Drink This: Sotol So Good

Mexican spirits, most notably mezcal, have surged in popularity in recent years, but sotol – distilled from an evergreen desert shrub related to the asparagus, not the agave plant from which tequila and mezcal are derived – is still relatively unknown, a starlet whose earthy appeal is just beginning to make ripples. At Sotol, a fun rooftop bar in downtown Gilbert, sotol is the bright, grassy foundation for its signature cocktail called Sotol So Good. It’s a magical elixir made with an infusion of butterfly pea flower, a purplish-blue Southeast Asian plant that lends the drink its gorgeous color and delicately floral flavor. Both coconut rum and pineapple add tropical notes, but it’s the vegetal sotol that keeps this drink balanced and eminently quaffable. 

Drink the original cocktail at Sotol, or make this slightly tweaked version at home, substituting butterfly pea concentrated powder for the labor-intensive butterfly pea infusion created at the bar.

• Place ¼ tsp. butterfly pea flower concentrated powder, 1 ½ oz. sotol, ½ oz. coconut rum and ½ oz. orgeat into a cocktail shaker and muddle lightly until the powder is dissolved.
• Rim a rocks glass with coconut cream, dip the glass in salt, fill it with ice and set it aside.
• Now add ¾ oz. lime juice and 1 oz. pineapple juice to the shaker, fill with ice and shake vigorously.
• Strain into a glass and garnish with a lime wheel for total sotol satisfaction.

$14 at Sotol Modern Cocktail Kitchen

313 N. Gilbert Rd., Gilbert

480-550-6300, sotolmck.com