The Finest New Bartender program seeks out the following technology of expertise who’re making their mark on each side of the bar by way of their creativity, participation in social initiatives and dedication to hospitality. The category of 2025 has particularly impressed us with its masterful strategy to taste, method and private storytelling by way of cocktails. 

This 12 months, Punch is partnering with Astral Tequila, which brings shared values of sustainability and social accountability to the forefront of the Finest New Bartenders initiative. Utilizing time-honored processes, Astral makes use of extra of the agave plant to craft a cocktail-worthy tequila. Six of our 2025 honorees had been charged with making a signature cocktail that includes Astral’s expressions for the launch occasion celebration at Tales of the Cocktail in late July. 

The cocktails celebrated their various and wide-ranging approaches to drink making, and featured genius hacks (like including gum arabic to forestall pineapple juice from separating), custom-blended tea sodas and even a clarified juice constituted of homegrown mangos freshly picked from one bartender’s yard. Past a masterclass in cocktails, they symbolize a snapshot of the trade’s subsequent wave of tastemakers. 

Right here, six tequila cocktails that reveal the ingenuity of 2025’s Finest New Bartenders.

INGREDIENTS
1 ounce raspberry-infused Astral Blanco Tequila (see Editor’s Word)
¾ ounce chile-spiced aperitif, equivalent to Xila
¼ ounce candy corn liqueur, equivalent to Nixta
¼ ounce raspberry wealthy syrup (see Editor’s Word)
⅓ ounce citrus (mix of 1:1 lemon and lime)
3 dashes orange bitters

Garnish: marigold flower

DIRECTIONS
Mix all elements in a mixing glass with ice and stir till chilled.
Pressure right into a coupe glass.
Garnish with a marigold flower.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Raspberry-Infused Astral Blanco Tequila
200 grams recent raspberries
750 milliliters Astral Blanco Tequila

Mix in a non-reactive container and infuse for twenty-four hours at room temperature. Pressure by way of a effective mesh strainer and bottle.

Raspberry Wealthy Syrup
525 grams recent raspberries
1.25 quarts wealthy syrup (1.5:1 sugar to water)

Place elements in a big saucepan, carry syrup and fruit to a boil. Then cut back to a low simmer and canopy for 20 minutes. Stir often. Pressure and hold refrigerated for as much as 1 week.

INGREDIENTS
¾ ounce Astral Blanco Tequila
¾ ounce clarified acid-adjusted pineapple juice (see Editor’s Word)
½ ounce bitter bianco, equivalent to Luxardo Bitter Bianco
½ ounce toasted rice syrup (see Editor’s Word)
¼ ounce aged Jamaican rum, equivalent to Planetary Xaymaca

Garnish: pineapple frond

DIRECTIONS
Mix elements in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake till chilled.
Pressure right into a rocks glass over ice.
Garnish with a pineapple frond.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Clarified Pineapple Juice
3 elements pineapple juice
1 half water
.02% agar agar
3% acid mix (60% citric: 40% malic)

Combine .02% agar agar into the water and produce to a full boil. Depart boiling for about two minutes, stirring with a whisk. Slowly incorporate the pineapple juice, whisking and never permitting the combination to drop beneath 35 levels Celsius. Instantly take away from the warmth. Place in an ice bathtub and refrigerate for an hour, till it has the consistency of cottage cheese. Use the whisk to softly break up the clumps (however don’t stir). Pressure by way of a moist cheesecloth in a spherical shallow strainer.

As soon as strained, acid modify to three% of juice quantity, 60% of that being citric acid and 40% malic (i.e. if in case you have 3 liters of clarified juice, add 54 grams citric acid and 36 grams malic acid).

Toasted Rice Syrup
1 half white rice
3 elements water
Sugar
1.5% salt

Calmly toast white rice in a dry pan on the stovetop. As soon as the rice turns into fragrant and calmly brown in colour, mix rice with 3 elements water by weight. Depart for two hours to in a single day, then pressure out the rice and add sugar to carry the combination as much as 30 brix. Add 1.5% salt to complete syrup quantity.

INGREDIENTS
1 ounce Astral Reposado Tequila
½ ounce gentian liqueur, equivalent to Suze
½ ounce lime juice
1 ½ ounces acidulated cantaloupe juice (see Editor’s Word)
½ ounce 2:1 mint syrup (see Editor’s Word)
6 drops saline answer (see Editor’s Word)
6 drops citric acid answer
1 ½ ounces Topo Chico  

Garnish: cantaloupe wedge, mint sprig.

DIRECTIONS
Mix the primary seven elements in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake till chilled.
Pressure right into a highball glass over ice.
High with Topo Chico.
Garnish with a cantaloupe wedge and mint sprig.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Acidulated Cantaloupe Juice
Juice cantaloupe utilizing a masticating juicer, add 1 gram lactic acid per 100 grams juice. Cowl and refrigerate till use; will hold for 3-5 days. 

