Strawberry margaritas

I whipped up a batch of these a couple weeks back for a dinner party. They were a hit! Now that the rest of the country is enjoying strawberry season (a distant memory here in Central Texas), it seems appropriate to share.

I used my kitchen scale to measure, but standard liquid measuring cups and/or your own taste buds will do just fine, too. I find it pretty difficult to mess up a cocktail. (The answer is usually always either more tequila or more citrus juice.)

Strawberry Margaritas

based on Down the Hatch, a Perla’s favorite

Makes a pitcher for 7-8 (depending on glass size, mine were roughly 8-oz’ers filled with ice and served 7)

1. Combine some sort of sweetener with 9 oz water. Amount of sweetener will depend on how sweet you like your margarita. I used excess sugar that had macerated with strawberries and didn’t make it into the jam, but that’s not normal nor an ingredient really, so use sugar or agave or whatever you like to use and sweeten according to taste preference. Add 6oz lemon juice and taste; it should be tart, but not knock you over tart.

2. Hull 15 strawberries and place them in a shaker. Pour lemon mixture into the shaker and smash the berries with whatever you like. A wooden spoon’s end works great.

3. Add 10 oz tequila (we used a silver, pure agave tequila) and 2 oz bitters or a tart liqueur (ours were homemade rhubarb bitters, which I’ll share the recipe at some point). Give the mixture a few shakes for foamy fun. 

4. Salt rims if desired. I like to take the inside of a spent lemon peel and rub it along the rim to get the salt to adhere; you can dip the rim in a saucer of water instead, too. Pour, trying to evenly distribute chunks of strawberry pulp into each glass and top with a splash of club soda if necessary (and carefully re-stir). Garnish with a berry.