Hey friends!
Memorial Day has come and gone, so I guess it’s unofficially summer. I thought we could all use a cocktail recipe today. Or three. You know, whatev.
Since moving to LA, the land of exceptional Mexican food– whether it be from a fancy schmancy spot that serves duck confit tacos, or a food truck that’s just posted up on my block– I have become a margarita enthusiast. I always enjoyed a little tequila and citrus, but I never sought out variations as much as I have in the last year. Probably because out here, margaritas aren’t composed mostly of sour mix and bartender bitterness. Here, they take that shit pretty seriously.
So I figured I should, too. I also had a hankering for a spicy drink and decided DIYing it for a blog post was probably a better idea than going to a bar at 2PM on a Thursday (still unemployed over here, obviously!)
So, without further ado, here’s three different margaritas made with simple ingredients, a little muddling, and a fair amount of love and booziness. Enjoy!
What it’s Made of:
- 1/2 cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 ripe strawberries, hulled
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 oz tequila (2 shots)
- 1.5 oz strawberry simple syrup
- Coarse sea salt, for rimming
How it’s Made:
- In a cocktail shaker, add cucumber, strawberries, and half the lemon juice.
- MUDDLE, MUDDLE, MUDDLE SOME MORE. You want to break up the cucumber and extract as much flavor as possible from the strawberries.
- Add the remaining lemon juice, tequila and strawberry simple syrup and a few ice cubes, then aggressively shake
- Pour salt onto a side plate, rub the rim of a rocks glass with lemon or lime and dip into salt. Fill with ice
- Strain margarita into glass, garnish with cucumber and/or strawberry slice
What it’s Made of:
- 1/2 cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 jalapeño, ribs and seeds removed, coarsely chopped
- Handful cilantro, torn
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 3 oz tequila (2 shots)
- 1.5 oz simple syrup
- Chile lime salt (like Tajin), for rimming
How it’s Made:
- In a cocktail shaker, add cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice.
- MUDDLE, MUDDLE, MUDDLE SOME MORE. You want to break up the cucumber and extract as much flavor as possible from the jalapeños.
- Add the lemon juice, tequila and simple syrup and a few ice cubes, then aggressively shake
- Pour chile salt onto a side plate, rub the rim of a rocks glass with lemon or lime and dip into chile salt. Fill with ice
- Strain margarita into glass, garnish with cucumber slice
What it’s Made of:
- 1 jalapeño, ribs and seeds removed, coarsely chopped
- 2 ripe strawberries, hulled
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 3 oz tequila (2 shots)
- 1.5 oz strawberry simple syrup
- Coarse sea salt, for rimming
How it’s Made:
- In a cocktail shaker, add jalapeño, strawberries and lime juice.
- MUDDLE, MUDDLE, MUDDLE SOME MORE. You want to break up the berries and extract as much flavor as possible from the jalapeños.
- Add the lemon juice, tequila and strawberry simple syrup and a few ice cubes, then aggressively shake
- Pour sea salt onto a side plate, rub the rim of a rocks glass with lemon or lime and dip into salt. Fill with ice
- Strain margarita into glass, garnish with strawberry and/or jalapeño slice