Tequila Recipes
Tasty tequilas
Local restaurants and mixologists share details and recipes for their most prized creations.
There was a time when tequila was considered the drink of college and university students and the reason many people forgot what they were doing the night before. Although drinking tequila was popular in the 1950s, it was less of a mainstream spirit, with more people favoring the likes of vodka, rum, and whiskey. However, over the last few years its popularity has been resurgent. Tequila is considered a much more complex and richly flavored drink than other spirits. If people want something that will challenge their palate and taste buds more, they may be likely to choose tequila over alternatives. Here are some local restaurant recipes that use tequila as their main ingredient.
Skull Creek Boathouse
Blazin’ Berry Margarita
Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces strawberry jalapeño-infused tequila
1 ounce triple sec
Splash fresh strawberry purée
1 ounce Roses lime juice
1 ounce sour mix
Directions [1] Pour all ingredients into a shaker of ice and shake well. [2] Enjoy over ice with lime and a salt rim.
“Our bar team house-infuses tequila with fresh sliced strawberries and jalapenos. We let that marinate for a few days to ensure we get that sweet, heat flavor. It’s a delicious, refreshing cocktail with a bit of a kick.” — Skull Creek Boathouse
Harbourside
Top Shelf Margarita
Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Don Julio
House-made sweet and sour mix
Grand Marnier floater
Directions [1] Add the tequila shot to the sweet and sour mix base. [2] Garnish with Grand Marnier floater and a salted rim.
“No stop at Harbourside is complete without a Top Shelf Margarita made with our daily homemade margarita mix, Don Julio tequila, a Grand Marnier floater, and served with a salted rim.” — Harbourside
Holy Tequila
Tequila Old Fashioned
Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Corazon Anejo tequila aged in a bourbon barrel
Cherries
Orange
Cane sugar
Directions [1] Muddle cherries and oranges with cane sugar. [2] Add ice, pour tequila and stir.
“How do you make an old-school cocktail fresh and interesting? Make it with tequila. We use our bourbon barrel-aged Corazon Anejo to make this signature cocktail. Unique and absolutely delicious.” — Holy Tequila
Cassandra’s Kitchen
Cassandra’s Margarita
Ingredients
4 ounces Cointreau
10 ounces lime juice, freshly squeezed
3 1/2 ounces agave syrup
22 ounces tequila
Lime wheels, for garnish
Directions [1] Add Cointreau and lime juice to a 52-ounce pitcher and stir to combine. [2] Add the agave and then the tequila. Stir with a cocktail stirrer to combine. [3] To serve, pour 4 ounces of the mixture at a time into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. [4] Strain into a stemmed margarita glass filled with ice and a salted rim. [5] Garnish with a thin lime wheel.
“My drink of choice is a Margarita. When we lived outside of Philly, I found the best Margaritas at Cantina Feliz. Now that I’m 700 miles from Philly, I’m on the search for the best margs. Sometimes I find that I’m better off making them myself, and I think I’ve created the closest thing to it. I love having guests over, but I don’t want to be a bartender. While I generally stick with Ina Garten recipes, I found myself wanting a big pitcher of margs ready to go.” — Cassandra Schultz, Cassandra’s Kitchen