Jalapeno Margarita

Name: Jalapeno Margarita
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: ¼ cup coarse salt; 1 Tbsp lime zest (~3 limes); ¾ cup silver tequila; ½ jalapeno pepper (seeded and thinly sliced); ⅓ cup Grand Marnier; ½ cup fresh lime juice (~4 limes); 2 Tbsp agave nectar (can substitute honey); ice; 1 lime (cut into slices)

ByDavid April 29, 2016April 13, 2021

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Want to spice up your cocktail hour this summer? Then mix up a Jalapeno Margarita or two!

Can we talk about food cravings? I get them. Quite often in fact. And I’m sure you do, too. And what happens when I get a craving for chocolate chip cookies and/or smoked brisket and/or pizza and/or mac + cheese? (This list could’ve go on for quite a while…) Well, I go and get said food to satisfy my craving. It might be a couple of days or even a couple of weeks. But I’ll eventually satisfy that craving. But what if said craving went on for 9 months?

Back when Laura was pregnant, she had all sorts of cravings. Some we could easily take care of. Pickles + ice cream? Done. Just kidding…she never actually craved pickles + ice cream. But other cravings? Not so much. I had no idea how careful women have to be when it comes to pregnancy and food. No sliced deli meat. No soft-serve ice cream. Limited caffeine. The list is surprisingly long. But Laura was a trooper, and she just took it all in stride. Except for the jalapeno margarita.

Near the end of her pregnancy, Laura was stuck at home with nothing much to do but watch tv. (Watching tv is such a foreign concept to us now that Robbie is here. We might get to watch 10 minutes of the news while we’re eating dinner. Might is the key word there.) Apparently jalapeno margaritas made an appearance in every show Laura watched. Either that, or her craving was playing tricks on her and creating margarita mirages. Needless to say, once Laura could drink again, jalapeno margaritas were on the list.

Truthfully, I had never really heard of a Jalapeno Margarita. But after consulting my friend Google, I discovered that these bad boys are actually pretty easy to make. So I hit the kitchen armed with a handful of jalapenos and my go-to margarita recipe. And I emerged with what I have to call one incredible cocktail!

So where does the jalapeno part of the jalapeno margarita come in? Contrary to my initial thoughts, it doesn’t get blended in or anything crazy like that. Nope, you just slice a jalapeno and let it sit in the tequila for about 20-30 minutes. Nice and easy. But here’s the thing. The longer you let the jalapeno sit, the spicier your tequila will become.

This isn’t one of those games where you see how hot you can make something. You know the game where you keep adding jalapenos or cayenne pepper until someone cries uncle? Oddly enough, guys love playing this game around other guys. If you’re into that kinda thing, then go for it. Heck, let that jalapeno sit in the tequila overnight. And leave the seeds in there. But don’t come crying to me a couple of weeks from now when your taste buds grow back.

For us, we found that about 25-30 minutes created a tequila with a noticeable hint of jalapeno flavor. But it wasn’t too much. Play around with the times and see what works for you. The Grand Marnier and agave nectar add a sweetness that balances the heat from the jalapeno. It took 9 months, but this Jalapeno Margarita has definitely earned its’ spot on our summer cocktail rotation. It’s 4:45 somewhere, right? Cheers!