How To Make A Spicy Margarita

The thing about a Spicy Margarita is: it’s just like a regular Margarita, but spicy. You use the exact same ingredients, with the addition of jalapeño. Why jalapeño? Because you can find this chili at most grocery stores, it provides a good amount of spice, and if you accidentally use too much, you won’t need to rinse your mouth out with milk. Probably.

photo credit: Emily Schindler

The Spicy Margarita

You’ll Need:

• Ice

• Rocks glass

• 2 ounces tequila

• .75 ounce lime juice

• .5 ounce agave, .75 ounce triple sec, or .75 ounce simple syrup

• Jalapeño

• Salt

Step One: Salt

Before you make a cocktail, it’s important that you prep your glassware. That’s Rule No. 2. In this case, you want to rim your rocks glass with salt. Just cut a wedge of lime, run that around the rim of your glass, then dip the rim in a saucer of salt.

Step Two: Jalapeño

There are few different ways to use jalapeño in a Margarita, but the quickest and easiest is muddling. Cut two or three thin slices of jalapeño, put them in the bottom of your cocktail shaker, and give them a brief muddle. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, you can also skip this step and make jalapeño tequila.

Step Three: Lime Juice

Much like a standard Margarita, you’re going to need some lime juice. But that doesn’t mean you should go to the store, find a clerk, and ask that kind clerk to point you in the direction of bottled lime juice. Squeeze your own, and add .75 ounce lime juice to your shaker.

Step Four: Agave, Triple Sec, or Simple Syrup

Here’s where things get slightly complicated. You need a sweetener for your Margarita, and our top choice is agave. It’s easy to find, ready to use straight out of the bottle, and it’s made from the same ingredient (agave) as tequila. If you have agave, add .5 ounce to your shaker.

If, on the other hand, you don’t have agave at home, there are a few other options. Triple sec - such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier - is the traditional choice, and you can add .75 ounce to your shaker. Or if all you have is plain white sugar, you can also use simple syrup. Just mix equal parts sugar and warm water, stir until the sugar is dissolved, then add .75 ounce simple syrup to your shaker.

Step Five: Tequila

You’ll never guess what the final ingredient is. Well, you could probably guess, but this is no time for games. Add 2 ounces tequila to your shaker.

Step Six: Shake

Next, add five or six ice cubes to your shaker, and shake hard for about 15 seconds. Once you’ve finished, strain this fine cocktail into your rocks glass rimmed with salt. Garnish with a lime wedge, or, if you’d like to tell the world that you’re drinking a Spicy Margarita, a slice or two of jalapeño.