Cilantro Margarita

just in time for cinco de mayo

May 5th, 2018 / By KellyLiken

The Cilantro Margarita is a twist on the classic margarita and a great way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (or just a warm afternoon for that matter?).  It features fresh squeezed lime and tangerine juice, a cilantro simple syrup and some great tequila.

Cinco de Mayo is a big deal here in Colorado.  We have a lively and thriving latin community and coloradans by and large have embraced the latin flavors and traditions of many holidays.  Not to mention it’s just a super fun reason to welcome summer with delicious food and drink.

One of my new favorite latin flavors is Suerte Tequila.  Suerte is the result of two Boulder, CO tequila afficianados’ lucky meeting with a small batch craft distiller in Jalisco, Mexico.  This tequila is made the RIGHT way and you can taste it!  They start with 100% blue weber agave and pure natural spring water, slow roasting the pina to bring out all of the nuanced flavors and crushing it under a 2 ton stone.  All of these things combined create a delicious tequila with a COOL Colorado story.  Check out the process HERE, it’s facinating.

When you’re all done nerding out on how the small batch tequila is made (or maybe that’s just me), let’s move on to shaking up this cocktail and celebrating the beautiful early summer weather.

The hardest part of this recipe is making the cilantro syrup, and that’s pretty darn easy.  Just combine some sugar, water and ginger.  Dissolve and simmer for a few minutes to infuse the ginger.  Then it’s important to chill the syrup before you blend in the lime and cilantro to keep the syrup vibrantly green.

Shake a cilantro margarita glass by glass, or stir up a whole pitcher for your friends.  Cinco de Mayo never tasted so good!

3.84 from 6 votes

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Cilantro Margarita

This twist on the classic margarita features a homemade cilantro simple syrup, fresh squeezed citrus and a great small batch tequila.

Course Drinks

Cuisine American, entertaining, Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes

cooling time 15 minutes

Servings 1 drink

Calories 228 kcal

Author KellyLiken

Ingredients

Cilantro Margarita

• 1.5 oz Suerte Blanco Tequila
• 1 oz Cilantro Lime Syrup
• 1.5 oz Lime Juice freshly squeezed
• 1 oz Clementine Juice freshly squeezed
• Kosher Salt

Cilantro Lime Syrup

• .5 C Natural Cane Sugar
• .5 C Water
• .5 bunch Cilantro
• 1 Lime juiced
• .5" piece Ginger roughly chopped

Instructions

To make the Cilantro Lime Syrup

1. Combine the water, sugar and ginger in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 5 minutes to dissolve the sugar and infuse the flavor of the ginger.

2. Remove from the heat and strain the ginger out.  Allow the syrup to cool (you can use an ice water bath to speed this up, just put the sauce pot in a big bowl of ice water and stir occasionally).

3. In the blender, comine the cool syrup, cilantro and the juice of 1 lime.  Blend on high until smooth.  At  this point you can use a fine mesh seive to strain out any solids that remain, but it's not terribly necessary.

To make the Margarita

1. In a cocktail shaker with some ice, combine the Tequila, cilantro syrup, lime and clementine juice. 

2. Using a lime wedge, moisten the rims of your martini glass.  Dunk the glass in some kosher salt.

3. Shake up the cocktail and strain it into the salted martini glass, garnish with a wheel of clementine.

Nutrition Facts

Cilantro Margarita

Amount Per Serving

Calories 228

% Daily Value*

Sodium 11mg0%

Potassium 168mg5%

Carbohydrates 39g13%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 29g32%

Vitamin A 340IU7%

Vitamin C 42.1mg51%

Calcium 22mg2%

Iron 0.4mg2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.