Minty at Home: Margaritas for Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is coming up. Usually I’m conflicted about celebrating the day because I tend to have Kentucky Derby plans the same weekend. But since we’re all safer at home, I will do both!

First here’s my apricot julep recipe. Make ’em before, after or during (?) your margarita making session.

So here are a couple margarita variations and let’s celebrate year round or until we run out of lime juice (hopefully never!).

Get out your tequila and mezcal and decide what you want to drink. Okay, you can have both and even in the same drink! It’s your palate you’re pleasing so have at it!

The top drink is a mini mezcal I made while cooking. I made a larger one later.

Mezcal Margarita

• 2 oz mezcal (here I used a pretty special mezcal from Del Maguey but you can use any, even smokey ones)
• 1 oz orange curacao (I used the one from BroVo Spirits)
• 1 oz lime juice

You might like to know that the juice of one lime is probably enough for one drink. And although margaritas are often consumed with chips and salsa (damn, I miss guacamole), margs actually pair best with sweets. Try drinking one and eating flan or cake next time.

In your mixing vessel, combine all the ingredients and add ice. Shake like crazy (about 30 seconds) and strain into a glass over fresh ice. You can do the salt rim thing if you want. All you would need to do is rim that glass with your spent lime shell so the salt will stick to the rim. If you’re using flaky salt, you can crush it so it’s nice and even. Don’t use iodized salt. You can even get fancy and add spices (I like Tajin!)  to the salt for a pretty orange-y salt rim. Do half if you shouldn’t be eating so much sodium. Hey, I care about you! So if you want to make a mini one like I did, just halve the ingredients.

And now drink that sucker and make another!

Spicy Margarita

• 2.5 oz tequila (here I used El Tesoro)
• 1 oz orange curacao (I used the classic Grand Marnier here)
• 1 oz ancho chile liqueur
• 2 oz lime juice

I love spicy margaritas! I didn’t have any jalepeno any home but then I remembered I have Ancho Reyes, an ancho chile liqueur. I would love to get their chile verde version to try next time. In any case, the specs on this is for a double marg as I poured this over crushed ice and a huge glass! This will keep you busy for a while.

Pour the ingredients into a shaker. I tend to do the low end ingredients first like a bar would so lime, the liqueurs and mains spirit. Bars do this in case a guest changes their mind on an order and they don’t want to throw away the expensive spirit. But it doesn’t really matter because you aren’t ordering wrong and making the bar throw out a drink (right, right?!).

Now add the ice and shake it. I usually put my shaker by my ear and when I feel that cold waft of air float across my ear, I know it’s done. This is about 30 seconds. Don’t shake too long or else it’ll be too diluted.

Pour into that mega huge glass I mentioned with fresh crushed ice. And enjoy. Oh, I garnished with a quarter of a spent lime wheel but it’s beautiful enough without the garnish!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

 

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