Spicy Margaritas continue to dominate bar menus, but there’s always room to remix a winning formula. This bespoke cocktail from Matty Opai, bar director at Bondi hotspot Icebergs, proves it – and he’s sharing the recipe with us.
Combining the vanilla and oak notes of Don Julio 1942 tequila with freshly squeezed lemon and a spicy honey syrup, Opai’s Windfall also riffs on the Gold Rush, a classic cocktail made with bourbon, honey and lemon. Barrel-aged for at least two and a half years, Don Julio 1942 is smooth and nuanced enough that it can easily stand in for gin, vodka or whisky in many cocktails.
“It translates very well in a lot of the classics,” says Opai. “Gin can often be a bit too floral or botanical for some people, so using tequila can change their perception.”
But this isn’t just any tequila. “Don Julio was one of the first high-end tequilas introduced to the market,” he explains. “It started a movement of these ultra-aged tequilas, which have now taken hold across the world. It creates status: you automatically associate it with luxury. And the tall bottle: you don’t see that anywhere else. It created its own category.”
Opai’s brief for himself was to create something simple and refreshing. Don Julio 1942’s oak flavours are supported by the honey’s richness, with the salt and spice factor complementing the fresh capsicum notes in all Don Julio tequilas. The lemon, meanwhile, adds both balance and zest to the mix.
“The idea is to highlight the agave and the delicate nature of the 1942,” he says. “The vanillas and the oaks that you get from the barrel, as well as some of the more grassy vibe you get from tequila. I didn’t want anything too heavy to overpower the flavours, so it’s just complementary flavours with a little bit of spice in there.”
The proteins in the honey syrup form a foam when shaken vigorously, making the cocktail’s flavours cling a bit longer to the palate.
At Icebergs, Opai’s team make the hot honey syrup in house. They also add 5ml of Muyu Chinotto, a newish liqueur from the Netherlands made from chinotto oranges. It adds complexity and depth to the drink, but you can leave it out – it isn’t always easy to source in Australia. Without that optional liqueur, the recipe follows the 3-2-1 format: three parts spirit, two parts modifier and one part sweetener.
“The 3-2-1 method is how [most] classic cocktails were created,” says Opai. “It was a big chunk of spirit, half that amount of some modifier like citrus and then a sweetener just to balance it out. All sours are like that, and a Margarita is a version of it. It goes back decades, and even centuries, to the original cocktails.”
That versatility is mirrored in Opai’s creation, which can work equally well in any season. The chilli, honey and lemon can warm you up on a cooler evening, but it’s very refreshing in the warmer months too.
“It’s a very sessionable Margarita-style drink,” he says. “You can have a couple of them on a hot summer day.”
Windfall
*Makes 1 serving. Approx. 1.35 standard drink. *
Ingredients:
45ml Don Julio 1942
30ml freshly squeezed lemon
15ml hot honey syrup (instructions below)
5ml Muyu Chinotto (optional)
Method
Make hot honey syrup by warming desired amount of honey in a pan and then adding salt and chili flakes to taste. Once cooled, heat again with an equal amount of water in the manner of simple syrup and allow to cool again.
Combine all cocktail ingredients in a shaker over ice. Shake vigorously. Fine strain into a glass over a clear-cut block of ice, or without ice in a Martini glass with a half salt rim.
*This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Don Julio Tequila. *
