Sunkissed Cocktails: Margaritas

When it comes to sipping cocktails on the beach, margaritas offer the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and just a little tart!  Margaritas are so versatile that they can be completely customized to be your perfect drink.  In honor of National Margarita Day, I thought I’d share some of my favorite margarita recipes.

Classic Margarita

For this margarita, you only need three simple ingredients!  The simplicity of this recipe makes it just that much better.  All you need to start is tequila, triple sec, and some freshly squeezed lime juice.  When making a margarita I prefer to rim my glass with some salt, but other people prefer sugar.  This recipe makes two servings.

1. Start by prepping your glasses.  If you like to have your glass rimmed with either salt or sugar, simply take a lime wedge and rub it along the outside of the glass then dip the glass into your margarita salt or sugar.
2. Next, you will want to combine your ingredients either in your cocktail shaker or in a separate glass if you don’t have a shaker.  Fill your glass or shaker with ice and add two ounces of tequila, three ounces of freshly squeezed lime juice, and two ounces of triple sec.  If you have a cocktail shaker, put the lid on the shaker and shake it up.  If you are using a regular glass you can pour the drink between two glasses to mix up your ingredients.
3. Next, pour your drink into your prepared glass and garnish with a lime or any other garnish you prefer.
4. Finally and most importantly, relax and enjoy your delicious drink!

Strawberry Margarita

This delicious and refreshing margarita is one of my favorites in the summer.  For this recipe, you will need a blender to create a fresh strawberry puree.  The ingredients for this recipe include fresh strawberries, tequila, simple syrup, triple sec, and fresh lime juice.  This recipe makes two servings.

1. Prep your glasses.  Rub a lime wedge along the rim of your glass and dip your glass into either margarita salt or sugar.
2. In your blender, add one and a quarter cups of prepared strawberries and two tablespoons of simple syrup.  Pulse the blender until you have a nice puree.
3. Combine your ingredients in a cocktail shaker or separate glass.  Fill your shaker or glass with ice and add in your strawberry puree, two and a half ounces of lime juice, two ounces of tequila, and one ounce of triple sec. Shake or stir the ingredients until combined and pour into your prepared glasses.
4. Garnish with lime and strawberries.

Magic Margaritas

One of my favorite margaritas I like to make when entertaining is a magic margarita.  I call it a magic margarita because as soon as the tequila mixes with the rest of the ingredients it changes colors.  This margarita takes a bit more prep than your traditional margarita.  To be able to change colors you have to soak the tequila in dried butterfly pea flowers which you can find on Amazon.  To make this margarita you’ll need, tequila, butterfly pea flowers, triple sec, lime juice, and pineapple juice.  If you want to add even more pizazz to the drink you can use rock candy as your stirrers.  This recipe makes twelve servings.

1. First, you’ll want to soak three cups of tequila with 24 dried butterfly pea flowers.  You’ll want to let this soak for at least two hours.
2. While the tequila is soaking I like to prepare the margarita mix so it can have some time to chill in the refrigerator.
3. Mix together 12 ounces of lime juice, nine ounces of triple sec, and six ounces of pineapple juice.  Allow to chill in refrigerator until tequila is ready.
4. Once the tequila is ready, rim your glasses and pour two ounces of tequila in each glass.  After all the glasses have tequila, pour your mix into the glass and watch as the drink turns from blue to purple.  Garnish your glass with a lime and rock candy if you choose.  If you do use rock candy your drink will change colors again based on the color of your rock candy.