Blood Orange Margarita
This is my new FAVORITE margarita, hands down! Blood orange pairs remarkably with tequila and created an amazing new margarita flavor. I paired the fresh blood orange juice with reposado tequila because reposado is an aged tequila with a smoother finish, hints of vanilla, and toasty, earthy notes. The two work together so well, especially when sweetened with agave syrup!
The flavor of blood orange is quite different from regular orange, it’s sweeter, more tangy, less citrusy, and far more aromatic. Personally, I also get a hint of floral from the blood orange juice. This makes a very special kind of margarita!
Tips for Making The Best Blood Orange Margaritas
I do love margaritas, and made quite a few (hundreds) of them. There are some tricks that I’ve learned to make the margaritas the best:
- First of all, always use freshly squeezed juices.
- Second of all, use good liquor. While you don’t have to use top shelf, you do want to stay away from bottom shelf ones.
- I do highly recommend that you pair the blood orange juice with a reposado tequila, at least give it a try.
- As far as the orange liqueur, lighter orange liqueurs like Cointreau or triple sec work well but I don’t recommend Grand Marnier, it’s way too sweet and a bit overpowering.
- When I was bartending, I always used a quick hand blender to mix the margarita ingredients (not with ice). This incorporated them very well and all my regulars loved it. At home, I found that vigorously shaking the mixture in the cocktail shaker for a good 15-20 seconds works the same.
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Blood Orange Margarita Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz reposado tequila
- 1 oz orange liqueur like Triple sec or Cointreau
- 2 oz fresh squeezed blood orange juice about 1 blood orange
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 3/4 oz agave syrup
Instructions
- Rub a rim of the glass with a lime wedge to get some juice onto it and dip it into the coarse salt. Set the glasses aside.
- Squeeze as much juice from the blood orange as you can and strain it though the fine mesh strainer. (One ripe blood orange can usually give me 2 oz. of juice but always have an extra one just in case.) Squeeze lime juice from 1/2 lime, that usually is enough for 1 oz.Tip: use either a citrus press, or a handheld juicer, or an electric juicer. (see links above if needed)
- Add some ice to the cocktail shaker and add reposado tequila, Cointreau, blood orange juice, lime juice, and agave nectar.
- Close the shaker and vigorously shake for about 20 seconds.
- Add some ice to the glass, be careful not to knock off the salt off the rim, and pour in the margarita into the glass through the strainer.(Or you can pour in the entire content of the cocktail shaker into the glass instead of using fresh ice in the glass.)
Notes
- Is margarita gluten free? Yes! Typically, all margaritas are gluten free, as tequila is made with agave, therefor making it a gluten free liquor. All of the other ingredients listed here are also gluten free, so it’s a safe cocktail to drink if you’re on a strict no-gluten diet. As always, do check labels of the liquors you choose to be safe!
- Can I use bottled blood orange juice? While fresh juice will give you the best flavor, you can use bottled. Just note that it may not be widely available at all grocery stores.
Nutrition
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Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
