Pokemon Go team cocktails: Team Valor

Fire, smoke, sass and salt make Team Valor's cocktail a perfect sip

In the Pokemon Go playing universe Team Mystic and Team Valor are rivals of the first order.  They have competing ideas about what Pokemon are and how to best make use of them.  And it's really fun to have someone to lightly banter with.

Cute and plentiful...

​Despite the fact that Team Valor is awful (jk... but seriously Mystic 4ever) I think they deserve a delicious cocktail to sip while they battle for gyms and catch all the Pidgeys.  And of course it has to be red, like the blood of their enemies!  Or like their red shirts, which would be a terrible thing to wear if there was ever any Star Trek/Pokemon crossover.  Which there isn't to my knowledge but now that I've said something there probably is.

I also wanted to capture the fiery spirit of the Valor folks I know,  as well as their team mascot.  Which gave me the perfect excuse to pick up a bottle of Ancho Reyes liqueur, which is a smokey/spicy blend of ancho chilis and cane spirits.  A little of this goes a long way if you're sensitive to spicy things, so use sparingly (or throw caution to the wind and drink it straight because it's delicious but has some heat).  It's a natural pairing with tequila and that seemed to keep with the fiery theme of this cocktail, but I didn't want to add anymore smoke, so a tasty agave forward blanco seemed like a perfect choice.  But Team Valor was not to be denied their smokey deliciousness, and the reposado was a better match.  Cocktail evolution, like Pokemon evolution, can sometimes be wild and fun!

Now for the red part... Our Raspberry Lime shrub is super red and super delicious with tequila.  Plus it has all this sassy snap from the limes we use in it.  So we have smokey, spicy, lime and tequila which was already most of the way to a margarita variation.  It was just missing a touch of orange, which we added via bitters to keep the cocktail from getting too sweet.  This is the perfect thing to drink while mourning all your gyms turning blue... I mean to celebrate all the gyms being red.  Good job Team Valor!

Team Valor

.75 oz Raspberry Lime shrub
1.5 oz Reposado tequila
.5 oz Ancho Reyes liqueur
.5 oz fresh lime juice
2 dashes Orange Bitters

Put a bit of tequila on your finger and run it around half the lip of your glass.  Dip the moistened end into flakey sea salt.  Skip if you don't care for a salted rim on your margarita.  Put everything in a shaker with ice.  Shake well, 15-20 seconds, and pour into prepared glass.  Add more ice if needed and toast your fellow Pokemon trainers!

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