The Luchador

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                            T  H  E    L  U  C  H  A  D  O  R

                                          INTRODUCTION

The Luchador is a savory rum cocktail with vibrant color and personality much like the masked wrestlers it pays homage to. The brainchild of the Argus Bar, the first craft cocktail bar in Chico, California, the drink is part of a fun throwback menu dedicated to the world-wide wrestling scene. Although seemingly a tropical cocktail, the Luchador’s flavor profile is complex and bordering on Tiki. This complexity is truly the sum of its parts, for the ingredients work so well together, after one sip you already know you are going to have another.

                            MATERIALS & METHODS

                                                Luchador recipe (1)

Ingredients:

  • Pineapple Rum (35% ABV, 70-Proof) – 1.5 oz (45 mL)
  • Juice from one Fresh Lime (30 mL)
  • Habanero Simple Syrup – 0.5 oz (15 mL)
  • Aperol – 0.5 0z (15 mL)
  • Garnish: Pineapple Leaf
  • Garnish: Lime wedge

Directions:

  1. Prep a Collins glass for the cocktail mixture by filling it with crushed ice.Add crushed ice to a cocktail shaker.
  2. Add juice from one fresh lime, habanero simple syrup, and pineapple rum to the cocktail shaker.
  3. Vigorously shake all the ingredients in the cocktail shaker over the crushed ice for 10 seconds.
  4. Double strain into the ice filled Collins glass to remove any presence of lime pith or shards of ice.
  5. Top off cocktail with additional crushed ice.
  6. Float Aperol on top of the cocktail.
  7. Garnish with pineapple leaf and a lime wedge (or your choice of citrus).

                                   DISCUSSION

Origin

When the Argus Bar crafted the fun throw-back menu dedicated to iconic wrestlers from the 80’s wrestling scene, the Luchador was intentionally added to the cocktail menu to showcase diversity. A Luchador, which means “wrestler” or “fighter” in Spanish, participates in the Lucha Libre freestyle form of wrestling. Introduced in the early 20th century in Mexico, Lucha Libre has evolved, and today is characterized by flamboyancy, colorful masks, rapid sequences of holds, as well as “high flying” aerobatic maneuvers in the ring.

Much like the masked fighter, one glimpse of the Luchador cocktail and you visibly see mystique and sense there is something more to the cocktail. In fact, there is a key element to the Luchador cocktail which pays further tribute to its roots, and it is only observed during the build of the cocktail. The architecture of the cocktail construction relies on 6 components: pineapple rum, lime juice, habanero simple syrup, Aperol, pineapple leaf garnish, and a lime wedge garnish. The number “6” is notable in Lucha Libre as tag-team matches in this genre of wrestling are 6-man (2). 

Flavor Profile

Pineapples and rum were destined to meet, and so they did during the colonial era. The pineapple (Ananas comosus) came from South America, and traveled through Central America and Mexico, eventually reaching the West Indies and the Caribbean. 

Flavoring rum with pineapples dates to the 1700’s when colonial age distillers would soak pineapples in barrels of rum to give the spirit sweetness and unique flavor. From a practical perspective, the addition of pineapple to rum was likely for two reasons: (1) a potential alternative to using limes and lemons, which were known to help prevent scurvy among sailors on long voyages and (2) help make colonial rum more tolerable to the taste.  

Modern approaches to flavoring rum with pineapple range from infusing rum with the fruit, leveraging alcohol essences, and enhanced flavor chemistry. With the rise of pineapple rum and pineapple flavored rum other popular flavors sought today now include mango, lime, passion fruit, banana, and coconut.

Rum 

Distilled rum originates from the distillation of sugarcane molasses after fermentation with yeast.  Rum traditionally used in the production of pineapple rum has been a light rum (a low congener rum). The light rum is commonly filtered through charcoal which not only removes color, but also removes the aromatic properties of the rum, thus removing a fair number of esters from the spirit.

