Lightning Margarita
Thomas J. Story
“Born of the need to serve 50,000 cocktails over a weekend musical festival known as Lightning in a Bottle, our partners Jean Michel and Jeffery have come up with a fresh and speedy spicy margarita that now lives in our Red Dog taps,” says Eric. “We batch fresh ingredients into a quarter keg that we blast through every day.”
How to Make It
1
To Make the Spicy Agave Syrup: In a medium saucepan, combine the water, jalapeños, navel orange zest, mint, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes, then strain syrup into a measuring cup. Mix in twice as much light amber agave as water and reserve for use.
2
Measure all cocktail ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add 5 ice cubes and shake for 8 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice and garnish with a cucumber wheel.
3
PRO TIP: Peel and cut tips off cucumbers before juicing them in a centrifugal juicer.
Ingredients
For the Spicy Agave Syrup
¼ cup water
2 jalapeños (stemmed and sliced lengthwise)
1 tbsp navel orange zest
3 mint leaves
pinch of salt
about 6 oz light amber agave
For the Cocktail
2 fl oz Tepozan Blanco tequila
¾ fl oz fresh lime juice
½ fl oz spicy agave syrup
½ fl oz cucumber juice
1 cucumber wheel
Directions
1
To Make the Spicy Agave Syrup: In a medium saucepan, combine the water, jalapeños, navel orange zest, mint, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes, then strain syrup into a measuring cup. Mix in twice as much light amber agave as water and reserve for use.
2
Measure all cocktail ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add 5 ice cubes and shake for 8 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice and garnish with a cucumber wheel.
3
PRO TIP: Peel and cut tips off cucumbers before juicing them in a centrifugal juicer.
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