Strawberry Margaritas
The seasons seem to start a little earlier in France than elsewhere, or maybe that’s just me. I tend to want to jump the gun as soon as I see strawberries or cherries at the market every spring. But I know that if I wait a few weeks, they’ll be a lot more abundant, and a lot better. Not to mention less-expensive, too.
Once they go from “rarity” to available everywhere, I tend to go nuts, buying as much fruit as I can. I often joke that as a Californian, I am genetically-wired to eat fruit all the time. During that brief period when the last of the apples and pears depart, and there’s nothing but pineapples and apples from who-knows-where at the market, I fall into a fruitless funk until strawberries appear. Then I know that everything is going to be okay.
As much as I like fruit, I’m not a big fruit-in-cocktail drinker, more inclined to shake or stir up a Manhattan, a Black Manhattan, or a Martini. Or Chin Up or Hanky Panky.
But I do like a good Margarita now and then, and when I found myself with a colander of strawberries that I’d washed for another project, I popped a few into a cocktail shaker, muddled ’em up, and shook up a couple of Strawberry Margaritas.
I find as I get older, I’m less interested in those icy, frozen drinks, and prefer my cocktails up. (Is that because it’s a more direct route?) If you like your cocktails up, too, this margarita recipe makes a fine candidate for one.
But because I’m a man of different (and sometimes conflicting) opinions, which generates a variety of curious looks from my partner, I also like Margaritas over ice. Just be glad you don’t live with me, although there are some benefits; ice cream, cakes, cookies, and an occasional cocktail or two, so I’m not a total bust.
After shaking one of these margaritas up, you might want to strain the mixture through a wider strainer than the one on your cocktail shaker, so its best to remove the entire lid and either pass it through a julep strainer, or a coarse mesh strainer if serving it up. Or just pour it in the glass, without too much of a fuss, holding back the ice with a spoon.
Strawberry Margaritas
- 3 ripe strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar or 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 ounces tequila
- 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
- 3/4 ounce orange liqueur, such as Triple Sec, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau
- lime wheel, for garnish
- Muddle strawberries in a bottom of a cocktail shaker with the agave nectar or sugar, until the berries are almost completely liquified.
- Add the tequila, lime juice and orange liqueur. Fill the shaker about halfway with ice, and shake for 15 to 20 seconds, until the mixture is very cold.
- Remove the lid and strain through a julep strainer or coarse mesh strainer into a chilled coupe glass, or short tumbler half full of ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.
