Originally written for VinePair, December 2020
A balanced and refreshing Margarita is never out of season. Although this ubiquitous summertime cocktail might not be as front of mind during the colder months, with some simple changes to the ingredients, this cocktail will channel those cozy winter vibes.
This Winter Margarita recipe works perfectly with Don Julio Reposado, which has some pear and citrus on the palate, along with a touch of subtle smoke. Fresh lime juice is a must in any Margarita recipe, but instead of using a traditional orange liqueur to balance the recipe, this version calls for a spiced cranberry syrup that incorporates various warming spices. An optional addition is a few dashes of Bolivar bitters, which will further accentuate the spice flavors of this cocktail.
instructions:
Rim a rocks glass with lime and pink sea salt then set aside.
Combine Don Julio Reposado Tequila, lime juice, syrup, and bitters in a cocktail shaker.
Add ice and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.
Fine-strain into your prepared glass over fresh ice.
Garnish with skewered cranberries.
If you’ve got an Instagram or TikTok account and an interest in cocktails, you’ve likely heard of Jordan Hughes—if not by his given name, then because of the Parmesan espresso martini that he ushered into viral fame in 2023. But well before that briefly inescapable becheesed drink, Hughes was already well known online as the photographer, videographer, and recipe developer behind High-Proof Preacher, the award-winning Instagram account he started in 2017. Hughes brings the enthusiasm and energy…
A good cocktail becomes unforgettable when you infuse it with a little smoke. If you're new to crafting smoke-infused cocktails at home, it's important to know the best spirits to experiment with. To help answer this question, Tasting Table spoke with Jordan Hughes, author of "Twist: Your Guide to Creating Inspired Craft Cocktails" and content creator behind @highproofpreacher.
Cocktails are about big flavors and bold ingredients, and nothing embodies that ethos better than smoke. When done well, a hint of smokiness can take a drink from mid-tier to top-shelf. Since smoke is a gas rather than a liquid, imparting the flavor into your drink…
We made 5 different cocktails from my cocktail book “Twist - Your Guide to Creating Inspired Craft Cocktails.” If you haven’t picked up the book yet, I hope you do! Feel free to purchase from your local bookstore, online, or wherever you prefer– I am compensated the same regardless of where you purchase it, just FYI.
The cocktail recipes are listed in the book itself, but I wanted to share some links to some of the recommended products that I shared during the live class. Spirits can be difficult to order or buy online, due to every region having different liquor laws, so I’ll simply mention those by name and link to products like barware, syrups, bitters, etc.
Learning how to balance the five elements of flavor — umami/salt, bitter, sweet, sour and spice — is one of the fundamental tenets of both cooking and mixology. For many cocktail lovers on Instagram, seeing a reel of a drinks influencer cheekily sprinkling microplaned parmesan cheese atop an Espresso Martini may seem like pure chaos, but it is, in fact, the opposite: It’s a quintessential example of umami from the cheese balancing the bitterness of coffee.
When adding fresh herbs to cocktails, like basil or mint, many reach for the muddler and proceed to crush the herbs into pieces in the base of the cocktail shaker. There’s really no reason to do this and you probably shouldn’t because overly crushing the herbs may introduce unwanted bitterness in the cocktail.
The Old Fashioned meets… well… Pineapple! The star ingredient in this cocktail is Pineapple Demerara syrup- and it’s definitely worth making! The syrup itself can be a bit inconsistent, so you may need to adjust the amount you add to the cocktail to properly balance it.
Here’s a colorful twist on a Sidecar using Cointreau that I cold-infused with Hibiscus tea for 24 hours. The color turned out AMAZING and the added flavors of black current and lemon verbena from the tea paired exceptionally well with the cognac.
This syrup does not require any heat– as most involve heating various ingredients on the stove to properly integrate those ingredients and dissolve the sugar. However this no-cook syrup relies on the acid already present in the pineapple to break down the sugar over several hours,
As with many things in life, if you want to get a glimpse into what makes for a truly unique cocktail, you're better off asking someone who makes cocktails for a living. They've put their 10,000 hours in to get good at their craft, and all you have to do to reap the benefits is hear them out. In the interest of discovering what kinds of drinks are on the cutting edge, we reached out to Jordan Hughes, cocktail and spirits author and content creator behind @highproofpreacher…