To Spice Or Not To Spice
The potential final touch on the house margarita is a controversial one...
Spicy Margaritas really had a moment, didn’t they? I think it was right before Ranch Waters really became a thing in pop culture. Which is basically right before the pandemic shut everything down.
I’ve seen a lot fewer spicy drinks on menus in these last few years, but every once in a while one pops up and I’m always interested. I feel like the hit rate is pretty low - I truly enjoy maybe a third of them? - but I’m still always interested.
And that’s brough me here. Wondering if I should make my House Marg a spicy one by default…
The Jalapeño Effect
I suppose I could get really, really deep here and test many different methods for creating a spicy marg. But that seems silly when the humble jalapeno offers multiple options with very little effort. A single pepper, procured from pretty much any grocery store anywhere, is all you need to create a spicy cocktail of any kind.
Just be sure to wear gloves and/or wash your hands well with dish soap after you slice one up before moving on - inadvertently pepper spraying an eye is no fun…
In The Shaker
I thinly sliced half of a jalapeno and added those slices directly into the shaker with the lime juice, tequila, Cointreau, and syrup. From there, I didn’t change a thing - thorough shake, strain over ice, and enjoy. That’s what you see in the picture above.
The drink is certainly a bit more green than without the peppers, but it’s a very minor visual change. On the nose, though, the change is far from minor. You smell the heat right away, and you can also smell the fruitiness of the pepper itself. In fact, aside from the actual heat, I think you could be fooled into thinking there’s just a green bell pepper tincture involved here.
The heat, though, dissuades you from that notion. There’s a light numbing sensation on the lips, and the spice seems to overtake any oaky sweetness that the drink had before. The spice gets in the way a bit from that perspective, but the sugar and orange balance it nicely. It’s a bracing drink, but it’s balanced. It’s just not very agave-forward…
As a Garnish
I wanted to see if a different approach could lead to a different result, one where the spice is present but doesn’t completely kill the tequila. So, I took a thin strip of the jalapeno and added it into the glass with the ice as a garnish. Then, a cocktail with no pepper slices was poured over the top.
There’s very little immediate impact here, though you can definitely smell a bit of the pepper. And I like that. But, as it sits together, you’re essentially making a super-quick tincture so by the end of the drink it’s essentially the same as if you had shaken the pepper in with the drink. That’s kinda fun - same drink, different flavors! - especially as it dilutes and loses some of the other bite.
My House Margarita
I like the jalapeno garnish, but I don’t really think it’s essential to the drink. This is a pure preference thing. So, it’s my first-ever optional inclusion in the recipe :)
2 oz Tapatio Reposado
Juice of 1 lime (ideally 1.25 oz)
1 oz Cointreau
0.25 oz turbinado syrup
1 jalapeno slice (optional garnish)
That’s All, Folks!
The project of the last year - creating a house recipe for 6 classics, is complete. It’s been really fun, and I’m very happy to have done it. And now that the “official” Mixing Ingredients home bar is a thing, my focus for the next several months (maybe a full year?) will be detailing other drinks you can make with what you’ve already got around for the 6 standards.