Aguardiente was the first drink I ever had. I must have been 7 or 8, and I was in Ibague, Colombia. On the weekends, family and friends would head to the river we would build an asada (grill), swim, play and have fun. It was an amazing summer day (it's pretty much always summer in Colombia. Winter does not equate with snow. Winter in Colombia equates with rain, a beautiful refreshing rain. You never need anything more than a sweater. But I got off track. Some adult had the smart idea to throw a bottle of Aguardiente Cristal into the river and said that whoever found it woud get the bottle...well, little me found it, since I could not keep the bottle my parents got it, but they did allow me to take a sip. It would be many years later that it would take me to appreciate the clear spirit that is synonymous with my home country.

Aguardiente literally means burning water (agua - water) (ardiente - burning) let me tell you this name is definitely the right name for the drink. A good aguardiente has a beautiful burn in the throat. It usually has between 40-45% alcohol and is made from sugar cane.It tastes like anise and is usually made from sugar cane derived from the Andes area.

Aguardiente has much deeper roots though. Arabic people were the first to distill wine to obtain alcochol. This practice quickly dispersed throughtout Persia, Syria and Italy due to the reign of Alexander the Great. It really took hold in the 13th Century in Europe. Scientists of the time were looking for an elixir of life and gave birth to Aquavit (Water of Life - and the name of my favorite restaurant in Manhattan). Distillation became more and more sophisticated and Aquavit became more and more popular in Medieval Europe. It metamorphosized into Eau de Vie in France and eventually gave birth to Whisky in the UK.

It finally arrived to Scandinavia who made it their own, and at the time it was still made only from wines, which was quite a problem since wine had to be imported (and as we all know, imported wine is pricy). Around the same time, people figured out that Aquavit was really not the elixir of life, but they did feel that it had medicinal benefits (like curing a cough). It was givne to children, horses, anyone who was not feeling 100%. People started adding ingredients such as flowers and Anise to improve the flavor of the spirit.

It is said (but not proven) that when Europeans (specifically Columbus) stumbled upon the Americas and Sugar cane the perfect match was found. The recipe has not changed much since. Soon after, the natives who loved their Chicha (another drink) became fans of the new Aguardiente.

If you are curious, here are some nice cocktails, although I recomend that you try Aguardiente by itself in a snifter as an after dinner drink, or if you just want to get crunked, take shots, it will do the trick easily (just kidding - I only encourage drinking in moderation).

Aguasour

2 oz aguardiente
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 tsp powdered sugar

Shake pour into upglass enjoy

Golden Parrot

1 part aguardiente
mandarin slices
3 parts mandarin juice (get some mandarins & put them in juicer)
sugar

Throw ingredients into blender with ice, pour into highball, enjoy