Welcome to Day 8 of the Advent of Cocktails 2025! Today's cocktail is...

Matador

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There is a relatively known cocktail called Matador, even a Wikipedia page about it, featuring pineapple juice. However, there's a Matador cocktail that predates it which is the one we'll focus on today (I will, however, include recipes for both).

History

The recipe in question was first published in The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, which is a collection of cocktail recipes compiled by William J. Tarling. It was originally a equal parts shaken drink, but has been adapted by some bartenders to be a stirred cocktail while also bumping the base spirit a bit. In 1937 the drink would have been one of the earliest printed tequila cocktails, and in 1930s London tequila was still unusual on cocktail lists — so Tarling’s Matador reads more like a tequila-based martini-style cocktail (spirit-forward and dry) rather than the fruit-forward drinks people often expect today.

The recipe containing pineapple juice was first printed in 1972 in Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide.

Modern cocktail sources frequently note both lineages: when you see a Matador called “Café Royal” or “Tarling” it will usually be the dry, equal-parts Curaçao/vermouth/tequila version; when you see “Tequila Matador” or just “Matador” in tiki contexts it’s often the pineapple-and-lime version. Many contemporary writeups reproduce Tarling’s equal-parts recipe as the historic original.

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Matador (Lui Fernandes video)

• 1 1/2 oz (45 ml) Tequila Blanco
• 1 oz (30 ml) Dry Vermouth
• 1 oz (30 ml) Orange Curaçao

Stirr with ice, pour into chilled cocktail coupe (Lui also expresses a lemon peel on top and discards)

Matador (1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book)

• 1/3 Orange Curacao
• 1/3 French Vermouth
• 1/3 Tequila

Shake

The version with pineapple juice:

Similar to the Café Royal Matador, Trader Vic’s Tequila Matador appears in the 1972 edition of Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide as a combination of tequila, pineapple juice and lime shaken with shaved ice and served up. While the two versions could not be more different, both have been embraced by bartenders in equal measure. (from punchdrink.com)

Matador (1972 Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide)

• 1 oz Tequila
• 2 oz Pineapple juice
• juice of 1/2 lime (.75 oz lime juice)

Shake well with shaved ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass

Note! I've seen some recipes including simple syrup, I'd say taste it while preparing and if the pineapple juice isn't sweet enough to balance the cocktail, add a bit of simple.

Matador (Anders Erickson version)

• 3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) Reposado Tequila
• 3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) Blanc Vermouth
• 3/4 oz. (22.5 ml) Orange Curaçao
• 1 oz. (30 ml) fresh pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. (15 ml) fresh lime juice
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters

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Previous December 6 cocktails

• AoC 2020: Daisy
• AoC 2021: Vieux Carré
• AoC 2022: Siesta
• AoC 2023: Golden Wave
• AoC 2024: Coffe and Cigarettes

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Ingredient heads-up: Tomorrow Rye whiskey will be called for

NB! Variations and your own riffs are encouraged, please share the result and recipe!

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