Spicy Margarita Recipe

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5 from 3 votes

A spicy spin on the classic margarita made with Jalapeño-infused tequila.

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Course: Cocktail

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: cocktail

Author: Shawn Williams

Ingredients

2 ounces jalapeño-infused blanco tequila see notes below on 3 infusion options
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce Cointreau or elderflower liqueur
fresh jalapeños for infusing

Instructions

For the salted rim, take a lime wedge and coat the rim of a double old-fashioned glass. Dip in margarita salt, rotating until coated.
Combine lime juice, lemon juice, spicy tequila, simple sugar, and Cointreau in a cocktail shaker. Add a cup of ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. If making your own spicy tequila, see the instructions in the recipe card or in the notes below.
Pour over fresh ice and garnish with a lime wedge or jalapeño slices.

Notes

Jalapeño-infused tequila (12-24 hours): 12-24 hours in a large mason jar or sealed container. Be sure to remove all the jalapeños and strain out any remaining seeds before storing tequila longer term. Excess exposure will lead to green vegetal off-flavors. Start with 2-3 jalapeños or 1-2 Habaneros per 750ml bottle. If you overshoot on heat, you can cut the batch with additional tequila.

Quick shake infusion (instant): for a quick kick of heat in your cocktail, shake your Margarita along with a few slices of jalapeño. This method works pretty well but is not as efficient and requires more jalapeños per cocktail. Start with 2-3 slices per drink and add more as needed. I usually leave the jalapeños in the cocktail so it continues to warm the drink as you sip.

Spicy bitters (instant): my favorite hack for quickly spicing cocktails is spicy bitters. Spicy bitters offer very clean heat with no vegetal off-flavors. It's very easy to use and can easily be added to individual cocktails to taste. It's a nice way to add varying degrees of heat to a batch of Margaritas. My favorite Habanero-infused bitters are Fire Tincture (Firewater) by Scrappy's Bitters. 3-4 dashes are all you need for balanced heat.

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