Cinco De Mayo: HOT Cucumber Margarita & Cara-Coco Margarita

I don’t know about you but drinking holidays are my absolute favorite. I love the opportunity to imbibe any time, but this just gives me an excuse to make up a great cocktail… so what did I do? Not create one, but TWO very simple to make, fresh and “skinny” (cause that’s how I do em’) cocktails. I was rushing home from a very busy day at the office today at Copper Mug Co. and with our gloomy beach weather, I just wanted to avoid the Friday night party crowd and stay inside my cozy home. That said, I never turn down a celebration, even if it’s at home. I decided to swing by the grocery store and gave myself a challenge with 3 rules: limited ingredients, low sugar content, and I had to make two recipes. Given that most of the good tequilas were picked over at this hour, and who knows what I had in my liquor cabinet, I grabbed one that looked extremely enticing and that I have never seen before – Dolce Vida which is a handcrafted ORGANIC tequila from Texas. Yes, I love organic and small batch liquor. The checkout lines were long, and the produce aisles packed so I grabbed a few go-tos: Cara Cara oranges ( the best oranges I have ever had, a cross between a blood orange and navel orange – I first tried one in Italy and fell in love), Cucumbers to keep it light and refreshing, and some Jalepeno for a kick. What happened an hour later at home became true cocktail bliss. I now give you, the most delicious margaritas I have ever made and give any top shelf Mexican bar a run for their money.

CARA-COCO MARGARITA

1.5 oz. Tequila (We used Dolce Vida)

2 oz. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice (we used Cara Cara variety)

1 oz. Agave Simple Syrup (1:1 ratio of Agave & Water made into simple syrup)

1 oz. Coconut Water

.5 oz. Fresh Lime Juice

Shredded (Unsweetened) Coconut for garnish

Combine the tequila, OJ, Agave Simple, Coconut Water, Lime Juice and ice in a Copper Cocktail Shaker – we have this one and this one – then shake, shake, shake. Pour in a glass over ice and top with shredded coconut.

HOT CUCUMBER MARGARITA

1.5 oz. Tequila (We used Dolce Vida)

2 oz. Coconut Water

1.5 oz. Fresh Lime Juice

1 oz. Agave Simple Syrup

5 Cucumber Slices (1 for garnish)

3 Jalepeno Slices

Inside of a Copper Cocktail Shaker, pour in the Tequila with 4 Cucumber slices and the Jalepeno slices. With a muddler, begin to muddle the Cucumber and Jalepeno until it becomes infused with the Tequila and almost completely broken down. Add in the Coconut Water, Agave Simple, and the Lime Juice. Give a really good, proper shake. Pour in a glass over ice and garnish with a Cucumber Slice.

Viva La Cocktails mi amgios!

Cheers,

Alyssa from Copper Mug Co.