National Mango Day, Mango, Chile, Limón & Hermosa Organic Tequila
If you grew up in México, you probably don’t need anyone to explain how to eat a mango.
You smell it before you cut it.
You know when it’s ready by the slightest give beneath your thumb. And once it’s ripe, there’s no need to dress it up with anything fancy.
A knife. A squeeze of limón. Chile. Maybe chamoy. Maybe Tajín.
Today, July 22, is National Mango Day, but around México, mango doesn’t need a holiday.
It’s part of everyday life.
It’s the mango piled high at the mercado. The plastic cup of freshly cut fruit from the frutería. Mango with chile and limón eaten with a little fork. Mango blended with water and ice into an agua fresca. Mango paletas melting faster than you can eat them.
And then there’s one of the most beautiful ways to eat it:
Mango en palo.
A ripe mango is peeled, placed on a wooden stick and carefully sliced until it opens almost like a flower. Then comes limón, chile, chamoy and Tajín.
You eat it outside.
You get mango juice on your fingers.
The chile sticks to your lips.
And nobody cares.
That’s México.
Mango Didn’t Begin in México. But México Made It Its Own.
The mango’s story actually begins thousands of years ago in South Asia, where the fruit has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years.
From there, mango traveled across continents and oceans before eventually arriving in the Americas.
And somewhere along that journey, México fell in love with it.
Today, mango grows beautifully in warm regions of México, and varieties such as Ataulfo, Manila, Kent, Keitt and Tommy Atkins have become familiar sights during mango season.
But what makes mango particularly Mexican isn’t simply where it’s grown.
It’s what we do with it.
We add contrast.
Sweet mango wants acidity, so we give it limón.
It wants heat, so we give it chile.
It wants salt.
It wants chamoy.
And if you’re standing at a fruit cart deciding whether they should add a little more chile, the answer is probably sí.
Mango + Chile + Limón: A Very Mexican Love Story
Mexican food has always understood something wonderful about flavor:
Sweet doesn’t have to stay sweet.
That’s why ripe fruit and chile make so much sense together.
Mango with lime and chile isn’t trying to disguise the mango. Everything surrounding it makes the mango taste more like mango.
That’s also why Tajín and mango have become such an irresistible combination.
Fresh mango. Limón. Chile.
Simple ingredients with enormous personality.
And that philosophy is exactly how we like to make cocktails with Hermosa Organic Tequila.
From Amatitán, Jalisco, México to the Mango Cart
Hermosa Organic Tequila begins in Amatitán, Jalisco, México, surrounded by a completely different plant: agave Tequilana Weber.
That connection between agriculture and flavor is important to us.
A mango should taste like mango.
Agave should taste like agave.
A great cocktail shouldn’t need to hide either one.
So for National Mango Day, forget bottled mango-flavored syrups and neon mixers.
Find a ripe mango.
Cut it open.
And make something beautiful.
Hermosa Organic Mango Margarita
2 oz Hermosa Organic Tequila Blanco
1½ oz fresh organic mango purée
¾ oz freshly squeezed organic lime juice
½ oz organic agave nectar
Tajín for the rim
Run a lime wedge around half of a rocks glass and lightly coat it with Tajín.
Add Hermosa Organic Tequila Blanco, fresh mango, lime and agave nectar to a shaker with ice.
Shake hard and strain over fresh ice.
Garnish with a fresh slice of mango.
No artificial mango flavor. No complicated mixer. Just mango, lime, agave and tequila.
Hermosa Mango con Chile Margarita
For something that tastes even more like México, add a few thin slices of fresh jalapeño to the shaker.
Or take it another direction with a light drizzle of chamoy inside the glass before pouring the cocktail.
The combination is almost addictive:
sweet → tart → spicy → agave → repeat.
Hermosa Mango Ranch Water
On an especially hot afternoon, make it lighter.
2 oz Hermosa Organic Tequila Blanco
1 oz fresh organic mango purée
½ oz freshly squeezed lime juice
Chilled sparkling mineral water
Build everything over plenty of ice and finish generously with sparkling mineral water.
No heavy sweetness.
Just cold mango, lime, bubbles and tequila.
Or Skip the Cocktail and Make Mango en Palo
This might be our favorite National Mango Day pairing of all.
Take a ripe mango and peel it.
Push it carefully onto a wooden stick.
With a sharp knife, make thin cuts around the mango and gently open them outward until the fruit begins resembling a flower.
Then add:
Limón. Chamoy. Tajín.
That’s it.
Eat your mango with one hand and enjoy a chilled glass of Hermosa Organic Tequila Silver with the other.
Suddenly National Mango Day doesn’t feel like another invented food holiday.
It feels like an afternoon in México.
Why Mango and Hermosa Organic Tequila Work So Beautifully Together
Mango has a big personality.
That’s exactly why it works with tequila.
The clean agave character of Hermosa Organic Tequila Blanco gives fresh mango room to shine.
Hermosa Organic Tequila Reposado can take the same combination in a warmer, richer direction.
And Hermosa Organic Tequila Añejo with ripe mango, chile and a tiny pinch of salt?
Unexpected—and absolutely worth trying.
Three expressions.
One mango.
Completely different experiences.
National Mango Day Doesn’t Need to Be Complicated
Maybe that’s the most Mexican part of today’s celebration.
Don’t overthink it.
Buy the mango that’s so ripe you can smell it.
Cut it open.
Add limón.
Add chile.
Add a little more chile.
Pour Hermosa Organic Tequila.
Call your friends.
Put some music on.
Sit outside.
And don’t worry when mango juice starts running down your hand.
That’s how you know you’re doing it right.
From the mango trees and mercados of México to the agave fields of Amatitán, today we’re celebrating two beautiful gifts from the land.
Mango and agave.
¡Salud!
Hermosa Organic Tequila — The Elger Family Tequila, Inspired By Our Father, Hermann Elger