Cooking Lesson #301: Raspberry Margarita

…from the Happy Hour Bar

How you doin’? Golly gee… it is “berry time” in Mayberry, and cocktail time everywhere. When you think of Margaritas don’t limit your thinking to Cinco de Mayo. Margaritas are an anytime, anywhere cocktail… ask Jimmy Buffett—It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere.
 
This cocktail’s pinky coloring and sweet raspberry flavor will appeal to happy hour seekers who want a show-stopping drink that goes down easy. One that has plenty of booze, but not too sweet and not too stiff.
 
The heart of the drink is the raspberry syrup. The syrup is simple to make by just whirling up the raspberries with simple syrup (see the recipe below). We added a little lime juice to give it brightness and depth, like you would with a fruit pie to take the edge off the sweetness. Those berry syrup flavors soften the tequila and triple sec, so that the overall impression is a perfectly ripe, slightly tipsy raspberry. It’s a refreshing break from citrus-forward margaritas.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving
 
Ingredients
Margarita salt for rimming the glass
2 ounces tequila
1/2 ounce triple sec
1 ounce raspberry syrup
1 ounce freshly-squeezed lime juice
Garnish with a lime wedge and a couple raspberries
 
Directions

1. Pour enough salt onto a small plate to rim your margarita glass.
2. Run a lime wedge along the rim of the margarita glass, and then dip the glass in salt.
3. Fill a cocktail shaker 1/3 full of ice and add the tequila, triple sec, raspberry syrup and lime juice.
4. Shake it, like you mean it, for 20 seconds and then strain into the prepared salt-rimmed glass.
5. Garnish the glass with a lime wedge and raspberries.
6. Enjoy!

 
                                             Raspberry Simple Syrup
 
Ingredients
4 ounces simple syrup (refer to Lesson #48 French 75 Cocktail for Simple Syrup recipe)
4 ounces fresh raspberries
 
Directions

1. Combine the raspberries and simple syrup in a blender and whirl them up until liquified.
2. Strain and reserve the liquid.
3. Raspberry syrup will keep for one week in the fridge.

 
ChefSecret:  Try using other berries for a refreshing change—blueberries or blackberries.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?”
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