With grapefruit season dwindling, the area of my kitchen that was previously devoted to 18 pound bags of ruby citrus from south Texas now sits empty. We do our part to support the local industry, averaging a bag every week/week and a half. That’s a lot of grapefruit for breakfast. And lunch. And dessert. But most importantly, margaritas.
Our love for flavored margaritas shifts with the season. With the sudden influx of blood oranges in the grocery store, the house favorite Grapefruit Margarita takes a backseat.
Blood oranges make a really good margarita. I guess most citrus does… but few are as pretty as the blood orange. The juice is a deep, dark red and tastes a lot like your standard orange although I think it’s less acidic and has a… more concentrated “orange” flavor if that makes sense. (It probably doesn’t. And it’s probably not just because I’m drinking one now.)
Blood oranges don’t seem to stick around for long so this year I hoarded planned ahead. I actually bought quite a few for the purpose of freezing the juice (ice trays I bought for the Foodie Baby’s purees worked great) for a treat during the first couple of weeks after the last blood orange disappears from the produce shelves and we’re not ready to switch gears to the next seasonal fruit.
Our recipe for flavored margarita varies slightly with the headlining fruit. We always start 1:1:1:1 tequila, orange liqueur, lime, and [fill-in-the-blank]. Standing around the kitchen island, sipping, and adjusting the lime and [fill-in-the-blank] is the fun part 🙂 I love tart citrus so I usually rarely sweeten my drink. The Foodie Groom? Not so much a fan of sour lemon face so he typically takes 1/2-1 oz of simple syrup to knock off the edge.
Blood Orange Margarita
A seasonal twist on the classic margarita recipe made with blood oranges.
Ingredients
- 3 oz tequila
- 2 oz orange liqueur
- 2 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 4 oz fresh-squeezed blood orange juice (~3-4 oranges)
- 1 oz simple syrup
- Blood orange slices, for garnish
Instructions
- Mix tequila, orange liqueur, lime, and orange juices well.
- Taste for sweetness and add simple syrup if desired.
- Pour over two small glasses of ice.
Notes
Yields: 2 servings
Estimated time: 10 minutes