Grilled Margaritas

The addition of grilled lime juice gives these margaritas a unique flavor profile. Compared to a traditional margarita, the flavor is a little less "bright" and it has a subtle caramelized/charred flavor to it. Next time you're outside grilling, save some space on the grill for a few limes and try it out!

The first time I had grilled limes was when I made my tamarind lime beef skewers and I was surprised how good they were. Immediately, I thought about making them into a drink but it's taken me over a year to finally do it, partially because I couldn't decide on what kind of drink I wanted to make. I was also considering limeades or fruit juices but finally, I decided to develop a recipe using alcohol for the first time.

Those of you who came over from my blog already know I have a severe gluten intolerance so I haven't dabbled much in recipes involving alcohol since the gluten-free status of a lot of alcohol can be questionable. It took forever but I finally decided on some brands that I felt confident were gluten free. So if you use the brands called for in the ingredient list, that will make this drink celiac-friendly. Otherwise, feel free to substitute your favorite brands or whatever you happen to have on hand.

For each drink, you'll need:

• approx. 1/2 lime (you'll need 1 oz of juice)
• 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 1/2 oz Patron Silver Tequila
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1/2 oz honey
• 1/2 oz water (optional)
• ice
• coarse salt for rim
• lime wedge to garnish, if desired

Cut each lime in half and rub about a tablespoon of coconut sugar into each half. If you don't have coconut sugar, you can sub brown or white sugar but it's a lot sweeter so you may need to reduce the amount of honey used if you don't like your margaritas overly-sweet.

Place the limes cut-side down on a hot grill and close the lid for a few minutes.

After a few minutes on the hot grill, the lime rinds will begin to turn a yellow/brown color and the cut side will start to char. More char will give the lime juice a better flavor.

Allow these to cool for a few minutes until you can comfortably handle them. Squeeze the lime juice into a bowl then measure out 1 oz of juice per drink.

Place salt on a small plate. Rub the rim of a drinking glass with a little lime juice and roll the rim in the salt to coat. Alternatively, you can substitute coconut sugar for the salt. Add some ice cubes to your glass, if desired.

In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, honey, and a little water if you don't like your margaritas strong (just don't add too much if you're serving these over ice too!) Strain into your serving glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

You can see more of my drink recipes here.