Cilantro Lime Margarita

I came across the recipe for this cocktail on Google+. Melissa Nof of The Dailynoff website is a mixologist from the Pacific Northwest and reading her description for the Cilantro Lime Margarita intrigued me. The thing about Cilantro is that there are many people who do not like that little green leafy herb. I personally don't have an issue with this. I could never make it for Momma-San since she hates herself some cilantro. Oh well, I guess I'll have to test this one on myself.

Here is how to make the cocktail as per Melissa's instructions:

Cilantro Lime Margarita
1.5oz Favorite Silver Tequila (I used Casa Noble)
.5oz Grand Marnier (or tripel sec)
1oz Sweet and Sour
Juice from two halves of a freshly cut lime
2 lime slices
1 tbsp of freshly minced cilantro
salt (for rimming glass)

Mince your cilantro first just to get that out of the way first.  Next, place two lime slices and tequila into shaker with the cilantro.  Muddle thoroughly until limes looked sufficiently smushed.  Then squeeze the juice from the lime halves on in. Add the oz of sweet and sour. Now it’s time to shake.  

Try to shake hard enough so the ice breaks down a little bit creating the ‘crushed ice’ effect in your margarita.  Once you’ve achieved this, pour the whole thing in a salt rimmed margarita glass.  Float the Grand Marnier on the top and garnish with a lime wedge.

I chose to omit the salt since I tend to stay away from the excess salt. Aside from that, I made this cocktail as directed and I have to admit that this is a very interesting combination of ingredients here.

The cocktail is very herbal, especially to the nose due to the cilantro. It does work well together with the Espolón silver, Grand Marnier and the fresh lime/fresh sweet and sour. It is a very light cocktail albiet a bit tarter than I would like. I agree with Melissa, this is a nice summery kind of drink.

I made a second one with a slight difference. Here is my recipe:

Cilantro Lime Margarita
1.5oz Espolón Silver Tequila 
.5oz Grand Marnier 
1oz Freshly made Sweet and Sour Mix
Juice from half a freshly cut lime
2 lime slices
1 tbsp of freshly minced cilantro
Splash of freshly squeezed orange juice

Mince the cilantro. Place two lime slices and tequila into shaker with the cilantro. Muddle. Squeeze the limes into the shaker, add the sweet and sour and the Grand Marnier. Add ice. Shake thoroughly and pour into a glass. Add more ice if needed. 

The splash of orange juice tempers the tartness of the lime juice and sweet and sour. My sweet and sour tends to be on the tarter side so if you don't want to add the orange juice AND you don't want it tart then you should probably use the juice of half a lime rather than a whole lime as in the original recipe. I really do like this cocktail. Now if we can get those people who don't like cilantro to give this cocktail a shot...

Thanks to Melissa Nof for this recipe. Please give her page a look and give her a follow on Twitter @TheDailynoff. Tell her SiscoVanilla sent you.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
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