Mexican Firing Squad Cocktail

Mexican Firing Squad Cocktail Story

First appearing in Charles H. Baker’s 1946 publication of the Gentleman’s Companion, Vol. II, the Mexican Firing Squad was a favorite at Mexico City’s La Cucaracha Club, one of the most esteemed cocktail bars in Central America during the 1930s. A favorite pit stop for expats and recently unemployed bartenders following Prohibition, La Cucaracha Club appealed to American tastes by featuring more than 40 contemporary cocktails, some of which resembled existing cocktails in name only. The establishment also harbored an irreverent sense of self-aware humor: its menu featured a smoking, humanoid cockroach wearing a tuxedo and brandishing a cane. Underneath the mascot read: “English Speaking Personnel.” The Mexican Firing Squad appears to be an original house creation, a balanced sour that was unique in calling for a large dose of Angostura bitters. Some modern interpretations of the cocktail envision it served as a highball topped with soda, which certainly helps to open up the cocktail’s bold, bitter fruitiness.