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Uncorking the secret to liquor-less State Fair of Texas cocktails' authentic flavors

Food may be one of the biggest attractions at the State Fair of Texas, but beer and wine are equally worth the buzz. Attendees can try crazy concoctions like the corn dog- and funnel cake-flavored beer ale, visit Beer Haven, or do a wine walk through the Wine Garden.

But what those craving something a little harder?

The Old Mill Inn Restaurant is the only place in the fairgrounds that has a liquor license, so it's the only place that serves liquor. But that doesn't mean it's the only bar there where drinkers can find a cocktail.

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Christi Erpillo has been a concessionaire at the State Fair of Texas for 48 years, having joined the family business at age 17. (Longtime fairgoers may know of her mother, Wanda Fern Winter, who introduced funnel cakes to the fair in the 1980s.) For years, Erpillo wanted to offer "something to the fairgoers besides beer and not-so-great wine," and in 2012, she debuted a new line of frozen and on-the-rocks cocktails, such as Cowboy Cola, a riff on a Jack and Coke; a Peach Old Fashioned; and Texas Tea, which is like a Long Island Iced Tea, Erpillo says.

How? Erpillo worked with the Dripping Springs-based company Specialty Blends to develop several wine-based cocktail recipes.

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That's right: The drinks might taste like they have hard liquor in them, but they don't.

"I tell people all the time... I say, 'Here smell it. Doesn't it smell just like bourbon?'" says Erpillo, who offers the largest selection of cocktails at the State Fair.

Johnna McKee, left, and Christi Erpillo, right, to winning a 2018 Big Tex Choice Award for...
Johnna McKee, left, and Christi Erpillo, right, to winning a 2018 Big Tex Choice Award for their Fernie's hoppin' John cake with jackpot sauce. (Ben Torres / Special Contributor)

To make its products, Specialty Blends buys fermented orange pulp and other fruit juices that maintain a similar flavor profile to a neutral grain spirit, says Bryan Land, the company's vice president of sales. Specialty Blends then doctors the liquid with natural and artificial flavorings so it resembles spirits such as vodka, gin, rum, whiskey and cinnamon whiskey. It also bottles and sells an agave wine, which Erpillo uses in her State Fair margaritas, but that one is made in Mexico, says Land.

From there, Specialty Blends cuts the wine's alcohol content to meet state requirements — in Texas, wine can only contain up to 17 percent alcohol — and either sells it directly to business owners or works with a client to create a cocktail recipe.

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When the University of Texas Longhorns play the Oklahoma University Sooners in football, Bloody Marys  and screwdrivers are her most popular sellers, Erpillo says. And this year, she plans to debut a new recipe, the Fernie Colada.

"It's wine-based rum with coconut," she says. "And maybe a Moscow Mule, too."

Erpillo's wine-based cocktails are available at five locations throughout the State Fair of Texas fairgrounds: the Dock bar, La Cantina, and the Lone Star Lounge in the Embarcadero Building; the funnel cake stand near the Old Mill Inn Restaurant; and the Skyway Porch, which is set up near the Midway.

Craving more fair fun? Visit our one-stop guide to everything State Fair of Texas.