Above: Coralina Margarita.
Spoiler alert: Cinco de Mayo isn’t Mexico’s Independence Day. (It’s the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla; Mexico’s Independence Day is September 16th.) Though Cinco de Mayo isn’t a national holiday in Mexico, that doesn’t mean Americans won’t use it as an excuse to get their drink on. These Cinco de Mayo cocktails incorporate the essential elements of a proper Cinco de Mayo celebration: sexy Spanish names, lime, chipotle, and (of course) tequila. When you raise your glass this May 5, don’t forget to say, “¡Salud!”
Coralina Margarita
Ingredients:
For the cocktail:
- Sugar-salt rim
- 1 3/4 ounces Patrón Reposado
- 3/4 ounce Patrón Citrónge Orange
- 3/4 ounce simple syrup
- 1 ounce fresh lime juice
- 1/2 ounce red wine (Mexican, or other)
Preparation:
Make sugar-salt rim by pulverizing 1/4 cup dried hibiscus in a spice grinder. Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup kosher salt; pulse until combined. Combine Patrón Reposado, Patrón Citrónge Orange, simple syrup and lime juice in a shaker tin; add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe rimmed with sugar-salt rim. Carefully float red wine on the surface of the cocktail and garnish with a lime wheel.
Created by Reisler Morales of Mexico City.
High Plains Margarita
Ingredients:
- Chipotle-salt rim
- 1 1/2 ounces Patrón Silver
- 1/2 ounce Patrón Citrónge Orange
- 3 slices charred pineapple (reserve 1 slice for garnish)
- 1/4 ounce yuzu juice (or 2 parts lemon with 1 part orange juice)
- 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
- 1/4 ounce simple syrup
- 4 sage leaves (reserve 2 for garnish)
- 2 dashes lime bitters
Preparation:
Make chipotle-salt rim by combining 1/2 cup salt with 3/4 teaspoon dried chipotle powder. Combine 2 pineapple slices, 4 sage leaves, and simple syrup in shaker and muddle. Add remaining liquid ingredients and shake vigorously with ice to chill. Double strain onto fresh ice in a chipotle-salt rimmed rocks glass. Garnish with a slice of charred pineapple and two sage leaves.
Created by Shaun Gordon of Truman Tavern.
Also: The Best Beers for Spring
English Garden Margarita
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 ounces Patrón Silver
- 1/2 ounce Patrón Citrónge Orange
- 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce apricot liqueur
- 1/2 ounce Earl Grey tea syrup
- 3 drops orange flower water
- 2 sugar snap peas (reserve one for garnish)
- 2 sprigs mint (reserve one for garnish)
- Pumpkin oil and smoked salt rim
Preparation:
Make Earl Grey tea syrup by combining simple syrup with hot water and 5 tea bags. In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, muddle 1 sugar snap pea and 1 mint sprig with Earl Grey tea syrup. Add liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker along with 1 cracked sugar snap pea and 1 sprig of mint. Fill cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Use a fine strainer to strain into glass rimmed with pumpkin oil and smoked salt. Garnish with mint sprig and sugar snap pea.
Created by Sophie Bratt of London, England.
Hot Hands
Ingredients:
- 1 ounce Cazadores Reposado
- 1/2 ounce chili infused Cazadores repo
- 1/2 grapefruit
- 1/4 ounce lime
- 1/4 ounce agave nectar
- 6-8 mint leaves
- 1 grapefruit peel
- 1 1/2 ounces Martini and Rossi prosecco
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Rim a chilled champagne flute with salt and pour prosecco into the glass. Fill shaker with ice and hard shake. Fine strain into the flute over the prosecco.
Crafted by Joshua Campbell at Leyenda in Brooklyn, New York.
Sandia Slurpee
Ingredients:
- Jalapeño salt rim
- 1 3/4 ounces Cazadores Blanco
- 1 ounce watermelon puree
- 1/2 ounce Campari
- 1/2 ounce strawberry syrup
Preparation:
Make jalapeno salt by finely chopping dehydrated jalapeños and mix with Maldon sea salt. Make watermelon puree by blending fresh watermelon, then straining. Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend and pour into a glass with a jalapeño salt rim.
Crafted by Ignacio Jimenez at Ghost Donkey in New York City.
Arroz Con Reyes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 ounces Cazadores Reposado
- 1/2 ounce Ancho Reyes
- 1/4 ounce agave syrup
- 2 ounces house-made horchata
- Cinnamon (for garnish)
- Orange peel (for garnish)
Preparation:
Combine ingredients in a shaker; shake and serve on the rocks. Garnish with cinnamon stick and an orange peel.
Crafted by Joe Frade at LeChon in Portland, Oregon.
Dora Maar
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces Tequila Cazadores Reposado
- 1/2 ounce Falernum
- 1/2 ounce Kronan
- 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon agave
- 3 drops sassafras
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients. Top with quality tonic water (preferably Q Tonic). Serve in a Collins glass over crushed ice.
Crafted by David Cedona at Prohibition Supper Club & Bar in Houston.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Ingredients:
- Hibiscus-chile salt rim
- 1 1/2 ounces Cazadores Reposado
- 1/2 ounce Mezcal blanco
- 1/2 ounce Aperol
- 1 ounce perfect puree red roasted bell pepper
- 3/4 ounces fresh lime juice
- 3/4 ounces agave syrup
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker; shake well. Serve over the rocks in a double fashion glass with a hibiscus-chile salt rim.
Latini
Ingredients:
For the cocktail:
- Tajín rim
- 2 ounces Cazadores Reposado
- 2 ounces Latini syrup
- 1 ounce fresh lime juice
For the Latini Syrup:
- 3 cups of water
- 2 cups of sugar
- 8 Guajillo or New Mexico dried chiles
- 1 pasila chile
- 3 slices of orange
- 3 ounces fresh lime juice
Preparation:
In a sauce pan, boil water, sugar, chile, and orange slices for 15 minutes; cool and add lime juice. Strain into a glass container. Keep refrigerated. Shake together all ingredients with ice and serve up with a Tajín rimmed martini glass.
Papaya Margarita
Ingredients:
- Tajín rim
- 1 1/2 ounces Cazadores Blanco
- 1 ounce papaya puree or fresh papaya
- 1/2 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce grapefruit Juice
- 1/4 ounce agave nectar
- 1/2 ounce Ancho Reyes
Preparation:
Build in shaker with ice; shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain over ice in Tajín-rimmed rocks glass. Garnish with grapefruit or papaya slice.
Crafted by Thomas Reyna at Muldoon’s The Patio in Houston, Texas.
