Kosher Patrón Fuels Seder’s 4 Tequila Cocktails

Step aside, Elijah, there’s a new spirit to welcome to the Passover seder this year.

Thanks to some hard work and strict adherence to religious standards, Patrón Silver and Roca Patrón Silver Tequila are officially kosher for Passover this year. They’re certified by the good folks at the Mexico-based Supervisores en Calidad Kosher.

Both tequilas have been certified kosher for year-round use for a while, but, thankfully for us, they’ve stepped up their game for the festival of matzah.

Patrón Silver and Roca Patrón Silver tequilas are readily available in most liquor stores around Atlanta. While the bottle packaging and labels are still being updated to add the new hekhsher, all bottles available in the stores are fine for Passover even if they don’t have the specific Passover certification.

The traditional Passover seder requires us to enjoy four cups of wine throughout the evening, but it’s time to add a new tradition to the canon: the four tequila cocktails. To help you and your guests celebrate, here are four easy-to-prepare cocktail and punch recipes guaranteed to elevate your seder from a dinner party to a full-on fiesta.

Tequila Sangria

A big pitcher of pre-made sangria is a great way to serve a large crowd and to let them serve themselves. Plus, if you add a bit more wine to the recipe, you can absolutely use this sangria for Kiddush during the seder, which means it’s pulling double duty. That’s a benefit to anyone who’s spending every waking minute leading up to the seder doing prep work in the kitchen.

This recipe isn’t set in stone; use whatever fresh fruit appeals to you. Add more berries, use more mango — the possibilities are endless.

1 orange
2 limes
1 lemon
1 cup tequila
2 cups mango, pineapple or other tropical juice
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
½ cup raspberries
½ cup sliced strawberries
½ cup chopped pineapple or mango
1 bottle sweet sparkling wine (think Bartenura’s blue bottle)

Juice the orange, limes and lemon, and combine them with the mango/pineapple juice in a large pitcher. (Note that 100 percent juice with no additives is always kosher for Passover. If you buy frozen concentrate or a juice blend, certified kosher for year-round use is also acceptable for Passover.) Add the kiwi, raspberries, strawberries and any other fruit you’ve chosen to the pitcher. If you’re preparing in advance (the day before, no earlier), let the mixture sit in the fridge until just before the seder. About 20 minutes before serving, add the sparkling wine. Serve over ice.

Paloma

The paloma is simple and tasty and can be adapted to the season with variations such as a strawberry simple syrup. (Photo by Robbie Medwed)

The paloma is my favorite tequila cocktail. It’s light and refreshing, and it’s great all year. Try substituting strawberry simple syrup for a seasonal variation on this classic cocktail.

2 ounces tequila
1 ounce grapefruit juice
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce simple syrup (50-50 sugar and water, boiled for a minute)
Soda water to top

Fill a tall (Collins) glass with the tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice and simple syrup. Add ice, stir well, and fill the rest of the way with soda water. Citrus can be juiced up to a day in advance, but for the freshest taste, juice it as close to making the drinks as possible. And if you have too many guests offering to help in the kitchen with not enough tasks to assign, juicing citrus is a great job to hand off to someone. Garnish the glass with a lime wheel or a grapefruit wedge.

Texas Margarita

A Texas margarita using fresh juice instead of triple sec is a tequila variation that’s easy to make kosher. (Photo by Robbie Medwed)

We can’t very well have a list of tequila cocktails and not mention the most famous. The Texas margarita is a play on its more traditional cousin, and it’s a bit easier to make kosher for Passover.

Traditionally, margaritas call for triple sec or another orange liqueur. While Sabra does make a kosher-for-Passover orange liqueur, it’s hard to find in Atlanta. If you have some, great. If not, here’s our workaround for this Tex-Mex favorite.

2 ounces tequila
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce lime juice
½ ounce orange simple syrup

Orange simple syrup: Combine equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan with the peels (no white part, just the orange part) of an orange and bring to a quick boil.

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain well and serve on the rocks. Salted-rim optional!

To prepare a salted rim, reserve a tablespoon of lime juice in a dish. Dip the top of the glass into the juice, then dip the glass into a dish filled with kosher salt.

Angél de la Muerte

The spiciness gradually builds from fruitiness when you drink the Angél de la Muerte (Angel of Death). (Photo by Robbie Medwed)

Deep, dark, blood-red and spicy, the Angel of Death is a step above the average tequila cocktail. Fresh jalapeno slices add a deceptively fruity taste that turns slowly spicy.

2 ounces tequila
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce blood orange juice
¾ ounce pomegranate molasses
2-3 fresh jalapeno slices

Drop the jalapeno slices into the bottom of a shaker, and muddle (crush) them with the handle of a wooden spoon. Add the remaining ingredients plus ice and shake well. Strain well into a coupe or other stemmed glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

Pomegranate molasses: Add 1 cup of pomegranate juice to a saucepan and boil until it’s reduced by half or more. The longer it boils, the more syrupy it will get.

Robbie Medwed writes about cocktails and alcohol at koshercocktail.com.