Last year, we surprised ourselves by buying two bottles of wine at the “wine store” inside the Food & Wine Festival Center (known as Wonders of Life pavilion to old-timers)… We liked the Bernau Block from Williamette Valley Vineyards so much that we had to have some all for ourselves (btw here is the blog post from the culinary demo where we met Jim Bernau and the blog post of a Wine Lunch at Artist Point that featured Williamette Valley Vineyards & Jim).
So, the other day, we were back at the Festival Center for another Culinary Demo (Kevin Dundon, Raglan Road & Dunbrody House & numerous cookbooks) and decided to have a wander around the Wine Store…
We brought something home… Not wine this time, but tequila… Tanteo Cocoa to be exact…
“Roasted, malted and raw cocoa, reminiscent of the traditional mole, is infused into our 100% agave tequila. This results in a peppery, dark, roasted and malted cocoa taste.”
the bottle is hand numbered and dated
and it ain’t cheap
There was a little recipe book attached, the first one is “Tante Cocoa on the Rocks”… so that’s what I had. Like most spirits, the flavors change or bloom as it sits and as the ice begins to melt. This tastes like a nice reposado (our favorite as a general rule) with some chocolate and roasted chile notes… Just like mole. Then we tried superchilling it in the freezer (where it sits happily with the Salted Caramel Stoli Vodka)… It was even better out of the freezer.
So, I’m happy with the purchase (I checked and it wasn’t available at any local stores). There are two other Tanteo tequilas at the Wine Store: jalapeño (totally sold out) and tropical (just doesn’t sound good to me).
Here’s to trying something (a little bit) different!