Taste Mexico in a New Drink Using Foraged Ingredients Native to the Yucatan
And its even better when you travel there to get it.
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/try-mexican-gin-from-the-yucatan
The Yucatán Peninsula is a lush slab of limestone separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. Along its edges, white sand meets cerulean sea, resulting in some of the
most beautiful beaches anywhere on the planet. Upwards of 3.2 million annual visitors flock to the region of
Mexico to bask in that serenity. And many of them arrive thirsty for Mexican tipples, which most often means
tequila (in margarita and paloma form) or warm-weather-friendly lagers.
But at the
Rosewood Mayakoba, a resort set amidst the emerald lagoons and mangrove jungles of the Riviera Maya, guests are treated to a distilled drink that speaks with a specific sense of place: It is the language of the Yucatán, in liquid form. And it's not another tequila.
The idea for a brand-new Mexican liquorthe result of a lasting friendship between a celebrated chef and an iconic distillerwas born at the resorts cocktail bar, Zapote, which itself is billed as a love letter to the
Yucatán. We called it the Journey Bar, because thats exactly how we like our guests to feel, explains chef Juan Pablo Loza, director of culinary operations. There are different ways to create the journeys and sometimes its literal. For example, when a guest is curious about mezcales
We take them to our little blue room where we have a beautiful collection of ancestral spirits. We like to describe it as a place of discovery.
As an engineer of unique flavorsboth in the kitchen and behind the barLoza often discovers his own inspiration through collaboration with like-minded colleagues. For the cocktail program at Zapote, he enlisted help from his friends at
Licorería Limantour, a Mexico City drinking den frequently mentioned among the worlds best bars. Together they conceived signature drinks including the Hoja Santa (mezcal, sherry, and elderflower liqueur imbued with the eponymous, peppery herb) and the Eneldo, which combines vodka with a local anise liqueur called Xtabentún.
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