Spicy Watermelon Margarita

Summer time means watermelon season! A refreshing watermelon cocktail is exactly what you need, so let’s make a Spicy Watermelon Margarita! It’s hydrating, sweet, and boozy with a little kick of spiciness. You’ll love this for your next backyard party, birthday bash, or a solo after-work happy hour!

What is a margarita?

A classic margarita is a tequila-based cocktail mixed with lime juice and Cointreau, an orange-flavored triple sec liqueur. Since margaritas are one of the most consumed cocktails in the United States, there are many variations of this drink, but at the end of the day, for you to call a cocktail a margarita, there has to be some tequila and lime juice. Many times, the glass has a salt rim and garnished with a lime wedge.

Spicy Watermelon Margarita Ingredients

This margarita is flavorful and dynamic with sweet watermelon juice, fresh lime juice, and a kick of spiciness from the jalapeños.

Because it’s summer time and all my local produce are very fresh, I used fresh ingredients, including watermelon, lime, and jalapeños, but feel free to use bottled watermelon juice or lime juice for convenience.

I’m not aware of many jalapeño syrups in the market, but I’m tried YaVe’s jalapeño-flavored tequila and highly recommend it if you want that spice in your margaritas and cocktails.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:

• Tequila (I used Ghost Tequila)
• Watermelon Juice
• Lime Juice
• Simple Syrup
• Jalapeños
• Margarita Salt
• Ice Cubes

How to Make this Cocktail?

To make this cocktail, you need the ingredients listed above, a shaker, jigger, a cup of ice and a juicer (or blender and strainer). I used fresh watermelon juice, so I cut up the watermelon, blended it and strained it because I didn’t have a juicer. If you want it to be even easier, feel free to get a bottle or carton of watermelon juice from the grocery store. You put everything in the shaker, give it a 10 second shake, rim the glass with salt and pour it into the glass over ice.

How to Juice a Watermelon?

Fresh watermelon juice just tastes differently! I would always juice mine in batches and leave it in the fridge. If you have a juicer great, use that, but if you don’t, you can always use a blender and strain it. Because watermelon is more than 90% water, it’s easy to separate the pulp from the juice. However, if it’s too much work, no worries! Grab a bottle or carton from your local store.

Tips

For a spicier margarita, muddle the jalapeños, but as long as there are a few seeds in the slice, shaking it will bring out the flavors. Feel free to add a dash of simple syrup if the watermelon juice is not sweet enough and customize it to your own taste.

Enjoy!