If you’re only drinking tequila in your Margaritas, you’re missing out. The versatile agave spirit is quickly becoming a go-to blank slate for experimenting bartenders, who are mixing it with everything from fennel juice and hemp oil to marzipan syrup. These are 11 creative tequila cocktails to try right now.
1: MARZIPAN OLD FASHIONED
This nutty riff on the Old Fashioned helps bring the cocktail into current times. Homemade marzipan syrup, made from De La Rosa peanut marzipan candies, may be an extra step, but it’s well worth the sweet flavor it lends to mezcal, tequila and oloroso sherry.
2: TEQUILA HONEY BEE
Tequila, homemade honey syrup and fresh lemon juice are shaken together for this sweet-tart Highball. Pour it into a mezcal-rinsed glass for an alluringly smoky finish, and top it all off with a dash of Angostura bitters for a hint of herbal flavor.
3: VOLUNTEER
Cleanse your palate with this fruity and spicy cocktail. Its tequila and Cointreau base is enlivened with cilantro and jalapeño, while melon and cucumber help keep the heat under control. Lime juice and grapefruit bitters add to the citrus flavor, and a pinch of cumin seed and salt provides the perfectly herbal and savory garnish.
4: CALAFIA
Fennel juice isn’t an ingredient you find in a lot of cocktails, but its freshness and subtle anise flavor is beautiful when mixed with tequila, a dash of mezcal and fresh lime juice. The light green concoction is topped with club soda for extra freshness, and fennel fronds and fennel pollen add the finishing touch.
5: ¡A HUEVO!
What do you get when you cross a Margarita with a Michelada? It’s called the ¡A Huevo! This easy-to-make cocktail in a can is practically begging to be taken to your next tailgate or picnic. Simply grab a Bud Light Lime-A-Rita, tequila and lime juice, plus a dose of hot sauce for an extra kick.
6: EL DIABLO
Looking for an off-ramp to your Margarita? This sweet-and-sour sipper blends the baked agave flavors of tequila with fresh citrus and crème de Cassis for a drink that’s pretty and purple. Top off with ginger beer for a two-layered, immensely sippable cocktail.
7: SOUR T-IESEL
CBD hemp oil adds a California flare to this tequila cocktail. Lime juice and agave nectar are mixed with pink sea salt, mint leaves and a pinch of pot tincture, along with aquafaba for a rich and silky texture. A matcha pot leaf stencil is the finishing touch to this frothy cocktail.
8: TEPACHE MODE
This cocktail tastes like summer in a Martini glass. Tepache liqueur, based on the Mexican beverage made with fermented pineapple, brown sugar and spices, adds an extra layer of sweet summery flavor to tequila, lime juice and El Guapo Tex-Mex bitters.
9: MISS ME NOT
It’s time to introduce a new Highball into your summer cocktail arsenal. The Miss Me Not takes tequila, fresh lemon juice and sherry and holds the flavors together underneath a blanket of homemade celery and sugar snap pea syrup. Garnish with a mint sprig and an absinthe mist to enhance the spirit-forward nature of the drink.
10: SCHLITZIE
The key ingredient to this tequila cocktail is serrano-infused Amontillado sherry. In the Schlitzie, from New York’s County Restaurant, it’s mixed with tequila, lemon juice and grenadine for a drink that’s addictively sweet and spicy.
11: SMOKY LIMEADE
Homemade smoked citrus juice is easier to make than it sounds. Simply cut lemons and limes in half, dip them in turbinado sugar, grill, then cool and juice as normal. And it adds a depth of flavor to tequila, simple syrup and club soda in this crowd-pleasing punch.
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