Quarantiñaritas

Husby and I developed these Quarantiñaritas together. This the perfect weekend cocktail - fresh, fun, vibrant, and the perfect spicy punch, too!

Like most people, I turned to the kitchen throughout our Covid quarantine lockdown. Times were (and still are) scary, I was navigating new motherhood without any support from the outside world, and we didn’t know what was going to happen or how long life would be that way. Being in the kitchen and cooking for my family brought me more solace and peace than ever before. It was a constant opportunity to lighten the mood, have some fun, and get creative and innovative with cooking and, of course, cocktails!

Enter these Quarantiñaritas! My husband absolutely loves margaritas, and we never really made them at home before, so one day I decided to change that! As our in-house taste tester, he was fully supportive.

I wanted to create a margarita with fresh ingredients and a nice kick. This cocktail is made with freshly squeezed orange and lime juice, a simple syrup with rich and caramelly turbinado sugar, and you shake it up with some sliced jalapeños before pouring into glasses with rims coated in orange liqueur, salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper.

Husby LOVES these and they’ve become a house special, so we dubbed them Quarantiñaritas. Cheers and wishes for health, happiness, and good times from our home to yours!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 5 Minutes

Servings: 2 Quarantiñaritas

Ingredients

¾ cup tequila

2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons fresly squeezed orange juice

4 tablespoons turbinado simple syrup (recipe below)

1 cup ice, plus more for glasses

2 jalapeño peppers, stems removed and then cut into rounds

For the Rims:

2 tablespoons orange liqueur

1 tablespoon sea salt

½ teaspoon turbinado sugar

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if desired)

Orange slices for garnishing

Directions

1. Add the tequila, lime juice, orange juice, simple syrup, two jalapeño slices, and ice to a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake until the shaker is frosty.

2. Add the orange liqueur to a small plate. Add the sea salt and cayenne pepper to a second small plate. (creme brûlée dishes are actually perf for this!)

3. Lightly press the rims of each glass into the orange liqueur to coat, and then dip into the salt/cayenne mixture to coat.

4. Pour the strained mixture into each glass. Stir in jalapeño slices to desired level of heat. Garnish with orange slices and serve.

For the Simple Syrup:

1. Add ¼ cup water, sugar, and 3 rosemary sprigs to a small skillet.

2. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to low and simmer until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes, stirring periodically.

3. Once dissolved, remove from heat and allow the syrup to sit for 20 minutes. Remove rosemary sprigs and transfer the syrup to a Mason jar or airtight container. You can make this ahead of time. Chill until ready to use.