¡A Huevo!

Sometimes, a cocktail is a high brow affair, a concoction made with a variety of high end ingredients with difficult to pronounce names, homemade syrups or bitters and top shelf liquors. These cocktails ooze class, served in stylish coupes or Nick & Nora glasses, garnished thoughtfully with fresh herbs or a simple yet elegant peel from a citrus fruit. The ¡A Huevo! is not one of those drinks. Something between a Michelada and Margarita, it comes from Casey Elsass—bartender and founder of Bushwick Kitchen, a company that makes hot sauces, maple syrup and honey. Its name, which roughly translates to “Hell yeah!’’, speaks for the drink—the ¡A Huevo! is silly, fun and the sort of thing to serve at your next game day gathering without getting too fancy about it. And despite its humble ingredients, or because of them, it still tastes great.

According to Elsass, the tequila gets a sweetening assist from Bud Light Lime-A-Rita. This cheap malt beverage is essentially a canned and flavored beer masquerading as a margarita. The act is enhanced in the ¡A Huevo! with a bit of additional lime. “Fresh lime juice pushes the acid forward,” says Elsass.

The choice of tequila is really up to the drink’s maker. Despite the temptation to use something really cheap, however, it’s still best to go with something you’d want to drink in a Margarita; this is especially true if you plan on making other drinks with the tequila (say, for instance, a Margarita). For hot sauce, Elsass says he’s a “Valentina guy,” referencing the brand of pourable hot sauce from Guadalajara, and that it “leaves a gentle burn on the end.” As that sauce isn’t readily available in all markets, feel free to add whatever sauce you like best and with whatever level of heat you enjoy most. “Follow your heart,” Elsass says.