Smoky Sriracha Margarita

Yes! It's June, which means it's almost technically summer, which means we have every excuse to make delicious, refreshing drinks any day of the week. Right? Well, those are the rules I live by! Even Milli is excited it's summertime, see:

(Ignore the fact that she looks miserable and terrified, she rather enjoyed the pool haha And yes, she's wearing a life jacket. There really is no end to the humiliation she endures.)

 

My unofficial start to summer was kicked off with a work trip to southern California. I stayed at the most amazing hotel & spa, The Mission Inn. I had a bit of a rough travel day getting out there, so the first thing I did upon arrival to the hotel, at the encouragement of my team, was order a nice, big margarita! Conveniently, there was a Mexican restaurant at the hotel (Las Campanas) and needless to say, I enjoyed quite a few of those margaritas during my week stay. When I returned home, I was still in a margarita frame of mind. My boyfriend and I promptly took ourselves (and the puppy) to our local Mexican restaurant, Guapo's, and ordered up some margs! It was on that outing to Guapo's that I conceived the notion of this drink. I had had so many margaritas in the past week that were all essentially the same (yet still very good!), so I wanted something a little different.

What could I do to make something different, I wondered? Fruit? Nah, it's been done to death. Veggie? Weird. Spicy? Now I was on to something. My neighbor and friend (friebor), Joanna, had made a jalepeno margarita at one of our happy-hours-at-home a while back, and it was really good, so I knew spicy would work. The first thing to come to mind when I thought of spicy was sriracha, naturally. But how to make that more interesting? I have also had a smoked margarita at one of my favorite restaurants in Downtown Annapolis, Level. Adding a smoky flavor would be the perfect complement to a spicy margarita. Done and done!

I made two versions of this drink - one for moi and one for the boyfriend. He likes his drinks heavier than I do and he also likes things a lot spicier than I. There are actually four ways to make the drink: the two ways I made it (light on alcohol and spice for me and heavier on spice and alcohol for him), and then you can make a heavy drink, but light on spice; or a light drink, heavy on spice. It's up to you. If you appreciate a little flavorful spice, follow the amount of simple syrup I add to my drink. If you like spicy spice, follow the way I made it for my boyfriend, and you can even add more sriracha when making the simple syrup. And then add the alcohol to your preference as well.

Making these drinks was the perfect excuse to finally pick the biggest lime from my lime tree! I was so excited. Here it is:

This drink was all the more delicious knowing that I used fruit from my very own balcony "garden."

I can't wait to share this amazing drink with you, so let's get mixin'!

Smoky Sriracha Margarita

Servings: 2 short glasses
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 3 minutes

Ingredients:

Simple Syrup
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon sriracha
8 drops liquid smoke (if your liquid smoke pours out rather quickly, just measure it instead: about 1/16 of a teaspoon (or half of a 1/8 teaspoon measuring utensil))

Rimmer
Wedge of orange
1/4 cup margarita salt (or ground kosher salt)
1/4 teaspoon orange zest

Drink
Tequila (measurement clarifications to follow) - preferably gold. I only had silver on hand, so I used that, and it was still delish
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Ice

First and foremost, make the simple syrup.

Place a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Drizzle the agave nectar into it.

Add the 8 drops of liquid smoke and the 1/2 teaspoon of sriracha (or slightly more if you're a masochist and like a lot of spice).

Stir the liquid smoke and sriracha into the agave nectar and let that melt together for about three minutes.

After a few minutes, turn the heat off and remove the saucepan from the burner. Let cool for a couple minutes.

Place the saucepan in the freezer to cool for one minute.

Remove pot from the freezer and set aside.

Next, make the rimmer. Start by washing all of your citrus, especially since you will be using the zest of the orange.

Dry off and set aside, except for the orange. Use a grater or microplane to zest the orange.

Then, mix the orange zest in with the margarita salt on a small, flat plate. Use your finger tips to massage the zest into the salt. The salt will start to turn slightly orange and that's when you know you have done it enough.

Cut a slit into the orange wedge and wipe it around the rim of your glasses.

Place the rim of the glass into the salt mixture and twist. Once your rim is sufficiently covered in as much salt as you like, set the glass on the counter.

Fill the glasses with ice.  Set aside. 

Now for the drink!

(A shaker works best for this, but if you don't own a shaker, you can use a plastic food storage container with a tight fitting lid.)

Add a handful of ice to your shaker.

My version: add one and a half teaspoons of the spicy simple syrup, 1 1/2 shots of tequila, 1/8 cup orange juice, and 1/4 cup lime juice.

I used the shot glass I brought my boyfriend from Cali. How apropos :-)

Put the lid on the shaker and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds.

Pop the top off of the shaker and pour the margarita into your rimmed glass.

Boyfriend's version: add two teaspoons of the simple syrup, two shots of tequila, 1/8 cup orange juice, and 1/4 cup lime juice.

Put the lid on the shaker and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds.  Pop the top off of the shaker and pour the margarita into your rimmed glass.

Add a lime wedge to the edge of both glasses and you're golden!

Kick up your feet and enjoy. Salute!

And here's another picture of the puppy for good measure, while she was "helping" me in the kitchen.