smoky watermelon mint margarita
Encouraging midweek cocktails with a Smoky Watermelon Mint Margarita, with an easy chili lime sugar to spruce up Cinco and give some variety to your weeknight dinner table.
I’m a bit disheveled with a Tuesday cocktail post, but you know what? I could use to throw some flexibility into my days. I operate best off aligned scheduling. My bullet journal is organized by an hourly timeline dictating when I should perform a certain task – this has come with many months and years of figuring out where my energy levels are at different points in the day and how I can maximize that spectrum. For instance, mornings I’m typically most inspired to workout and generally be active. After lunch is more restful: usually, after a nap, some computer work, maybe a coffee outing, and milling about the kitchen making preparations for dinner. After 6pm, I’m useless to the world.
Hence, usually Friday is cocktail day, but let’s mix it up as we mix margaritas. Where could you use less rigidity in your life?
I was not privy to the fact that tequila is a variety of mezcal. I always though the opposite, since tequila is more widely used and the mezcals I’ve experienced taste far different. Mez is smoky, almost like stronger Scotches, with that trademark citrusy bite I deem tequila to have. This margarita uses both to strengthen the watermelon flavor and warp it into something more interesting, slightly savory, ultra refreshing. Of course, if mezcal doesn’t shake your boots into a jig, leave it out.
Mint leaves cool off the mezcal smoke tendrils, though the flavor isn’t up-front enough to inspire olfactory flashbacks to your morning tooth-brushing. Then, of course, lime juice and agave for the ode to traditional margaritas.
Mom and I tipped our sombreros to Cinco this past Friday, simply out of time constraints during the weekend and the following week. Even if Cinco isn’t something you acknowledge overmuch – really, it just happens to be on a Wednesday this year and Wednesday is taco/Tex-Mex day here on VE – margaritas can be, even if no occasion attaches to your consumption. Drink responsibly. Please don’t drive.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Marg it up, friends!
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Ingredients
- 1 cup watermelon, cubed
- 8-10 mint leaves
- 1 oz lime juice
- 1 oz agave, or to taste
- 1 oz mezcal
- 4 oz tequila
chili lime sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp lime zest
Instructions
- In a blender of food processor, puree the watermelon until smooth. Pour through a strainer to remove the froth – you will end up with about 1/2-3/4 cup liquid.
- In a shallow bowl or on a plate, whisk together sugar, chili powder, and lime zest.
- Swipe a lime wedge around the rims of two cocktail glasses. Dip and swirl the rims in the chili lime sugar. Fill each glass with ice.
- Muddle mint leaves and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Measure in agave, 1/2 cup watermelon puree, mezcal, and tequila. Add ice and shake until icy cold. Strain evenly into both glasses. Garnish with mint leaves and watermelon triangles. Ole!
