Mango Tango Margarita

Happy Cinco De Mayo Everyone! It's Fiesta time and what better way to celebrate than with a good margarita. This mango tango margarita is so full of flavor that it will get you up and dancing in the streets!

I love the Mexican culture, the food, and of course the drinks (*wink wink) and I wanted to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with a good margarita. I went to Mexico for the first time last year and there was a place I visited that made the best margaritas I've ever had. It was not like those frozen margaritas that you get a little mexican restaurant in your hometown. These were truly authentic and the best ever. I wanted to try and recreate these oh so delicious margaritas. Of course they gave us the recipe when I was there, but it was a little over a year ago and I don't remember the recipe that much. But from what I do remember, this recipe that I did is pretty close. I put my own twist on it and even though it's not exactly like it, I think my twist on it makes it more flavorful and more awesome.

Here's the recipe:

2 oz (1/4 cup) of gold tequila especial with blue agave

2 oz (1/4 cup) of orange liqueur (triple sec)

2 oz (1/4 cup) of orange infused simple syrup

2 oz (1/4 cup) of fresh mangos cut and peeled

2 oz (1/4 cup) of mango juice

2 oz (1/4 cup) of lemon, lime, or fresh squeezed orange juice

2 cups of ice

2 tsp. of tajin chili powder or regular chili powder, sugar, or salt (to decorate glass)

2 tsp. of lemon, lime, or orange juice (to decorate glass)

Total prep time: 10 min

Serves: 2 margaritas

*If you want to serve 4 margaritas or more, double the recipe by 2 more oz and 2 more cups of ice.

First, I made my own orange infused simple syrup since I didn't have any. If you also don't have any, you can also make it. It's pretty simple to make. All you need is 2 parts sugar to 1 part water, 2 tbsp. of fresh squeezed orange juice and 2 tsp. of orange zest. What I did first was pour 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, 2 tbsp. of water, 2 tbsp. of fresh orange juice, 2 tsp. of orange zest into a saucepan and bring to boil on medium high heat. Lowered the heat to a simmer and continuously stirred for 2-3 minutes. Depending on how thick you want the syrup, simmer for a couple more minutes. Take it of the heat, let it cool and the flavors infuse for at least 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes of cooling and infusing the flavors, pour the syrup through a mesh strainer to strain out the zest. Now if you want to keep the zest, you can omit this step.

After I made my orange infused syrup, I got out my nifty little blender and poured in 2 oz of gold tequila, orange liqueur, orange infused syrup. I had a jar of fresh mangos so I didn't have to cut and peel. Poured in 2 oz of mangos in with 2 oz (1/4 cup) of mango juice from the jar. Then I poured in 2 oz. of fresh squeezed orange juice from 1 orange and 2 cups of ice. Put the lid on top and let it rip.

After blending, I took 2 saucers and poured 2 tsp. of orange juice from an orange in one and in the other saucer 1 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of chili powder. *If you're wondering where to get the tajin chili powder, you can get it at your local grocery store. If you can't find it, you can use regular chili powder. *Now if you don't want salt or chili powder, you can use a turbinado sugar or regular granulated sugar. I didn't have a margarita glass, so I took a what I call "on the rocks" glass and coat the rim of the glass in the orange juice and the chili powder and salt to decorate.

Poured the mango tango margarita in the glass, took a slice of an orange and put on the edge to make it look pretty.

Now take a drink and lets Fiesta!

Happy Cinco De Mayo and Salud!