prado

1 1/2 oz Lunazul Blanco Tequila
3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Grenadine

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a sliced cocktail cherry on edge of glass.

For our last drink at Green Street, bartender Derric Crothers wanted me to flip through the notebook containing all of Green Street's recipes and find something new for him to taste and learn. Since I had already had some tequila that night, I ended up picking the Prado which Derric mixed up and poured into three glasses. The drink had a very Maraschino nose to it and this note followed into the first flavor notes of the sip. The liqueur taste was followed by the tequila and lime; however, the Luxardo Maraschino was very dominant to these other flavors. Apparently, the drink was meant to be made with the more mild Stock brand Maraschino liqueur and often bartenders will dilute Luxardo with simple syrup to approximate the change; for example, Kevin Martin of Eastern Standard suggested a two parts Luxardo Maraschino to one part simple syrup ratio. The drink was also rather sweet from the Maraschino and grenadine, so perhaps dropping the Maraschino down to a 1/2 ounce might achieve a lot in improving the drink. While I found the Prado to be part way between a Margarita and a Tequila Hemingway Daiquiri, Derric found the drink to be more akin to a Tequila Aviation.

Researching the drink later, I discovered that this Prado is a variant of the original created by Zig Zag Cafe (Seattle) bartender Kacy Fitch:

Prado
• 1 1/2 oz Tequila
• 3/4 oz Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
• 1/2 Egg White
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This version lacks the grenadine and has a more tart citrus balance to it. Often egg whites are included in bars' housemade sour mix used to make Margaritas (helps to make the drink smoother), although many recipes leave it out. Indeed, the Prado does appear to be a Margarita variation with the Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) swapped for Maraschino.