Old-Fashioned
Robert Simonson
1807 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,807
2 minutes
Spicy Cucumber Margaritas
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 drinks (1½ cups each)
- 1pound Persian cucumbers (about 7 cucumbers), roughly chopped
- ½cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
- ⅓cup granulated sugar
- 1½teaspoons finely grated fresh lime zest plus ¼ cup lime juice (from about 3 limes)
- 2teaspoons minced jalapeño, plus more diagonal slices for garnish
- Sea salt, as needed
- 6 to 8ounces white tequila, depending on preferred strength
- Ice, as needed
Preparation
- Step 1
In a high-speed blender, blend the cucumbers, cilantro, sugar, lime zest, lime juice and minced jalapeño until mixture is foamy and blended. (Reserve the lime rinds for Step 3.)
- Step 2
Pour mixture into a fine-mesh sieve set over a large measuring cup and strain liquid from solids. (You may want to stir the liquid a bit to speed up the process.) You should have 1½ cups strained liquid; discard the solids. Stir in a large pinch of salt (about ⅛ teaspoon). Mix strained cucumber liquid with tequila; set aside or refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
- Step 3
When ready to serve, rim your glass with salt, if desired. Using the reserved lime rinds, moisten the rim of a rocks glass. Set 3 tablespoons sea salt in a shallow rimmed plate, and dip the moistened rim of each glass into the salt to coat. Fill glasses with ice.
- Step 4
Working in batches, shake margaritas in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Divide among prepared rocks glasses. Set a slice or two of jalapeño directly on top of the ice in each glass, as desired for heat, and serve immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ellen
This is sensational. I recommend 2 ounces of tequila for every 4 ounces of the spicy cucumber mix.
Jennie
This was fine. I think I expected more. For us, it needed both more sugar and more lime juice.
gastronomnivore
Flavors sound promising but the math is off. 1 1/2 cups liquid after cucumber mix (step 2) is strained, plus 8 oz tequila (aka 1 cup), makes 2 1/2 cups total. That cannot possibly produce 6 drinks of 1 1/2 cups each. If you divide that into 6 glasses you will get just over 3 oz each (20 oz total /6). Standard pour is 1.5 oz tequila per drink, heavy hand is 2 oz each. More realistic to expect 4 drinks from this and they’ll be well under a cup of liquid total each.
Liquor Distributor
Just go buy 21 seeds cucumber jalapeño, simple syrup and lime!
Sarah
I wanted to like this! It has many of my favorites in it and I like sweet cocktails. Unfortunately this drink is one dimensional and overly sweet. Boo
Erin
Agree with the comments about tweaking the sweet/sour ratio on this a bit! Firstly I would use an english cucumber rather than several persian cucumbers if I had one on hand vs. the other. I think this concoction would benefit from a cucumber with a little more water content but it won't make or break the drink. What really matters IMO is decreasing the amount of sugar to at most 1/4 cup, and doubling the amount of limes you're juicing. Rim your glasses with Chamoy then dip in Tajin and enjoy!
Quincy & Marc
As is, this turns out rather sweet & not super flavorful. Agreed with others to up the lime and lower the sugar. I also used Reposado tequila, which turned out well (assuming you’ve upped the lime)
Andrea
Loved this. Used extra jalapeño and lime, less sugar. Next time I’ll serve with a Tajin rim.
marty
This sounded too time consuming, but surprising easy and my happy hour friends and I all loved this with tequila. I used a Fresno Chile for a bit more heat and worried when I tasted it that the heat would overpower the drink. Instead just enough kick
Lauren
Delish. Ton of effort straining. If you have a juicer, this is a 3-minute process and your cocktail is smooth, like the photo. Mezcal or gin makes this even more exciting. Didn’t find sugar necessary. Instead, use liquid sugar to taste.
Betsy
Didn't find this all that flavorful. Not worth the effort to me.
ACMadigan726
I added a shot of ginger from Trader Joes and a few mint leaves. I agree with others that next time I would use less sugar. Nonetheless, I thought it was delicious. Love the grassiness of the cilantro and wish I had used more. I probably used barely a 1/2c
acmadigan726
P.S. I liked it better with gin than tequilla.
Alden
Made without jalapeños or cilantro. Good!
Angel
Do you think I can batch this up for a party and separate some of the cucumber/lime/jalapeno base for an agua fresca for those who don't drink alcohol? Or would the jalapeno be strange?
Elisha
Wasn't a fan I love the idea of this and thought it would be so yummy, but it was just lacking depth mostly.
Elisha
I left the sugar out completely and added agave after mixing in the tequila and it is delicious!
Andres
How much agave did you use?
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