Mistela de Canela Conventual

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1.5-liter glass jar with tight lid
• •Small stainless steel saucepan
• •Fine-mesh strainer with coffee filter or clean cotton cloth
• •Clean glass bottle with cork or swing top
• •Talavera poblana cups or small hand-blown glasses for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the glass

   Wash a 1.5-liter glass jar and its lid with hot soapy water, rinse well, and let them dry completely. Do the same with the bottle you will use later. Any soap smell or dampness will follow the cordial into the glass. The convent pantry was disciplined because spoiled ingredients cost money.

2. 2

   Make the syrup

   Combine the water and white cane sugar in a small saucepan. Set over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Let it simmer gently for 3 minutes, just until clear. Do not caramelize it. This mistela should taste of canela and cane spirit, not burned sugar. Remove from the heat and cool completely to room temperature.

   The syrup must be cool before it touches the aguardiente. Hot syrup roughens the alcohol and throws off the clean perfume of the canela.
3. 3

   Ready the canela

   Break the Ceylon canela into large pieces with your hands. It should splinter into thin curls and smell sweet, warm, and woody. If it is thick, hard, and sharp like a stick from a pencil box, that is cassia. Use it only if you accept the compromise. It will make a harsher mistela.

   Do not grind the canela. Powder clouds the cordial and turns the texture dusty. Large pieces give their flavor slowly and strain cleanly.
4. 4

   Fill the jar

   Place the broken canela in the clean jar. Pour in the cooled syrup, then the aguardiente de caña. Stir with a clean spoon, seal the jar, and turn it gently two or three times. It will smell sharp at first. That is correct. The alcohol has not learned its manners yet.

5. 5

   Macerate in darkness

   Set the jar in a cool, dark cabinet for 14 days. Turn it gently every other day. The liquid will shift from clear to pale amber, and the raw bite of the aguardiente will soften as the canela takes over. No me vengas con atajos. This is not a drink you shake in a bar and call finished.

   Taste on day 14. If the cinnamon is clean and rounded, strain it. If it still tastes thin, give it 3 more days. Do not leave the canela for months or the cordial turns woody.
6. 6

   Strain the cordial

   Line a fine-mesh strainer with a coffee filter or a clean cotton cloth. Strain the mistela into a clean bowl or pitcher without pressing hard on the canela. Pressing brings fine sediment with it. Transfer to the clean bottle, seal, and let it settle overnight if the calendar allows.

7. 7

   Serve with restraint

   Serve in two-ounce pours, lightly chilled or at room temperature, in small hand-blown glasses, pewter goblets, or Talavera poblana cups. No giant glass of ice. No fruit garnish. This is Puebla's convent table: sugar, canela, aguardiente, and patience. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Aguardiente de caña is the base. Do not use vodka, molasses rum, or añejo tequila. If you truly cannot find it, use an unaged cane spirit such as charanda blanca or cachaça prata. You will lose the sharper raw-cane bite of the colonial bottle. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Use Ceylon canela, the thin rolled cinnamon sold in Mexican markets. Cassia tastes hotter and rougher, and it can bully the syrup. If your spice vendor cannot tell you the difference, find another vendor.
• •White cane sugar keeps the cordial clear and lets the canela lead. Piloncillo is beautiful, but here it changes the drink into something darker and heavier. Save it for atole or cafe de olla.
• •There are no chiles in this recipe, and that is not a mistake. Mexican cooking is not one flavor shouted at the table. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Advance Preparation

• •Mistela must be started at least 14 days before serving. Three weeks gives a rounder bottle, but strain the canela once the flavor is full so it does not turn woody.
• •After straining, the cordial keeps for 6 months in a cool, dark cabinet if the bottle is clean and tightly sealed.
• •For a holiday table, strain it two or three days before serving so the sediment settles and the flavor smooths out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 63g)