Houstonist Bartender: Cactus Cocktail

Houstonist is heading to Big Bend National Park this weekend to participate in our annual camping extravaganza called HookerFest (not those kinda hookers) by the participants and "the annual freeze your ass off trip" by non-believers. Never one to show up to a party without a contribution, we have been putting on our creativity caps for new and exciting libations each year.

This year, we decided that it was time to "live off of the land" and "leverage" available natural resources. What's plentiful in West Texas besides sand and sun? That's right - cactususes. [We know cacti is correct, but cactususes is more betterer. So, deal.]

We scoured the InterWeb for at least ten minutes and discovered recipes for the type of crappy drinks you'd get served at Padre or the French Quarter - sweet drinks sans real cactus ingredients. Fortunately more digging led us to a couple of real, bonafide cactus cocktail recipes of which you should be proud.

We opted for the simplest of the two since we have to pack-in all non-cactus ingredients.

Cactus Juice Cocktail

+ 1 pint chilled prickly pear juice (fresh or store-bought)
+ 1 pint chilled cranberry juice
+ 1 quart chilled ginger ale
+ 1 quart tequila OR vodka

Collect ripe fruits from the cacti in the area. You'll need a pot full to garner enough juice for a batch of the cocktails. Wash the fruit and place it in a stock pot/dutch oven with a small amount of water in the bottom. Simmer until the fruit is soft. Press out the juicy with a potato masher or bottom of your titanium camping coffee cup. Strain the juice through a coffee filter or fine mesh to remove all the spines. Houstonist recommends repeating this step just to be safe.

Mix everything but the booze in a bucket. Now, add the booze tequila OR vodka, but not both or you'll be lost on the Lost Mine Trail in a flash. For added flair, dip rim of glasses in mixture of lemon juice and water and then in sifted powdered sugar.

Serve in your camping coffee cup over ice, if you have any, or dig a hole in the sand and drop in the bucket to chill it.

Have a drink we should spread to the masses? Send it along [jason at houstonist dot com], and we just may post it after some extensive testing.

Don't be a dumbass. Drink responsibly or take a cab.

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Photo: flickr user Woplu (away).