Bats! Pollinators Do Their Part to Birth Tequila.

Dulce Vida Organic Tequila makes a bold claim about its product. Image courtesy of Dulce Vida Web site.

AGAVE plants allow bats to take of their nectar in exchange for some pollination – essentially, the act of having sex in the plant world – so they (plants) can produce (give birth to) flowers.

What of it? What of it is that this sex act births tequila. A little something, something to remember on National Tequila Day, which is tomorrow (24 July).

What better time to consider this centuries-old Mexican spirit? What better time to learn a little something, something about its bat relations? Yes, bat.

No one had to twist the arm of Don Wilson, Mammals Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, to get him to spill on bats (See video below).

From the video: 50 million liters of tequila is consumed in the United States alone.
No doubt, every liter is drunk responsibly.

From the video: The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has the largest bat collection in the world.
Wonder what is the state of the Smithy's tequila collection?

A little something, something (Ginger Sunrise) to whet the whistle from the good folks at Dulce Vida Organic Tequila. They say they make the world's only 100 percent organic, 100 proof handcrafted tequila. Anyone (with proof, to use a word) want to refute this claim? http://www.dulcevidaspirits.com/

GINGER SUNRISE
Ingredients
1 ½ oz Dulce Vida Reposado
1 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
2 oz Grapefruit Juice
¼ oz Fresh Lime Juice
¼ oz Agave Grenadine
Ginger Ale

Mixology
Combine all ingredients except ginger ale and grenadine over ice in tall glass. Top with a splash of ginger ale and sink grenadine to the bottom of the drink. Garnish with a long, curled grapefruit zest and a lime wheel. Drink.

From the video: Bats are indiscriminate, pollinating thousands of species of flowers.
Does that make them (bats, not flowers) rolling stones, as in “Papa was?”

From the video: Bats pollinate on flowers that open at night – they (the flowers, not the bats) are whitish and greenish in color.
So bats really are vampires of sorts, right? Night owls? Bar flies?

Watermelon Tequila Shots. A sane and sober way to go if you simply cannot resist consuming tequila in this way. Yaara Amberg donated a recipe to the Food Network Web site. It's a keeper. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/watermelon-tequila-shots.html)

WATERMELON TEQUILA SHOTS
Total Time: 12 hours 5 mins
Prep: 5 mins
Inactive: 12 hours
Yield: 30 to 50 shots
Level: Easy

Ingredients
1 large seedless watermelon
One 750-milliliter bottle tequila
6 to 7 limes, cut into wedges
Kosher salt

Directions
Cut a hole in the watermelon large enough for the tequila bottle's neck. Insert the tequila bottle upside down. Refrigerate and let the liquor soak into the watermelon's flesh overnight. Cube the melon, and skewer each cube with a wedge of lime sprinkled with salt. Eat.

From the video: The flowers that bats are attracted to have body odor. Humans would be turned off; they (flowers, not the humans) smell rotten.
Further proof that something tasty can come from something that might offend the human olfactory sensibilities.

Watermelon, a shot worth taking. Photo courtesy of Food Network Web site.

Tequila Lovers around the world, as you sip this elixir, over the next few days – on the rocks, straight, no chaser, as a cocktail and so on – here's to hoping you raise one to bats for their spirited work ethic and dedicated lovemaking.

Salute al a Buena vida!
Visit http://www.vertebrates.si.edu/mammals/mammals_collections.html to learn more about the mammals collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; visit http://www.tequileros.org/home_en.php to learn more about tequila (National Chamber of the Tequila Industry [CNIT]).