New to Seattle: Camarena is Premium Tequila for the Masses

There’s a new tequila on the block, but it’s made by one of the oldest families in the business. Camarena Tequila made its American debut in California, Nevada, and Texas last year, and hit Washington State shelves in February, but the Camarena family has been making tequila in the highlands of Jalisco for nearly eighty years (and six generations) already. The first tequila to bear the family name, Camarena is made with 100 percent pure blue agave, sustainably farmed in the Los Altos Highlands, where the family has about three million agave plants growing. Right now, the tequila comes in silver and repasado varieties, with an anejo in the works. These are sweet, peppery, and earthy liquors, and though the quality is high, the price is nice: each bottle retails for $20. With that in mind, I bravely volunteered to sample these new premium spirits.

The good people from Camarena actually wanted us to make our own drinks. Oh, twist my arm.

They provided the tequila, the recipes, and the requisite additional ingredients: vermouths, lemons and limes, ginger ale and beer, cassis, almond liqueur, orange liqueur, amaro, maple syrup and agave syrup, and even an egg. Don’t worry, all those liquids did not go into the same drink. If you’re playing along at home, a low-res version of the recipes can be found here.

The task at hand involved making four cocktails: a paloma (a refreshing alternative to the margarita), a cope de arandas (file under “aromatic cocktails”), an el diablo (file under “girly drinks”), and a dona elena (in the traditional sours–with egg white!–family).

I have to say that there was not a dud in the bunch. I will definitely drink a paloma again–it’s not nearly as heavy or as sweet as your traditional margarita, but just as simple to make. The dark copa de arandas proves that you can have a tequila-based cocktail in the winter, especially with just a hint of fresh mint. Meanwhile, with its cassis, the el diablo is a little too sweet for me to have more than one, but any cosmo lover should give it a try. And the dona elena is your classic sour, with a tequila twist.