Jalepeño Honey Paloma

Welcome back to QCK!

I’m so excited because next week we’ll finally be getting into 80° weather here in MN! Usually, I’d love to spend the day on a patio with margaritas (I’m basic, judge me.) but since that’s not a real possibility at the moment, I’ll be making my own drinks and sitting in a park.

I love pretty much any drink that involves grapefruit, so it’s no secret that Palomas are a favorite of mine. They’re so refreshing. And since spicy margaritas are all the rage right now, I thought I’d do my own take.

So for this Paloma, I added a roasted jalapeño simple syrup. It brings in a fresh new flavor that accents the grapefruit so well. Plus a chile and lime salt rim for some extra fun. It’s fresh, sweet and a little spicy, everything you want on a hot afternoon.

Substitutions and Add On’s

• You can substitute grapefruit for any citrus you like, or even cucumber. But this is a great base recipe for any spicy margarita.
• You can substitute the grapefruit soda for any sparkling water you want.
• The jalapeño can be substituted with your favorite hot pepper.
• The rim can be just salt, salt and lime, or just tajin. You can also add sugar.
• This is a fun recipe to blend up with ice.
• These are also delicious without alcohol.
• You can substitute simple syrup for agave.
• If you want a little extra spice, you can muddle some roasted jalapeño and grapefruit pulp with the ice before mixing the drink.

Tips and Tricks

• Be sure to remove all the seeds from the jalapeño, no one wants to swallow a seed in their drink.
• This is also a really easy pitcher recipe, just double it and throw everything in a pitcher. Pour over ice.
• If you’re going to skip the simple syrup, make sure you use a different liquid form of sugar (agave works best). You want a liquid so it evenly mixes through the drink rather than settling at the bottom.
• Don’t skip out on using fresh juice when you’re making margaritas. Especially when it comes to citrus.

Recipe

Prep: 10 Mins

Cook: 10 Mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 Jalapeño
• 1/4 C Sugar
• 1/4 C Honey
• 1/2 C Water
• 4 L Ruby Red Grapefruits, juiced
• 1 Lime, juiced
• 1 C Tequila
• Tajin, Kosher or Sea Salt, Lime Zest, for rim, optional
• 4 Lime Wedges, for garnish, optional
• 1 Charred Jalapeño, quartered, for garnish, optional
• 1 C Grapefruit Soda or Sparkling Water
• Ice

Directions

1. Cut the jalapeño in half and remove all seeds. Place the pepper directly on the stove top on high heat or on a grill. Char on each side, 4-5 minutes.
2. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add sugar, honey, water and charred pepper. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, bring to a boil and cook until it begins to thicken, 3-5 minutes. Strain and set aside to cool.
3. Juice the lime and grapefruit.
4. Combine tajin, salt, and lime zest in a small bowl.
5. Run a lime wedge around the rim of each glass.
6. Dip the rim into the tajin mixture.
7. Add ice to each glass.
8. You can mix the drinks one of two ways, either by combining all ingredients in a pitcher and pouring into your prepared glasses.
9. Or by adding ice, 1 C Grapefruit juice, 1 oz simple syrup and 2 oz tequila to a cocktail shaker. Shake well and pour into your prepared glasses, then top with grapefruit soda or soda water.
10. Add jalapeño garnish if desired.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you tried it out let me know in the comments. For more recipes check out my homepage and follow along on Instagram. Don’t forget to like, follow, comment and share. Thanks for reading! 

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