El Diablo

Beer, and the spicier the better. Ginger ale is sugar water with flavoring and will leave the drink flabby. Look for a bottle that lists ginger early in the ingredients and actually burns a little. Fever-Tree and Bundaberg are easy to find, and the fiery Jamaican styles are better still.

Chambord gets you closest, though it's raspberry rather than blackcurrant and noticeably sweeter, so pull it to ten milliliters. Blackberry liqueur works too. Non-alcoholic blackcurrant cordial gives you the color and the fruit but leaves the drink thin, so add a splash more tequila if you go that way.

It will if you pour it first, because cassis is dense with sugar and settles. Build tequila, lime and ginger beer over ice, then pour the cassis down the side last and leave it alone. You get a dark stripe at the bottom that fades upward as it's drunk, which is half the appeal.

Cassis fades faster than most liqueurs because it's fruit-based and only around 15 to 20 percent alcohol. Keep it in the fridge once opened and expect the bright berry note to dull after six months or so. If yours smells like cough syrup, it's past it.

A classic El Diablo calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Tequila, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Crème de cassis, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Fresh lime juice, 90 ml (3 oz) Ginger beer. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard El Diablo is roughly 13% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it about as strong as a glass of wine.

An El Diablo is built directly in the glass over ice — no shaker required. Add the ingredients in order and give it a brief, gentle stir.