Cinco de Mayo or Whiskey Wednesday

I wish I could tell you that I had done a bunch of research and todays post was going to be on Cinco de Mayo and the winners and losers of  The Battle of Puebla.  Since we in America celebrate Cinco de Mayo and the perfect margarita  instead of  Le cinquième de mai and the perfect Champagne I am going to surmise you know that Mexico beat the French in the battle. The dilemma for me now is to cover Cinco de Mayo or Whiskey Wednesday?

Lets Celebrate Both

Since I have not done anything more than remember a bit about some history classes I took over the years my knowledge on the battle is not enough to make it a topic of conversation. One day maybe I will look at both sides and their rich culinary history. The Mexicans and the influence they have had on their neighbor to the north as it is way more than just taco trucks.  The French and their world-wide influence on the culinary arts and the way they look at food not to mention how thru modern-day chefs like Julia Child they have changed the American culinary landscape. Yes those two topics alone could fill a years worth of Tripping Vittles post.

Today though I am going to use my knowledge of how I have celebrated Cinco de Mayo in the past.  I will combine it with my recent trip to Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail and bring them together.  No major choice as I can celebrate Cinco de Mayo or Whiskey Wednesday with the same drink..

Lets not kid Ourselves

Yes there is a part of our population that the 5th of May means something more too than cocktails.  Many Mexicans celebrate the underdog win of their forces beating the French at The Battle of Puebla on May 5th 1862.   Many Americans mistakenly call this a celebration that commemorates Mexico Independence Day that is simply not the case as that takes place in September.

Lets not kid ourselves in America we have taken this holiday and made it a reason to consume vast amounts of tequila in the human battle of drinks called a Margarita. It would be better called Cinco De Drinko for many of us.  We eat chips and salsa, consume many tacos and if we survive the barrage of  the forces of tequila we too will  have won the battle of May 5th.

Cinco de Mayo or Whiskey Wednesday

Here at Tripping Vittles I am trying to get out ahead of the curve.  I want to publish posts before an event so you have time to shop and prepare.  I also have a feature called Whiskey Wednesday where I share something about whiskey and a recipe. My most recent posts have been about my trips to the Bourbon Trail, today I faced a dilemma do I ignore Whiskey Wednesday for Cinco de Mayo or do I wait and post Cinco de Mayo on the May 5th  and not give you time to prepare.  I have already done a post about just a Simple Margarita Recipe a few Cinco de Mayo’s ago.  How about I combine them? Make a tasty Margarita out of one of the Bourbons I brought back with me.  Kaboom!!

White Lightning Strawberry Margarita

There are many fun things about going on the Bourbon Trail one of them is the surprises you get at the different distilleries. Special made chocolates to the limited run specialty spirits.

I have made no secret how much I love Makers Mark how it was the first Bourbon I drank and How it may even after everything I have tasted still be a my personal favorite. Imagine my surprise when I was at the distillery to find a Makers Mark White.  It is the purest of Makers Mark a raw alcohol before it is added to oak casks to age. You can only get it at the distillery and it is one fun drinkable delight. Distilled from corn, barley and red winter wheat it is smooth with a subtle sweetness. Perfect for mixing with fruit. Which leads us to the Recipe White Lightning Strawberry Margarita.

[tasty-recipe id=”1703″]