Summer and margaritas go together like cream & coffee, bread & butter, or apps & iOS. So, on this first day of Summer and my first official Saturday Spirits post I’m bringing you my recipe for a Jalapeno Margarita.

This past fall I was able to try drinks and dessert at this tiny (yet, super cool) restaurant in Oklahoma City called Hillbilly Po’boys and Oysters. If you are in the OKC area I’d highly recommend this place for great atmosphere, awesome drinks, and hands down the best bread pudding I’ve ever eaten. Anyways, while there I tried their Jalapeno Margarita…WOWEEEEE. So good.

This is my interpretation of that drink. Theres was better, but this one is still really good.

Recipe for a Jalapeno Margarita

Makes one drink

Needed:

• 1 3/4 oz Tequila — normally I like a silver tequila, but for this drink I went with a Reposado
• 1 oz of jalapeno infused simple syrup (see recipe below)
• Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 large orange
• Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime
• Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
• Margarita salt on rim
• Ice
• slices of fresh jalapeno for garnish

Directions:

1. Rim a glass using lime juice and margarita salt (kosher salt works great too)
2. Fill glass with ice and a few slices of jalapeno (pickled jalapeno just won’t taste good in this… it needs to be fresh)
3. Pour 1 shot (1 3/4 oz Tequila), 1 oz Jalapeno infused simple syrup, and freshly squeezed juice over ice
4. Stir and taste!

If the drink isn’t quite sweet enough for you then you are welcome to add a bit more simple syrup. If you want it hotter you can muddle some jalapeno in the drink and then pour it over ice. If the jalapeno simple syrup is TOO hot, add in some plain simple syrup or even just some water to dilute it a tad.

Recipe for Jalapeno Simple Syrup

I love making simple syrups for drinks… they are SO easy. Seriously, NEVER buy a simple syrup unless you aren’t going to be home at all. All you need is 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, a sauce pan, and a stove top.

Directions for the Jalapeno Simple Syrup: Combine 1 cup of sugar and one cup of water in a sauce pan (heavy bottom is best) and put on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Put a jalapeno in a container (I used a canning jar) and pour the liquid over it. I cut the top off of my jalapeno before pouring the sugar solution over it. Cover the container and let infuse for at least an hour, but up to overnight. For me, the perfect heat happened at about 4 hours of infusion. After you get your jalapeno simple syrup to the desired heat level, strain the simple syrup with a fine meshed sieve. The simple syrup will last in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

This post is part of my new (hopefully LONG running) series called Saturday Spirits. Each Saturday look out for a new post featuring a tasty adult beverage! I’m also always taking requests—comment or email with suggestions or requests!