Note: this post originally ran on Schustack.

El Diablo is a Buck variation made with tequila, crème de cassis, lime and ginger beer, and I think it’s a more historically symbolic cocktail to drink on Cinco de Mayo than a Margarita. Here’s why.

If you grasp what the 5th of May represents in Mexico, then you can appreciate that it’s a bit bizarre that Cinco de Mayo has become such a popular drinking holiday in America. Over the years, and especially in the past ten or so, it’s been hyped as though it’s Mexican St. Patrick’s Day—an excuse to binge tacos and get wasted on tequila, mezcal, (or other Mexican spirits), and Mexican beer. It shouldn’t be.