Last weekend, I gathered with a group of other bloggers to make and drink cocktails (#workishard).
Barb Keibel of Creative Culinary shared her cocktail making expertise (she posts a new drink on her blog every Friday — definitely check it out for new cocktail ideas!) and we all made variations of margaritas. It was amazing — there were more than 10 of us there and every single margarita was different. Huh.
Photo credit: Anshie Dhar
I opted for a Blueberry Basil Margarita and…man. It was quite tasty if I do say so myself. The basil-and-fruit combo just works. Light and springy and fruity, but also basily. Or something.
Photo credit: Anshie Dhar
But my favorite tip from Barb was to rim my drinks. I tend to just dump everything in a shaker, pour it over ice in a glass, and slam it down. Um, I mean, sip it in a tasteful and refined fashion until it is finished. But rimming the drinks with salt or sugar or — in some of her cases — cocoa, gives it that added little touch. The drink looks so pretty. And it tastes better, too. She suggested rimming margaritas with a mixture of salt and sugar together (one part of each) and it really turned out well.
Photo credit: Anshie Dhar
(That’s Jenny Finke. Fearless leader of the Denver Bloggers Club, and erstwhile hand model for the afternoon.)
You really can make an unlimited number of different margaritas, just by changing up what you decide to muddle in your shaker. Here’s what I went with:
Ingredients
- 1 handful (approx 1/3 c) fresh blueberries
- 4 basil leaves
- 2 lime wedges
- 3 oz (2 shots) limeade
- 2 oz (about 1 1/2 shots) tequila
- 1 1/2 oz (1 shot) triple sec
- ice
Instructions
- In a small saucer, combine 2 tsp salt and 2 tsp cake sugar.
- Run one lime wedge around the rim of two lowball or margarita glasses.
- Invert the glasses on the saucer to coat the rim with the salt/sugar mixture. Set aside.
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle blueberries, basil, and one lime wedge until the fruit is mostly liquid. Add ice until shaker is full. Pour limeade, tequila, and triple sec into shaker and shake.
- Fill glasses to the top with ice. Pour your shaken margarita over the ice.
- Add some blueberries and a basil leaf for garnish and serve.
A big thank you to Barb Kiebel of Creative Culinary, and to Sprouts Farmers Market for providing the food for our event!
If you’d like more drink ideas, try one of these:
-Sparkling Grapefruit Cocktail
I totally loved this color. So subtle and cute. It was so good to meet you.
Lovely to see your post and to meet you. I included your cocktail in my post too…I thought it had such a pretty muted color.