El Pepino
Ingredients
- 45 mL Tequila Reposado Feel free to try other Tequila styles as well
- 20 mL Triple Sec
- 30 mL Lime Juice
- 20 mL Simple Syrup
- 3 slices Cucumber
- 6 leaves Coriander (some call it Cilantro)
- Egg White
- Garnish with an additional slice of Cucumber
Instructions
- Throw the Cucumber slices (that you aren't using for garnish), Coriander, and Simple Syrup into a cocktail shaker and muddle.
- Add Tequila, Triple Sec, Lime Juice, and Egg White to the shaker with ice. If you want a frothier cocktail, don't add ice just yet.
- If you added ice, shake more than you would usually; you really want to get that Egg White frothed up. If you haven't added ice yet, dry shake for a bit then shake again with ice.
- Strain into a Coupe glass.
- Garnish and serve. Have fun.
Notes
We Have a Few More Things to Say About El Pepino
In writing up this recipe, we keep wanting to refer to the cocktail as The El Pepino, but that seems redundant since “el” means “the” in Spanish. If we were calling it The El Pepino we’d be saying “The The Cucumber” after all! But forgive us if we made that mistake somewhere in this write up. It can be hard to catch…
The naming confusion aside, it’s still a fun cocktail. As mentioned, it’s a nice twist on a Classic Margarita. So if you’re a fan of the simple yet classic Tequila cocktail, we strongly urge you to whip one of these up. Yes, there are a few more steps to it, but it’s well worth it to enjoy something just a little bit different.
Can I make more than one El Pepino at once?
This would work, just be sure not to overload your shaker. When shaking a cocktail like this, it’s important that everything is mixed properly and the Egg White is given a chance to froth up in the shaker. If there’s too much liquid, that won’t happen.
Either make this cocktail individually or limit it to two at a time.
Will El Pepino keep for later?
No, it won’t. It’s important with cocktail like this that they’re nice and frothy from the Egg White. Unfortunately, if you don’t drink this cocktail right away, you’ll lose all that wonderful froth. So make the cocktail and drink/serve it right away.
When would you have an El Pepino?
As we’ve mentioned before in regards to other Tequila based cocktails, the spirit has a bit of a reputation for being a party drink. And a lot of cocktails that contain Tequila seem to lean into that reputation. El Pepino, on the other hand, doesn’t do this. Instead, it actually calms things down with the addition of Cucumber and Coriander while also choosing to serve the drink up to give it a little bit more sophistication.
All that being said, we’d put El Pepino into the same timing as a Margarita. The flavours here are designed to compliment Mexican food, especially the Coriander. It may be a bit too heavy (thanks to the Egg White) to have with food, but it would make a nice starter/before dinner drink to get those taste buds ready for a Mexican feast!
That’s our opinion anyway!
How strong is El Pepino?
If you take a look at our Classic Margarita recipe, you’ll note it has 60 mL of Tequila and 30 mL of Triple Sec, compared to the 45 mL of Tequila and 20 mL of Triple Sec you’ll find here, This, of course, puts El Pepino as a little bit weaker than its parent. With that in mind, El Pepino also adds a bit more Lime Juice, some Simple Syrup, the Egg White, and whatever comes out of the Cucumber and Coriander. That is to say everything is a bit more diluted.
In no way does this put El Pepino as a low alcohol cocktail, but it does put it fairly below the Margarita, which is moderately strong. So let’s put this one as average in strength.
What kind of music do you put on when having an El Pepino?
This may sound a bit lazy, but we’re going to go with some sort of Mexican music, probably Mariachi music. Sure this is what we said in relation to the Margarita, but since El Pepino is so closely related, we’ll go with the same kind of music. If Mariachi isn’t your thing, go for any Mexican or even vaguely Spanish kind of music. Perhaps Flamenco?
After all, El Pepino is made to go with Mexican food. So if you’re having a Mexican themed party, add this to your arsenal along with the right kind of music!
This was interesting. It was a great cocktail but not totally to my taste. I think the cucumber both adds and takes away from things if that makes sense. I’ll just take a Margarita if I’m using these ingredients. Some may like this recipe though as it’s pretty laid back in flavour and easy to drink without being very sweet.