diablo

1 1/2 oz Tequila (Lunazul Reposado)
3/4 oz Creme de Cassis (Cassis de Bordeaux, Marie Brizard)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
Ginger Ale (Reed's Extra Ginger Beer)

Shake all but ginger beer with ice and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice cubes. Top with ginger beer, garnish with a lime wheel, and add straw.

On Wednesday night, it was time to take the remainder of the Anvil 100 Drinks list from 8 down to 7 by making the Diablo. I ended up using the recipe in Hess' The Essential Bartender's Guide since I could not find it in other books. With a little advice I later found on Alcademics, it turns out that I was looking under the wrong name -- the drink used to be known as the Mexican El Diablo. Our 1947 edition of Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide has a similar recipe of juice of half a lime, 1 oz tequila, 1/2 oz creme de cassis built in a 10 oz glass filled with ice and the lime shell, and topped with ginger ale. Since the Anvil listed ginger beer on their brief description, I opted for that over the traditional ginger ale.
The Diablo had tequila and lime notes on the nose and was rather a crisp drink from the ginger beer and lime. I would assume that using ginger ale instead would make for a sweeter and softer drink. As I drank the Diablo, I thought to myself that I probably would not have put it in a top 100 list (Andrea disagreed) but it was pretty classy in terms of tequila drinks (we both agreed). The creme de cassis was more subtle than a Margarita's triple sec but it imparts a nice hue to the drink. Moreover, I am now curious to know what a Margarita with ginger beer would be like akin to the Diablo's recipe especially considering how well ginger complements tequila.