The Chimayó cocktail was created by Arturo Jaramillo, owner of the Rancho de Chimayó restaurant in Chimayó, New Mexico

Chimayo, New Mexico

Chimayo is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe Counties in the U.S. state of New Mexico; the community's name is more correctly pronounced and spelled Chimayó, a name that derives from a Tewa name for a local landmark, the hill of Tsi Mayoh...

 in 1965, the Chimayó Cocktail is a tequila and apple cider based drink. Legend has it that Jaramillo was looking for use for the apples that are plentiful in the Chimayó valley when he stumbled onto what would soon become the signature drink of his restaurant.

Preparation and serving

The Chimayó Cocktail is created by mixing 1½ oz tequila with 1 oz unfiltered apple cider, 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice and 1/4 oz creme de cassis over ice. According to Eric Felten author of How’s Your Drink? Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking the touch of casis...gives the drink a pleasant, pale purplish hue and the sweetness needed to balance the tart lemon taste.

Nomenclature

Cider in this article is used in the North American sense to mean a non-alcoholic apple product; not as used in the rest of the English-speaking world, where cider unequivocally refers to an alcoholic drink. See apple cider

Apple cider

Apple cider is the name used in the United States and parts of Canada for an unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic beverage made from apples...

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