Mint Syrup
Combine two elements sugar by weight to 1 half water in a saucepan over warmth, add mint (50 grams per 200 grams sugar) and stir till sugar melts and mint is wilted and syrup is aromatic. Pressure out mint and let cool. Cowl and refrigerate till use, will hold for as much as a month.

Saline Answer
Dissolve 20 grams of salt in 100 grams of water.

Citric Acid Answer
Dissolve 10 grams of citric acid in 100 grams of water.

INGREDIENTS
Leopold Bros. Bitter Lime Cordial, to rinse
1 ounce Astral Blanco Tequila
½ ounce Spanish blanc vermouth, equivalent to Lustau Vermut Blanco
1 ½ ounces clarified mango juice (see Editor’s Word)
1 barspoon saline answer (see Editor’s Word) 20% saline
3 drops of guajillo chile oil to garnish (see Editor’s Word)

Garnish: guajillo chile oil

DIRECTIONS
Pour the bitter lime cordial right into a coupe glass.
Swirl to coat the inside, then pour out the surplus liquid and put aside.
Mix all elements in a mixing glass with ice and stir till chilled.
Pressure right into a coupe glass.
Garnish with three drops of guajillo chile oil.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Clarified Mango Juice
1000 grams pureed entire mangoes
4 grams pectinase enzyme

Mix elements in a blender and mix on excessive for 30 seconds. Switch the combination right into a conical strainer lined with a superbag, espresso filter, or cheesecloth. The primary few drops of filtered liquid will probably be hazy, however because the pectinase continues to work, the filter will launch a transparent liquid. Reintroduce the hazy liquid to the unstrained combination and filter till solely solids stay within the strainer. Cowl and refrigerate till use, will hold for 3-5 days. 

Saline Answer
Dissolve 1 half salt to five elements water by weight.

Guajillo Chile Oil
20 grams guajillo chile
40 grams impartial cooking oil (canola, grapeseed, or avocado)

Toast chiles over medium warmth till very aromatic, stirring usually to maintain chiles from charring. Add oil and peppers to a blender and mix totally. Steep the combination till cool, and pressure by way of a effective strainer, espresso filter, or cheesecloth. Bottle and hold at room temperature till use.

INGREDIENTS
1 ½ ounces Astral Reposado Tequila
1 ounce inexperienced tomato combine (see Editor’s Word)
¾ ounce pineapple syrup (see Editor’s Word)
5 dashes of kümmel

Garnish: pineapple fronds

DIRECTIONS
Mix elements in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake till chilled.
Pressure right into a rocks glass over ice.
Garnish with two pineapple fronds.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Inexperienced Tomato Combine
Core and course of inexperienced tomatoes in a masticating juicer. Mix juice with equal elements sugar by weight and three% of malic acid stop browning. Cowl and refrigerate till use, will hold for 3-5 days.

Pineapple Syrup
Trim and course of pineapple in a masticating juicer. By weight, mix 3 elements juice with 1 half sugar, and add 2% of gum arabic to forestall separating. Use an immersion blender to mix nicely till sugar is dissolved. Cowl and refrigerate till use, will hold for 1 week.

INGREDIENTS
1 ½ ounces Astral Blanco Tequila
3 ounces passionfruit tea soda (see Editor’s Word)
4 dashes turmeric-lime leaf tincture (see Editor’s Word)

DIRECTIONS
Add elements to a highball glass with ice.
Stir gently to include.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Passionfruit Agave Syrup
Scoop out pulp from recent passionfruit, and mix with 2 elements agave syrup by weight. Simmer on low warmth till mixed, then pressure by way of effective mesh strainer.

Oolong and Black Tea Infusion
Steep 4 grams Ku Cha pineapple black tea and a pair of grams passionfruit oolong tea with 250 grams faucet water and 250 grams coconut water at room temperature for twenty-four hours, then pressure.

Citric Acid Answer
Mix 250 milliliters water, with 10 grams citric acid, 5 grams malic acid and .1 grams succinic acid. Whisk till integrated.

Passionfruit-Tea Soda
Mix 4 elements tea mix with 1 half passionfruit agave syrup, and add .25 ounces citric acid answer per each 4 ounces of the tea/syrup mix. Bottle and carbonate.

Turmeric-Lime Leaf Tincture
Mix 250 milliliters Agricole Rhum, 4 grams dried turmeric root, 4 grams lime peels, and 1.5 grams recent lime leaf in Cambro, submerge in circulator bathtub at 150 levels for one hour. Pressure by way of conical strainer and retailer at room temp.

For extra recipes, take a look at our movies from three extra Finest New Bartenders creating their signature Astral cocktails right here, right here and right here.