Smoking Barrel and "El Paso"

 The Ballad of an Outlaw Torn 
 The west Texas desert is desolate and dreary. Days out in the sandy winds searching for something to quench your thirst has gotten you weary. As you saddle up for one more ride that might be your last, you think to yourself what the perfect drink might entail. You're so close to Mexico, and being in the vast desert that is the Lone Star State, you think something that embodies the two would be more than fitting for this extensive journey. The tumbleweeds and cacti taunt you as you gallop at a steady pace. "What's a cowboy gotta do to get a drink 'round these parts?" Your legs can feel your horse's every breath as his hooves pound the desert floor. You come over the hill, looking down through the valley and notice a quaint little town with a cantina that grabs your attention as if it had cast a spell.  Your mouth begins to water for the taste of something spicy and smuggled in...

The Smoking Barrel
The hiss of the bottle being opened gets your heart racing. The ice cold liquid comes to life with effervescence and you stir to see the tapper reach for a bottle of something tall and alluring that you've never seen before. Could this be? ...the forbidden Oaxacan fruit you've been craving? Mezcal... the smokey cousin of tequila... like the barrel of a smoking gun it's aroma can not be mistaken. The barkeep splashes some into your footed pilsner before he pours in the golden frothy brew. The two liquids whirl together as a Mexican maiden and outlaw would at the local honky tonk. To complete this Texas Tango and embody the Texas Tragedy playing on the dusty juke box in the corner, the man throws in a few dashes of fiery, blood-red hot sauce. As you bring the potion up to your nose, you notice the glass has so felicitously been rimmed with a gray, smoked salt. The aroma reminds you of the smell permeating your surroundings after you've fired your revolver into the wild young cowboy wooing the maiden you desire as your own.

Ingredientes:
12oz can or bottle of Lone Star beer
1 1/2 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven
1/2 oz lime juice
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
5 dashes Gringo Bandito


Method:
Rub a sliced lime on the outside rim of a beer glass of your choice. Dip the rim in smoked salt. Put Ilegal Mezcal Joven, lime juice, grapefruit juice, Gringo Bandito and 2 oz of Lone Star beer in the glass. Stir with the barrel of your gun just to incorporate the ingredients. Fill glass with half ice and top off with the rest of the beer.




















"El Paso"

The Spanish guitar plucks optimistically to greet you into this tale of heartache and the love of an outlaw. He falls for a Mexican girl and immediately finds himself frequenting Rosa's Cantina just to see her dance. The same way we fell for this cocktail of Western and south-of-the-border influence, the song has you rooting for the story teller and his love for the girl. Though his heart is soon broken as he sees her sharing a drink with another gun-toting gaucho. Shooting the seducing buckaroo to the ground, the story teller then skips town on horse back bound for New Mexico. Over time, the pain and desire in his heart are too much to bare and he soon finds himself headed back to El Paso. Despite his awareness of the bleak fate that lies ahead, he must see Felina one last time. He charges toward Rosa's Cantina and is soon surrounded by rifle carrying cowboys on horseback, shooting and shouting at him as he races on in hopes of reaching the saloon's back door. He catches a bullet and finds himself on the ground with all hope gone. From out of nowhere, Felina kneels and kisses his cheek and he dies knowing she always loved him so. With a final kiss, she bids him farewell...

Ilegal Mezcal 

For nearly a decade, a small group of artists, musicians, writers and travelers has been drinking Ilegal Mezcal, a handcrafted brand of Mexican artisanal liquor with a notorious history that includes smuggling and weeklong parties in a clandestine bar in Guatemala.

Ilegal was born out of John Rexer's bar, Café No Sé, an eclectic international watering hole in colonial Antigua, Guatemala. "Ilegal has texture and is not diluted and polluted by an industrial process," says Rexer. "It's like old hand-tooled leather versus cheap pleather. It's seductive. People from all walks of life understand the difference. It's a way of thinking and wanting to live as much as it is fine liquor." 

https://www.caskers.com/ilegal-mezcal/

Gringo Bandito

Gringo Bandito was started over ten years ago by Dexter Holland, singer for the multi-platinum punk rock band The Offspring, more as a hobby than a business.

