Feeling No Dolor at Dolores: This Oaxacan restaurant offers up straight-forward and rarely seen cocktails

For my final patio of my summertime excursion (read the other articles in the series, too — Tiny Bar and Little Bitte), I chose Dolores. Dolores is a Oaxacan restaurant, and I’m a big fan of agave product; the choice was easy!

I started with a drink I’d never had before: an alcoholic tepache. Tepache is a traditional Mexican drink made with partially fermented fruit, often pineapple. This was a Tepache Collins with tequila, fermented pineapple, spices and mineral water. Wow! I can’t believe it took me so long to fall in love with tepache. This drink has all the barnyard funk of a fermented fruit with the brightness of the lemon. It’s reminiscent of Riestra and French ciders, which I love because of the fermented funky notes. I could drink this all day, every day! 

Next, I couldn’t resist a rarely seen Sotol based cocktail. Sotol is of the dasylirion genus, the name of the plant and the spirit are the same and translate to desert spoon. Sotol is a traditional spirit in Northern Mexico, but is a rare find in both liquor stores and bars, so I was really excited to see yet another gem in this authentic Oaxacan restaurant! The Sotol Sour is made with two different sotols, passionfruit, lime, panela (unrefined cane sugar), bitters and a red wine float. Oh my goodness! How could I have been even more pleasantly surprised by the Sotol Sour than I was the Tepache Collins? This cocktail was earthy and woody, with a hint of smoke and a mellow passionfruit finish. It was reminiscent of a New York Sour, a whiskey-based drink that I have always loved. Garnished with a dehydrated lime wheel and layered with the red wine float, this drink was as beautiful to taste as it was to look at it. I hope that this never comes off their menu and I can’t wait to make it back and have more! 

So in conclusion: Dolores, let me count the ways I love you!