Margarita Recipes From Our Favorite Hotels

By, Amy Cassell

A few places we’d like to be this weekend: The beach at Hotel Esencia. A swim-up bar in Los Cabos. A rooftop lounge in Mexico City. Where we will probably be: At home, dusting off our blenders and turning our backyards into makeshift cantinas. Until it’s OK to explore again, we’ve been keeping the travel flame alive with a whole lot of virtual travel experiences and some valiant attempts at Peruvian ceviche. In honor of Cinco de Mayo – which commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French in 1862 – we’ve rounded up five of the best margarita recipes from our friends at Virtuoso hotels. Choose your favorite for your next Zoom happy hour, and cheers!

For a Spin on the ClassicThe Cabo Green Margarita is from Esperanza, an Auberge Resorts Collection resort in Los Cabos.

• 2 oz. silver tequila (100 percent blue agave)

• 1 oz. pineapple juice

• 4 cucumber slices

• 7 fresh cilantro leaves

• ½ oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice

• ½ oz. agave or simple syrup

• 1½ cucumber slices, for garnish

Muddle cucumber slices, cilantro leaves, and tequila in a cocktail shaker and strain into a separate glass. Rinse shaker. Add the infused tequila, pineapple and lime juices, and agave to the shaker, fill with ice, and shake ten seconds. Serve in a salt-rimmed margarita or whisky glass and garnish with cucumbers.

For the Brunch CrowdThis avocado-centric take on the classic margarita from Los Cabos’ One&Only Palmilla also features a splash of antioxidant-rich spinach juice (see note below).

• 2 oz. Tequila Casa Dragones

• 1 oz. Cointreau

• ½ agave syrup

• ¾ lemon juice

• avocado

• 2 ½ oz. spinach juice

• A pinch of salt and pepper

Puree five spinach leaves in seven tablespoons of water in a blender. Add all ingredients to a shaker, fill with ice, and shake for 20 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.

Pixie Margarita from the Ojai Valley Inn.

For the Very DedicatedOjai Valley Inn‘s signature margarita is made with pixie tangerines, an only-in-Ojai hybrid that blooms every spring. (Order pixie tangerine juice here. In a pinch, substitute with your own tangerine juice.)

• 1½ oz. Codigo Blanco Tequila

• 1 oz. Cointreau

• 2 oz. fresh-squeezed Pixie tangerine juice

• ½ oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice

• ½ oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice

• Lime and tangerine wedges for garnish

Add all ingredients to a shaker full of ice. Shake vigorously. Wipe the rim of a rocks glass with a Pixie tangerine wedge, dip the glass into kosher salt, then fill with ice. The Strain cocktail into the glass and garnish with lime and Pixie tangerine wedges.

For Your Instagram FeedThe surprisingly refreshing ingredient in the Esencia Margarita – a favorite of the hip crowd at Hotel Esencia’s Beach Bar – is crushed ginger.    

• 1½ oz. Tequila Casa Dragones Blanco

• ½ oz. simple syrup

• 1 oz. Cointreau

• 2 oz. fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice

• One small rosemary sprig

• 5 grams of crushed ginger (roughly ½-inch piece, peeled and smashed)

Muddle rosemary, ginger, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add the tequila, Cointreau, juice, and ice, and shake vigorously. Double strain and serve on the rocks in a whiskey glass. Garnish with a rosemary sprig and a grapefruit peel twist.

For a Little KickPepper syrup and Ancho Reyes liquor give the Pedregal Reyes – a signature margarita at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal – a hefty dose of spice. To make the pepper syrup, bring chili peppers, sugar, and water to a boil in a saucepan and stir till sugar dissolves. Strain and let cool before using.

• 2 oz. reposado tequila

• 1 oz. Ancho Reyes liquor

• 1 oz. fresh orange juice

• 1 oz. fresh grapefruit juice

• 1 oz. fresh lime juice

• 1 oz. pasilla pepper syrup

• A splash of pomegranate juice

• Grapefruit rind and pepper tuile for garnish.

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a salted-rim rocks glass over ice. Garnish with grapefruit rind and a pepper tuile.