Sales were modest at first, and the hot sauce was distributed only in Holland's native Southern California. "It has always been a DIY operation for sure," Holland says. "It started small but it has just kept on growing."

After several years and almost a million bottles later, Gringo Bandito hot sauce has garnered a worldwide audience and a loyal following. "We're not the most well-known hot sauce out there," says Holland, "but once people try it, they're hooked." Gringo Bandito is now sold in Australia, Japan, Canada, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and coast to coast in the US and can be found in the top 10 on Amazon.com's highest customer rated hot sauces amongst 5000+ other products.

Lone Star Beer
The Lone Star Brewery, built in 1884, was the first large mechanized brewery in Texas. Adolphus Busch, of Anheuser-Busch, founded it along with a group of San Antonio businessmen. The castle-like building now houses the San Antonio Museum of Art. Lone Star beer was the company's main brand. It was marketed as "The National Beer of Texas."



Sombrero (Spanish for "Hat") in English refers to a type of wide-brimmed hat in Mexico. It usually has a high pointed crown, an extra-wide brim (broad enough to cast a shadow over the head, neck and shoulders of the wearer, and slightly upturned at the edge), and a chin string to hold it in place.Cowboys generalized the word to mean just about any wide broad-brimmed hat.

Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and racing driver. One of the most popular and successful country and western singers of all time for most of his near four-decade career. Robbins often topped the country music charts, and several of his songs also had crossover success as pop hits. Among his warmer memories of his childhood, Robbins recalled having listened to stories of the American West told by his maternal grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle. The city of El Paso, Texas, later honored Robbins by naming a park and a recreational center after him.Robbins' 1957 recording of "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation"^[4] sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record.^[8] His musical accomplishments include the Grammy Award for his 1959 hit and signature song "El Paso", taken from his album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. "El Paso" was the first song to hit No. 1 on the pop chart in the 1960s. It was followed up, successfully, by "Don't Worry", which reached No. 3 on the pop chart in 1961, becoming his third, and last, Top 10 pop hit. "El Paso" was followed by one prequel and one sequel: "Feleena" and "El Paso City". Also in 1961, Robbins wrote the words and music and recorded "I Told The Brook," a ballad later recorded by Billy Thorpe.

He won the Grammy Award for the Best Country & Western Recording 1961, for his follow-up album More Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, and was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1970, for "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife". Robbins was named Artist of the Decade (1960–1969) by the Academy of Country Music, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982, and was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998 for his song "El Paso".

Robbins was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. For his contribution to the recording industry, Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6666 Hollywood Blvd.

Robbins has been honored by many bands, including the Grateful Dead who covered "El Paso". The Who's 2006 album Endless Wire includes the song "God Speaks of Marty Robbins". The song's composer, Pete Townshend, explained that the song is about God deciding to create the universe just so he can hear some music, "and most of all, one of his best creations, Marty Robbins."^[9] The Beasts of Bourbon released a song called "The Day Marty Robbins Died" on their 1984 debut album The Axeman's Jazz. Johnny Cash recorded a version of "Big Iron" as part of his American Recordings series, which is included in the Cash Unearthed box set. Both Frankie Laine and Elvis Presley, among others, recorded versions of Robbins' song "You Gave Me a Mountain", with Laine's recording reaching the pop and adult contemporary charts in 1969.

Smoked salt is an aromatic salt smoked with any number of select bark free woods for up to 14 days. Depending on which kind of wood is used for smoking impacts the flavor, whether it be subtle, bold or even sweet. The most common choices are alder wood, apple wood, hickory, mesquite, and oak. Infused smoked salts like smoked bacon chipotle sea salt are very popular because of the dynamic flavor profiles.

Smoked salt is used to enhance the inherent flavors of a dish while also imparting a smoky taste. It is suitable for vegetarians, often acting as a replacement for bacon crumble. Smoked salt differs from smoke-flavored salt as the latter contains a smoke flavored additive and is not classified as a natural salt product.

All you rootin' tootin' gun shootin' cowboys out there give this little lady a spin!

Salud, ya'll!

Henry & Jehiah

Thank you very much to Elena Aleks for posing as Felina!!