Fizzy Margarita

I'm not much of a hard liquor drinker; but when I do, a margarita is my go to drink for sure. And the only thing that could possibly be any better than a fresh margarita is a fresh margarita with bubbles!

This drink comes together super easily with just four ingredients: lime juice, tequila blanco, a squeeze of agave syrup, and fizzy sparkling water. That's it! So because there are not a lot of bells and whistles to hide behind in this cocktail, we want to make sure we're using quality ingredients.

Let's start with the lime juice. Of course, freshly squeezed lime juice is the only way to go when it comes to a margarita. But let's be honest, sometimes we just don't want to spend all day squeezing limes, especially if we're serving margaritas to a crowd. You can buy bottled lime juice, but oftentimes those are made from a concentrate that have added sugars and preservatives. I found a brand, Santa Cruz Organic, that makes bottled juices (lemon, lime, etc) using pasteurized organic juice. So, each bottle has about a 2 months shelf life, and the only ingredient is pure juice. That's what I like to use for these drinks, because it's a super easy, super fresh hack!

For our tequila, we want to use a tequila blanco for this drink. This type of tequila is the most agave forward, because it's bottled straight from the distillery without any barrel aging. So, there are no oaky flavors competing with the citrus in our drink. For many, many years; I was stuck in the “college” mentality when it came to buying tequila...I wanted whatever was cheapest. But, I've learned that the quality of tequila does matter. So, spend a couple extra dollars for a good tequila. I actually really like The Rock's brand, Teremana. It's smooth, delicious, and very reasonably priced for the high quality.

Because I don't like orange, you'll never see traditional orange liqueur in my margaritas. So, to make up for that extra pop of sweetness that the orange would bring, I like to use a squeeze of agave syrup in my margaritas. It adds that perfect touch of light sweetness while bringing the drink full circle from tequila distilled from the blue agave plant to a sweetener derived from the same plant.

What makes this margarita extra special is the fizzy bubbles we're going to use to finish the drink. Once we have our lime juice, tequila, and agave syrup shaken together over some ice, we'll pour the mix into a glass rimmed with some coarse sea salt (if you like a salted rim). Then, we'll finish the drink with a healthy pour of sparkling water. And to really celebrate the citrusy lime in this drink, I like to use sparkling water that has a twist of lime. This sparkling water is what makes this drink feel nice and light and perfectly refreshing.

It's also what helps it go down REALLY smooth. So, watch out. These sneak up on you!

If I'm being honest, I don't need it to be summer weather to enjoy this simply delicious cocktail. There's no doubt you'll be seeing these in my hand all throughout the winter months too.

As always, please drink responsibly!

I hope you all enjoy, and let's drink!