Just Add Cassis :: Diablo de Mayo is Here
This month, The Best Drink Ever is excited to team up with LEJAY the Original Crème de Cassis for “Diablo de Mayo”. To kick off this series, Master Blender Oliver Melis from LEJAY and Richard Allison Creative Director from Rootbittere shake things up with the original El Diablo recipe, from Trader Vic.
Originally created at Trader Vic's in 1946, the iconic El Diablo cocktail showcases three of today's most popular ingredients: tequila, ginger beer and Lejay Crème de Cassis. A new take on Cinco de Mayo, Lejay’s Diablo de Mayo hopes to inspire bartenders to create innovative twists on the classic cocktail.
El Diablo Recipe
- 1 1/2 oz. tequila
- 3/4 oz. Lejay Crème de Cassis
- 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
- Combine in a highball glass with ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with lime.
“The El Diablo is a simple classic cocktail that lends a great landscape to innovation for bartenders to improvise upon. When utilizing both fresh ginger and citrus, the El Diablo showcases the bright berry freshness that Lejay captures, making for a delicious and refreshing drink that is simply perfect as we enter warmer months,” says Olivier Melis.
The roots of the El Diablo date back to 1946 with the first known reference to the “Mexican El Diablo” found in Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink that was published the same year. The traditional recipe for an El Diablo features blanco tequila, crème de cassis and lime, shaken with ice, topped with ginger beer. Modern interpretations of the cocktail include adaptations of the classic ingredients (aged or infused tequila, fresh ginger, etc.), but with one element in common – Lejay Crème de Cassis.
Founded in 1841, Lejay has a storied history as the original crème de cassis and is still produced today using the century-old production process of the highest quality standards in the industry. Created in Burgundy in the town of Dijon, Lejay is a blend of two varietals of French cassis, or blackcurrant, Noir de Bourgogne and Black Down, harvested in late June or early July. First the fruit undergoes a slow maceration (6-8 weeks) in small batches mixed with a neutral sugar beet spirit, followed by a gentle pressing using only gravity of the fruit itself to obtain the highest quality “virgin mixture”. The final secret ingredient is the addition of a small amount of highly concentrated and aromatic cassis bud infusion that helps bring out the natural aromas of the fruit and imparts a distinct citrus finish, as well as a bright and fresh aromatic nose.
