Redcurrant margarita

Portion size: Serves 10
Hands-on time 15 min, plus chilling
Difficulty: easy

Tom Shingler

Head of food, delicious.

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This ruby-coloured margarita is flavoured and turned bright red by an intense redcurrant syrup. Make-ahead and stash in the fridge or freezer ready for entertaining. It’s a great way to use seasonal berries in summer – or add a bit of brightness to winter drinks.

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Before you start

Bottled cocktail know-how
Most – but not all – cocktails can be mixed in advance. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Take it with a pinch of salt: You’ll notice a tiny amount of salt in this recipe. It’s a trick I picked up from a master mixologist a few years ago that I swear by. Just like in food, salt opens up the palate to make your cocktail taste more of itself (without tasting salty). It’s a subtle yet effortless improvement – and a neat talking point.

Enjoy the water feature: Cocktails are shaken or served with plenty of ice not only to cool them down, but also to dilute the mixture with >a little water. This tempers the harshness of the alcohol, allowing you to taste the cocktail more. If you’re pre-mixing cocktails designed to be served in glasses without ice, you need to add some water to account for the dilution.

Stay chilled: This pre-mixed cocktail can be kept in the freezer, meaning you can make it ahead of time and they’ll be perfectly chilled at all times. Alcohol doesn’t freeze, but if you have a higher concentration of non-alcoholic liquids in your cocktail (fruit juices or water to account for dilution, for example), they can become a little slushy. Don’t fret – a good shake of the container or bottle will break up the slush and remix the cocktail in an instant, ready to pour.

Master the golden ratio: The beauty of cocktails is that they’re easily scaled up – you just need to keep the ratios the same. This cocktail make enough for 10 drinks, but for bigger gatherings it can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled or more.

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Ingredients

300g redcurrants, plus extra to garnish
150g caster sugar
¼ tsp fine salt, plus extra to serve
Juice 2 limes, plus extra wheels to garnish
500ml tequila blanco
200ml triple sec
Tajín seasoning or chilli powder to dust

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Method

Put the redcurrants, sugar, salt and 150ml water in a pan. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 10 minutes, squashing the currants with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat, add the lime juice, then strain through a fine sieve into a freezerproof container/jug/bottle (one with a lid). Leave to cool.
Add the tequila and triple sec, stir to combine, then cover and keep in the freezer until ready to serve.
To serve, dip the rim of a glass in water, then salt mixed with a little Tajín or chilli powder. Fill the glass with ice, then pour in the cocktail. Garnish with a sprig of redcurrants and a wheel of lime.
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Nutrition

231kcals Calories
0g Fat
0g Protein
20g (20g sugars) Carbs
0g Fibre
0.2g Salt

Make Ahead

This cocktail will keep indefinitely in the fridge or freezer.

Cook smarter

The natural pectin in the redcurrants may cause the syrup to turn a little jelly-like in the freezer. Just give the mix a good shake or stir to dissolve it back into the liquid.