Flowers In Fall
November has arrived, and with it, the definitely-not-official start of cranberry season. But you see, in Texas the flowers are still blooming, and it’s still warm most of the time. I decided to take this opportunity to bring floral and Fall together into one of the Pinkest Drinks I’ve made in a long time.
The build is a margarita riff with a backbone of hibiscus-infused blanco tequila. Aldez kindly sent me a bottle to try and I am definitely a fan. It’s organic and clearly high quality, with the grassy agave notes you expect from a good blanco along with hints of pepper/spice almost leaning toward a note of vanilla. It is very enjoyable even neat!
The cranberry flavor in the drink comes from a shrub I made last year (they seriously last forever), which brings a bit of acid and sweetness and allows the lime/triple sec quantities to be reduced a bit. To highlight the seasonal flavors I added a bit of ginger and chocolate bitters. The result is bright, tart, incredibly flavorful margarita. The hibiscus and cranberry are always a good pair really pair, particularly with the orange liqueur. Highly recommend this one👌🏻
Recipe
1.75oz Hibiscus-infused blanco tequila (@aldeztequila, gifted)
0.5oz Cointreau (@cointreau_us)
0.5oz cranberry rosemary shrub (homemade)
0.5oz lime juice
1 dash ginger bitters (@hellabittersandsoda)
1 dash chocolate bitters (@scrappysbitters, gifted)
Combine all ingredients and add a few pebbles of crushed ice to the tin. Shake until frosty, dump into glass and top with crushed ice. Garnish with dehydrated orange + blood orange peel (homemade) and a hibiscus flower if you’re photographing (thanks to my neighbor who let me “borrow” the flower). Cheers!!
