eNewMexican

Spirit of the Season

By Patricia West-Barker

There are many competing stories about the creation of the margarita, a drink that became popular when Americans began crossing the Mexican border during prohibition in a quest for cocktails and other spirits. What’s indisputable is that the first known recipe for the tequila-based drink appeared in a book published in 1930 — and the margarita is now the most popular cocktail in the United States.

Quinn Stephenson — mixologist, sommelier and owner of the award-winning Coyote Cafe and Santacafé — agrees with that ranking by Beverage Industry magazine. “More margaritas are made than any other cocktail in the country,” he says, “and particularly in Santa Fe.”

The number one cocktail at the Coyote Cafe & Cantina is the Norteño Margarita, a signature offering Stephenson created for the restaurant and bar more than a decade ago. It’s the Coyote’s entry on Tourism Santa Fe’s Margarita Trail program (sfnm.co/margarita_trail), and has proved so popular over time that Stephenson recently added it to the menu at Santacafé.

The International Bartenders Association defines a margarita as a combination of orange

liqueur, tequila and lime juice served in a glass with a salted rim. There is no orange liqueur in Stephenson’s version of the cocktail — he adds a touch of sweetness with simple syrup — but what makes it particularly unique, and particularly Northern New Mexican, is the inclusion of house-made green chile water. A pinch of green chile powder in the salt that rims the glass completes the profile.

The secret to making what might be a seasonal specialty a year-round offering, Stephenson says, is buying as much fresh Hatch green chile as they can get in the fall, then making and freezing the juice.

New Mexico True slogan “Born here all my life” could be used to describe Stephenson, who was born and raised in Pojoaque and has never lived anywhere but his home state. “Norteño means someone from the north,” he says, “and I thought that would be an appropriate name for the cocktail.”

Will the Norteño Margarita make you gasp or burn your lips? Not at all, Stephenson says. “Mark Miller, the original owner of Coyote Café (who introduced Southwestern cuisine to the United States in 1987), taught me that we use chiles for flavor, not necessarily for heat, so that’s why we make the juice from mild chiles — because we just want the flavor of green chile; we don’t want you to suffer through a cocktail where every sip is just too hot.”

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2020-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

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Santa Fe New Mexican