February 22 marks a glorious day in the concocted food-and-drink holiday calendar, National Margarita Day! And we have a margarita for everyone.
We have a thing for agave spirits, especially mezcal and tequila. Lucky for us, February 22 gives us all the more reason — we’re adults, we don’t need excuses — to raise a glass to your favorite South of the Border cocktail.
Dragonfruit Margarita
(Yields 2 cocktails)
Courtesy Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Co.
1 fresh Dragonfruit
1 cup Margarita Mix
2 ounces triple sec
3 ounces silver (or blanco) tequila
Limes and/or dragon fruit slices, for garnish
Cut dragon fruit in half and scoop out the flesh. Cut into chunks and place them in the freezer. Freeze until solid.
In a blender, add frozen dragon fruit chunks, margarita mix, triple sec, and tequila. Blend until smooth. Pour into two chilled glasses. Garnish with lime slices or slices of dragon fruit.
Margarita Picosa
Courtesy Banyan Tree Cabo Marqués
Chili powder, for garnish
Ice cubes
1 ounce Tequila Maestro Dobel Diamante
½ ounce Ancho Reyes Verde chile poblano liqueur
½ ounce Controy orange liqueur (Cointreau can be substituted)
1 ounce lemon juice
½ ounce simple syrup
Cucumber slice, for garnish
Serrano chilies slices, for garnish (optional)
Wet the rim of a rocks glass and place glass upside on chili powder to rim the glass. Add ice cubes and remaining ingredients to the glass and stir with a long bar spoon. Garnish with a cucumber slice. For extra kick, add slices of Serrano chilies.
Mango Margarita
1½ ounces Patron Silver Tequila (or preferred blanco tequila)
2 ounces Ten50 sweet & sour mix (or preferred sweet & sour mix)
½ ounce Cointreau
¾ ounces mango puree
3 basil leaves
Tajin-coated lime slice, for garnish (optional)
Add ingredients to shaker of ice. Shake vigorously. Pour into glass and garnish with Tajin-coated lime slice.
Cibolo Moon Alameda Margarita
Courtesy JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa’s Cibolo Moon
1 ½ ounces T1 Tequila Blanco Ultra Fino (or preferred blanco tequila)
½ ounce Grand Marnier
2 ounces fresh lime juice
1 ounce agave nectar
1 ounce blood orange nectar
Orange wedge, for garnish
Mix ingredients in cocktail shaker.
Rim margarita glass with salt and fill with ice. Pour shaker contents over ice. Garnish with orange wedge.
Sparkling Pomegranate Margarita
Courtesy Dulce Vida Spirits, Austin, Texas
¾ ounce Dulce Vida Blanco
3 ounces champagne or sparkling wine
¼ ounce pomegranate juice
Pomegranate seeds
Pour Dulce Vida Blanco and pomegranate juice in champagne glass. Top with champagne or sparkling wine. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and enjoy.
Raspberry Habanero-Infused Margarita
Courtesy JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa’s Cibolo Moon
1½ ounces raspberry-habanero tequila (Note: Infusing tequila at home is easy. Simple instructions can be found here.)
½ ounce Patrón Citrónge
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce agave nectar
Lime wedge, for garnish
Raspberries, for garnish
In cocktail shaker, combine tequila, Citrónge, lime juice, and agave nectar. Rim margarita glass with salt and fill with ice. Pour mixture over ice with strainer. Garnish with lime wedge and float raspberries atop.
Lot 10 Hibiscus Margarita
Salt
1¾ ounces hibiscus tequila (recipe follows)
½ ounce Cointreau, or other quality triple sec
¼ ounce simple syrup
¾ ounce fresh lime Juice
3 drops white soy sauce or few grains of kosher salt
Lime wheel, for garnish
Rim the old-fashioned glass with salt.
Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled shaker, shake. and double strain into an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Hibiscus Tequila
1 liter blanco tequila
¼ cup hibiscus blossoms
¼ stick crushed cinnamon, preferably Mexican cinnamon
Combine all ingredients and allow to macerate at room temperature for two days and then strain out the solids. Lasts 1 month refrigerated.
Prickly Pear Margarita
1½ ounces silver tequila (preferably Chinaco Blanco)
1½ ounces fresh lime juice
½ ounce agave nectar
½ ounce Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
2 ounces prickly pear purée
Tajín Clásico chile seasoning, for rim garnish
Fill a large cocktail shaker with ice. Add all ingredients except the chile seasoning and shake vigorously. Pour into glasses rimmed with the chile seasoning and filled with ice. Garnish with lime slices.
Strawberry Jalapeño-Infused Margarita
Courtesy JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa’s Cibolo Moon
1½ ounces strawberry-jalapeño tequila (See the note above)
½ ounce Patron Citrónge
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce agave nectar
Lime wedge, for garnish
Jalapeño slice, for garnish
Strawberry slice, for garnish
In cocktail shaker, combine tequila, Citrónge, lime juice, and agave nectar. Rim margarita glass with salt and fill with ice. Pour mixture over ice with strainer. Garnish with lime wedge and jalapeño.
The Pappas Bros. Margarita
Courtesy Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
Hibiscus vanilla salt, optional (recipe follows)
1½ ounces Siembra Valles Blanco (or preferred blanco tequila)
¾ ounce triple sec (preferably Combier Original Triple Sec)
1 ounce lime juice
½ ounce agave nectar
Lime wedge, for garnish
Rim a rocks glass with hibiscus vanilla salt.
Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice and shake for 10 – 15 seconds. Fill glass with ice and strain margarita over the ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Hibiscus Vanilla Salt
1 cup salt
4 ounces dried hibiscus flowers
½ cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
Combine all ingredients in a dry blender for 45 seconds until finely ground.
Photography: Courtesy Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Co. Courtesy Bayan Tree Cabo Marques, Courtesy JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa’s Cibolo Moon, Robert Strickland, Courtesy Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
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