Cinnamon Sage Tequila Sour

3 min readAug 16, 2022

When it comes to tequila cocktails, the margarita steals the stage. Honestly, the margarita hasn’t just stolen the stage, it’s torn down the curtains, drop-kicked the podium into the audience, and listed the whole theater as “free” on Craigslist. It’s hard to beat the margarita.

And it’s not hard to understand why. Pour some tequila, squeeze half a lime on top of it, add some simple syrup (okay, agave syrup, if you’re fancy), maybe a bit of Cointreau — it’s pretty great.

It’s also pretty overdone.

Meanwhile, the tequila sour is sitting right there, desperately lonely, waiting to be noticed.

Reader, meet Tequila Sour. Tequila Sour, meet Reader.

The sour genre of cocktails goes back a long time. The most famous type of sour is the whiskey sour, but you can make a sour with any kind of base spirit. Most sours look something like this:

2 oz base spirit (whiskey, rum, tequila — you name it)

3/4 oz lemon juice

3/4 oz simple syrup

Traditionally, you would add a bit of egg white and shake it with ice (to add foam and texture), then strain the finished cocktail into a glass. While ordinarily I would use the egg white as an emulsifier, I usually leave it out for tequila sours.

Tequila Sour (Basic)

Ingredients:

2 oz tequila

3/4 oz lemon juice

3/4 oz simple syrup

Directions:

Shake with ice, then pour into a prepared glass.

But we’re not here to make a basic tequila sour. We’re here to make a very good tequila sour. And that means breaking out the cinnamon.

Here’s the thing: simple syrup is really, really easy to make. Just put sugar and water in a pot, turn on the heat, and wait. You barely even need to stir. So while you’re waiting for the sugar and the water to mix, why not toss some flavoring into the pot?

It could be anything: lavender, rosemary, ginger, cardamom — the sky’s the limit. Let it steep for a few minutes, strain it into a jar, and keep it in the fridge. Bam: you have flavored simple syrup. You are now unimaginably fancy.

In this case, you’ll be making cinnamon sage syrup. The cinnamon will be the overriding flavor — the sage is just there to add a bit of complexity. You might not even notice it.

Cinnamon Sage Syrup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water

1 cup sugar (white sugar is fine, but if you prefer a richer, more caramel taste, then try brown sugar)

1 cinnamon stick

6 dried sage leaves (crumble or crush them for maximum flavor)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and place over low heat. Stir once every two minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved. Take the syrup off the heat and let it steep for another fifteen minutes. Then strain the mixture.

Got your cinnamon sage syrup ready? Good. Now you’re ready to make the perfect tequila sour.

For this, I recommend using tequila reposado, not tequila blanco. The difference: tequila reposado (lit. “rested”) is barrel-aged, allowing the liquor to accumulate rich woody flavors, plus a hint of vanilla. Tequila reposado’s flavor notes are at times reminiscent of scotch or bourbon, making it perfect to pair with cinnamon.