Ilegal Negroni

When you work in the food and beverage industry, sometimes you celebrate holidays not on the actual day. My family usually went out for holidays but because my dad was in the restaurant industry, we always went a week before or after the event. I don’t think I actually ever knew when Mother’s day really was. I was pretty excited when Bartenders’ Thanksgiving came around and it was the day before Thanksgiving.

Fortaleza Tequila and Ilegal Mezcal hosted Thanksgiving at Las Perlas. The $20 door fee paid for drinks, tacos, turkey and also got you a raffle ticket. There were about a dozen bottles of rare agave spirits auctioned off. I was slightly bummed I didn’t win anything but I was happy that proceeds went towards TIP, the Tequila Interchange Project.

Guillermo Suaza from Fortaleza and John Rexer from Ilegal gave us some history and insight on their spirits. Ilegal especially had a fantastic back story of how one man really wanted to bring mezcal out of Oaxaca for his bar in Guatemala. Perhaps their cross logo is a nod to the unintentional priest impersonation operation.

Thanksgiving dinner at Las Perlas

Tacos as appetizers and turkey for the main course! It was a fun Thanksgiving at Las Perlas.

Fortaleza Ginger Margarita

I always appreciate a good margarita. We had Fortaleza ginger margaritas as well as Ilegal Negronis, a favorite of Ilegal brand ambassador Gilbert Marquez. He loves mezcal negronis so much, he has a tattoo depicting his love.

I wonder when the next “holiday” is— perhaps bartenders’ New Year’s eve?

Fortaleza Tequila

Ilegal Mezcal

Las Perlas

© LA Cocktails // The Minty 2013