Color is normally added back in through the infusion process with pineapple or with color chemistry. It is important to note there are pineapple rums that use both light and heavy rums during the infusing process. Using heavy rums adds a significant number of ester compounds back to the rum. In sum, the infusion of rum with pineapple, or various flavor compounds that are added to the alcohol to simulate the taste of pineapple, always occurs after fermentation and distillation. 

Additional Ingredients

Lime Juice

The addition of Lime Juice to the Luchador was well planned out as it provides balance to the cocktail. Lime Juice has a pH of 2, and thanks to the presence of citric acid, it is a strong acid. The acidic properties of lime juice allow for sourness to be expressed which offsets the sweetening properties of the habanero simple syrup and Aperol.

Habanero Simple Syrup

The Habanero  pepper (Capsicum chinense) is a species of chili pepper that originated in the Amazon, was later popularized in Mexico, but is named after the Cuban city of La Habana, known in the United States as Havana, because it used to feature in heavy trading there (3). The addition of habanero simple syrup accomplishes two feats: 

  1. The heat from the addition of the habanero pepper is flavorful and intense and can range from 100,000 – 350,000 SHU (Scoville Heat Units). Compared to the Jalapeno pepper, the Habanero pepper is 100-fold hotter and spicier on the Scoville scale. 
  2. The sweetness from the addition of the simple syrup is due to the presence of sugar, also known as sucrose. The sucrose in simple syrup is distinctively sweet and stabilizes the flavor profile against intense ingredients like habanero peppers and lime juice.

Aperol

Aperol was originally developed in 1919, by Luigi and Silvio Barbieri, but is now produced by the Campari Group. A classic Italian bitter apéritif made of gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona, among other ingredients the Aperol is traditionally made at 11% ABV (22-Proof) has a vibrant red/orange hue (4). The aromatic properties are citrusy with a strawberry undertone and the taste profile is complex and that of citrus, very similar to grapefruit and orange.

                                   NUTRITION

The Luchador cocktail is very similar in caloric value to the iconic Navy Grog cocktail. Both are low calorie cocktails, with the Luchador containing a very reasonable calorie count of only 136 calories per 3.5 oz iced cocktail. And while the cocktail is enhanced with sugars from the habanero simple syrup and Aperol, it possesses zero fats, cholesterol, and minimal levels of sodium. One important note to mention is the effect of alcohol and sugar on calories.  In the construction of a cocktail, sugar is 4 calories per gram and alcohol is 7 calories per gram. If for any reason the construction of the Luchador had called for an increase in habanero simple syrup or Aperol, we would expect the calorie count to go up. The same can be said for using a higher proof rum in the construction of the cocktail. If an 80-Proof pineapple rum were used, we would expect the calorie count to grow, in this case by 8 calories per oz. 

                              NUTRITION FACTS

                               (Amount Per 1 Fl oz in a 3.5 Fl oz Cocktail)

Calories:                        38.74    

Total Fat:                        0 g    

Cholesterol:                   0 mg    

Sodium:                         0.35 mg    

Total Carbohydrates:     5.15 g

Dietary Fiber:                 0.02 g

Sugar:                            4.61 g

                                 CONCLUSION

If craft cocktail bars did not exist, the Luchador, a rum cocktail with a rich and complex profile, would never have been created. The Luchador on the surface pays tribute to the culture of Lucha Libre wrestling. However, the development that went into the drink’s architecture should also be recognized and applauded as well. 

                                 REFERENCES

  1. The Argus Bar. (2020). The Luchador. Retrieved from: https://argusbar.com/ 
  2. Fleishman, J. (2016). ‘Lucha Underground’ captures diverse L.A. in a wrestling ring, with tights and melodrama. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-ca-st-lucha-wrestling-20160207-story.html 
  3. Wikipedia. (2020). Habanero. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habanero 
  4. Diffords Guide. (2020). Aperol Aperitivo. Retrieved from: https://www.diffordsguide.com/beer-wine-spirits/70/aperol-aperitivo