CUCUMBER GINGER MARGARITAS!

cucumber ginger margarita | designlovefest

we never really need an excuse to make a margarita but if you do need one, it’s cinco de mayo on thursday! i was in texas last month and one of the restaurants we ate at served a martini styled margarita, which was essentially a margarita served “up” (no ice). i liked the idea and we decided to create our own version with ginger and cucumber. hope you enjoy! – joanie

what you’ll need:
makes 3- 4 servings depending on the glass size
• 3 limes
• 4 ounces good quality blanco tequila (we recommend espolón)
• 2 ounces cointreau
• 1.5 ounces ginger simple syrup
• 2 ounces cucumber juices

ginger simple syrup: making your own simple syrup couldn’t be easier, it’s over priced if you buy it at the store, so don’t do that. to make your syrup mix 1 cup water with 1 cup white sugar (we used raw cane sugar because it’s all we had so the color of the syrup is slightly darker then normal) in a sauce pan and boil until all of the sugar is dissolved. we wanted to make ours infused with ginger so we sliced up about 3 inches of ginger with the peel off and poured the boiling hot syrup over it in a glass bowl. this is the same rule you’d use to make any infused simple syrup (mint, rosemary, etc). don’t add the ingredients while it’s on the burner because the heat will kill the flavor. let your syrup cool completely before removing the ginger pieces.

we made the cumber juice but blending 2 cucumbers chopped with 1 cup of water in the vitamix and straining it. to assemble the cocktail run a quarter of a lime around the rim of the glass and then turn upside down on a plate of salt, twist the glass a couple of times. for the cocktail, mix the tequila, cointreau, cucumber juice, juice of two limes and ginger simple syrup into a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake vigorously. taste, adjust as needed and strain into each glass, garnish with thinly sliced cucumber peel. drink up!