Stawberry Margarita - Cocktails with Colleen

If you have spent time around Zok and I, then you know that he is the "girly" drinker and I am more a 'bourbon neat'.

As much as I prefer a freshly shaken (in America called the bartender style) lime margarita, when only Zok and I are home, I find it too easy to just drink the blended strawberry margaritas with him.

I have some rules when it comes to blended drinks-if I have a lesser alcohol I use it, because the quality gets a bit lost in the mix.

So I will use the cheapest tequila, and triple-sec instead of a nice aged agave or silver with Cointreau which is a must for the shaken, lime style. (in my opinion).

I also think of this drink as needing to be more carefully measured than most blended drinks.

I like the taste of the lime to come through.

In a pinch, or if I want the drink to have less of a punch, I will add in orange juice.

You can add water to all drinks actually, and if I am entertaining, I will make up jars of fresh lime cooked up with sugar and water, or towards the end of berry season I slightly cook my cut strawberries, with a bit of sugar and water and freeze them ready for the blender.

Again if there are only two of you, your ingredients do not need to go that far.

Blender for two

Always have more strawberries than you might need-

Cut up your strawberries, about 3/4 c to a cup per drink

2 limes squeezed (they juice easier if you roll them back and forth under your palm before cutting)

2 shots of tequila (you can do a small tequila float on top if you have one person wanting a stronger taste)

1 shot of triple-sec (or cointreau)

Lots of crushed ice (crush the ice before blending and you will get a nice smooth blend that will not separate quickly)

Simple Syrup 

*If you are going to make cocktails a couple of times a week it is well worth cooking up simple syrup to have ready to go.  I make mine two to one, two cups of sugar to one cup of water and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator to have ready to go.

To sugar coat your glasses it is best to use caster sugar.

Put a small amount on a small plate, use a bit of your lime rind when you are juicing those to coat the rim of the glass and then immediately place the glass rim down on your plate and twist it until it is coated in sugar.

If you live in a hot area, it is worth frosting your glasses in the freezer, or if you have the room just keeping glasses in your refrigerator.