. I opened one; it was blockbuster and bliss: smooth, caramel-malty with a streak of spiky fruit, so rich its hoppiness did not bother me at all. It was so good I opened another. I only came to my senses somewhere halfway down that second bottle. My senses, or something: its alcohol is between 15 and 20%. And I had just drained half of a four-pack that, if you can find it, will set you back between $40 and $60-plus. Sorry, son. Great, great IPA however.

And here’s the part that’s gonna make you weep for love of family and the generosity of the human soul: for Christmas, that very same son gave me a bottle of Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky from Japan. He’s big into whiskies (as well as big beers) and we had sampled this, among others, from his collection when we visited him in the summer. Wow, how I loved the delicacy and uncanny evolution this whiskey creates on the palate: a touch sweet on the forepalate, then vanilla-mellow with faint citrus and a decided bite of spirit all the way down. It’s distilled in a Coffey still that the Nikka people brought from Scotland back in the 60s. Great stuff.

The Tequila I did not literally sponge. My brother-in-law Michael, who appreciates the finer things, offered me a glass of El Tesoro de Don Felipe Extra Anejo 70th Anniversario. Aged for 7 years in Bourbon barrels, it was utterly delicious in its spicy-almondy, spirity-heat complexity, so persistent and satisfying.

A Tequila like that, you sip, straight. But if you, like me, cannot afford to drink artisan spirits on a regular basis, and want to enjoy a Tequila cocktail, may I suggest you forego a Margarita next time and try a Paloma? The Paloma is the Tequila cocktail of choice in Mexico, far more popular there than the Margarita. I prefer it because it doesn’t call for a liqueur. Liqueurs, unless a skilled bartender is on the job, bother me; they have a greasy feel, an artificiality that tends to spoil the party. The sweetening agent in a proper Paloma is just a touch of a grapefruit or lime soda like Squirt, Fresca or Jarritos (not available in the U.S.).

To me the essential ingredient in a Paloma is fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. You’ll see all kinds of short-cuts but I recommend against. You’ll see many variations of the basic cocktail, with salt as an element, or lime juice rather than grapefruit juice, or regular soda with double lime, but here’s my starter kit:

In a Collins glass over ice, pour two-plus parts Tequila, 1 part fresh grapefruit juice, a splash or 2 of soda (Squirt if you can find it; Fresca or Sprite are also okay) and a generous squeeze of fresh lime. Stir. Add more soda if it’s too tart for you.

Nothing makes guilt and shame evaporate quite like a Paloma. Cheers.