With Cinco de Mayo coming up this weekend, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to share a wonderful cocktail that is meant to be enjoyed with company; in fact, the recipe below serves two people. We’ve already shared some great cocktails to mark this dramatic day in Mexican history, including a Strawberry Tequila Daisy, the mezcal-based Oaxacan Sunrise, and a classic Margarita. This twist on a classic cocktail is bursting with flavor (you won’t find poor quality tequila and boxed flavor mixes here!) and fresh ingredients: a Peach Margarita. – Andrew

Illustration by Caitlin Keegan for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Peach Margarita (serves two)

4 oz Tequila (we recommend anejo or reposado tequila, and always 100% agave)
2 oz Peach Liqueur
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Agave Syrup or Rich Simple Syrup
1 Peach, Peeled and Pitted*

Combine the tequila with the peach in a cocktail shaker, then muddle the peach well. Add the liqueur, juice, syrup, and plenty of ice, and shake well. Divide into two chilled cocktail glasses, straining out the pulp with a sieve or tea strainer, and enjoy with a friend.

There’s an enormously disturbing trend out there to use bottled mixes in cocktails. Tex-Mex restaurants have been guilty of this for a long time, making blended Margaritas with junky tequila (remember: always drink 100% agave!) and even junkier flavor mixes, made with sugar water and maybe some fruit juice. I’m seeing more and more like this at super markets – sour mixes, Mojito mixes, even a Bellini mix. To paraphrase Peggy Olson, these aren’t cocktails, they’re emergencies.

 

So put that bottled sour mix down and try a real drink with real ingredients, real fruit, and you’ll never go back. This drink has plenty of classic Margarita flavor, from the tequila’s vegetal agave to the sweet and sour for the Margarita’s citrus, but the fresh peach really shines through. The real thing is so much better than the fake that I can’t figure out why anyone would every have anything else.

*The easiest way to peel a ripe peach is as follows: bring a pot of water to a boil. Cut a cross-hatch in the skin at the bottom of the peach, then submerge it in the boiling water for 40-60 seconds (or longer for less-than-ripe peaches). Remove the peach from the water with a slotted spoon, then submerge it in a bowl filled with ice water. After a minute or two, the skin should peel right off. (This trick works great for tomatoes too.) Run a knife through the middle of the peach and twist it apart, just like you would an avocado, then take out the pit. And there you go! A peeled, pitted peach.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper