Thursday, February 09, 2012

It's crazy, but it just might work

Last weekend, I was casting around the Internet for some 'Super Bowl Party' ideas (pure fantasy living: there was no prospect that I would be attending such a party, much less throwing one) when I came upon some recipes for a Beer Margarita. [Most of them seem to recommend something called 'frozen limeade concentrate' - which, I gather, is sold by Minute Maid in the States, but is probably unavailable anywhere else - for the lime element. I assume regular lime cordial (also not easy to get hold of in Beijing!) and lemonade will do the job.]


The notion didn't seem too appealing at first, but the more I think about it, the more it grows on me. It might well be a good method for making crappy Mexican beers like Sol somewhere near drinkable. It could be just the thing for a Cinco de Mayo party this year.

Of course, I'll need to do some road testing first...

9 comments:

The British Cowboy said...

Frozen limeade cordial would be very different from Roses and 7 Up mixed.

Froog said...

How so, BC? What on earth is in it?? I don't see how they can freeze carbonation, for a start. But, if they can, how does freezing lime juice plus carbonation differ from non-frozen lime juice plus a carbonated drink?

I didn't think you had any truck with tequila in any form, anyway.

The British Cowboy said...

Frozen limeade cordial is not carbonated, and would be remade with water (or more normally alcohol of some kind by frat boys). It's the lime version of American lemonade, but in a concentrated form. And Roses lime really doesn't taste like lime juice. The best thing here would fresh lime juice, probably with some sugar added.

The British Cowboy said...

I don't do tequila often. It's OK in margharitas, though.

Froog said...

Rose's does taste of lime, even if the excessive sugar masks the tartness of it. And you recommend adding extra sugar to the American products anyway?

The brands we can (occasionally) get over here tend to be a bit less sweet (and more limey?) than Rose's anyway. If there's not enough zing of citrusy sourness coming through, I'd think adding a little bit of fresh lime juice would be the fix. (Limes are cheap and plentiful here these days [though not very good]; but they tend to be very small - so juicing them in numbers is just too much of a hassle.)

The British Cowboy said...

No - I don't recommend adding sugar to the American products. I recommended adding sugar to the fresh lime juice.

Key to juicing any citrus is to roll it on the counter hard for a minute first, then stick a fork deep into it and twist. Messy on the hands, but a lot more juice and a lot quicker than other methods.

Lime cordial has too much of an artificial taste for cocktails for me. The product here is designed to approximate fresh squeezed limeade when diluted - which would be made from only three ingredients - lime juice, water, and sugar.

Froog said...

Thanks for the tips, BC. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for one of these American 'real' lime concentrate products, although I'm not sanguine. I did once see a bottled real lime juice here - but never again. I suspect I'd have to go for a mixture of lime cordial and fresh-squeezed to produce the kind of volumes I'd need. The local limes are usually tiny - not much bigger than golf balls: so it would be a huge undertaking to produce a couple of litres of pure juice.

I should ask one of my bar owner friends how they manage for margaritas here...

Froog said...

Have you ever tried a beer margarita? What are your feelings about the idea?

The British Cowboy said...

It's not my kind of thing. I really don't like beer and liquor mixed together.

Also look for commercial sour mix.