A 2021 re-discovery of the 1961 ‘Batanga’ cocktail.
A continuing journey through the cocktail’s of the past. This time, the ‘Batanga’.
BATANGA
Created by Don Javier in his bar ‘The Chapel’ in the town of Tequila, Mexico.
Let’s give the ‘Batanga’ an authentic post-lockdown, ‘Locktail’ re-discovery.
Make your own ‘mix-at-home’ cocktail, the ‘Batanga’.
INGREDIENTS
60ml Tequila (Blanco)
20ml Lime Juice (freshly squeeze half-a-lime)
60ml Mexican Cola (such as Jarittos)
Glassware – Highball (or large tumbler)
Preparation – Build (in the glass)
Ice – Large Cubes (fill glassware with ice)
Garnish – Salted Rim (and squeezed lime husk)
Cost – $$ (around AUD 6 ea.)
Rating – ⭐⭐⭐ 3-stars (very good)
Lyle’s Rating – ⭐⭐⭐ 3 (average)
Mixed – 25 October 2021
Difficulty to Make – 🍸🍸 (Easy)
LT Number – 070
Invented – before 1961
Home – Tequila, Mexico
METHOD – Run a slice of lime around the rim of a highball glass and dip the rim in salt. Fill the glass with large cubes of ice. Freshly squeeze half-a-lime (about 20ml) into the glass, the add about 60ml of Tequila Blanco (use El Tequileño to be truly authentic) up to about the half-way mark of the glass (adjust volume accordingly), then top with sugar-based Mexican Cola (not corn-syrup based) such as Jarittos. Stir with a big knife (that you used to cut the lime).
HISTORICAL NOTES – Created in 1961 by Don Javier Delgado Corona (1925–2020), known as ‘Don Javier’ who started bartending in 1945 and ran his restaurant and bar called La Capilla (‘The Chapel’) for over 70-years in Tequila, Mexico, until just before his death in 2020.
We spoke about the legendary ‘Don Javier’ when we looked at the ‘Paloma’ cocktail, which although others had credited it to him, he categorically denied inventing. The ‘Batanga’ on the other hand, is Don’s and Don’s alone.
Don Javier created his original Batanga recipe using El Tequileño Blanco Tequila (founded in 1959), which is distilled only a couple of hundred meters from the La Capilla bar. The word ‘Batanga’ itself translates to ‘outrigger’, as in a canoe, it is also a type of small trailer and a musical genre similar to the mambo, exactly how Don Javier came up with the name is unclear.
THE OFFICIAL MIX – There is no official ‘Batanga’ cocktail in any of the International Bartender Association (IBA) lists. The original Don Javier recipe (in the method above) is the official cocktail, direct from the creator himself.
TASTING NOTES – Tequila and lime are always a good combination, as we know from the Margarita, El Diablo, and Paloma. So once again this is a simple base pairing, finished off with Mexican Cola. If you like a Margarita, and you like Cola, then this is probably just up your alley.
LOCKTAIL CHANGES – No changes, making Don Javier’s original in homage to the generous, kind and much respected bartender and owner who passed away last year.
YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.
Let me know what you think.
Cocktails you’d like reinvented.
Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.
This is last cocktail from the 1951-1960 bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. Full list in the index.
Lockdown Cocktails 
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