Holy, moly. I am adoring this margarita. The citrusy-sweet freshness of mandarin oranges plays so nicely with lime and lightened up booze. It would be mouth-puckeringly tart if not for the dash of spicy honey syrup. And each sip gets a bit of spicy-sweet too, with a rim coated in sugar and red cayenne pepper. You want this one, trust me.
"To make it less spicy, (although I really encourage you to make as-is) leave the cayenne out of the honey syrup."
Notes: Honey is clover honey.
HOT HONEY & MANDARIN MARGARITA WITH SWEET-FIRE RIM
Ingredients: 100 % agave tequila, Cointreu or triple sec, juice of 1 mandarin orange, juice of 1 lime, 2 tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. ground red cayenne pepper. Spicy honey syrup: 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 sliced jalapeño pepper.
Makes 1.
Method:
1. Make spicy honey syrup: Warm the honey and water in a saucepan over medium heat until honey is dissolved. Add jalapeño, turn down to low. Steep for 5-10 minutes, testing the amount of heat and stirring occasionally. Strain syrup to remove peppers through a sieve.
2. Mix together sugar and cayenne pepper on a plate. Slice the end off of the mandarin orange, then slice again making two triangular pieces. Run on of them around the rim of a glass, then dip the glass into sugar mixture. Fill glass with ice.
2. Pour over 2 shots of tequila and 1 shot Cointreau. Squeeze in the juice of the mandarin orange. Halve the lime, saving a wedge for garnish, and squeeze in all of its juice as well. Stir.
3. Add 1-2 teaspoons of spicy honey syrup and stir. Garnish with 1 piece of mandarin and 1 piece of lime.
Comments