Spicy Celery Margarita
Never have I made so many cocktails as in quarantine. Which isn’t entirely to say that my alcohol consumption has been spiking, but instead that mixology at home has never been my thing. A cocktail was something to leave the house for. But thanks to a class that my friend Emmanuel Rosario taught two days before everything shut down, as well as John deBary’s wonderful new book Drink What You Want, this foray into a new realm has been enlightening and a lot of fun.
The theme-and-variations nature of mixology, at least in this period of my learning, feels so much more explicit in drinks than it does in food, and I find that refreshing. So often there’s a reference point, a formula, or some foundation being knowingly built on and played with in a drink, and what it means to be a good bartender is to internalize and master all that stuff. A margarita, I learned from John’s book, is essentially a riff on a daiquiri, but with orange liqueur (Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Triple Sec, orange Curacao) for the sweetener, which makes it boozier. He also points out that the Sidecar is the margarita’s “fraternal twin,” with his two recipes having the exact same structure, and points out that the sidecar belongs to the Daisy family of drinks, and did you know that margarita, in Spanish, means “daisy”? Lots of interplay and overlap, and while I’m calling the drink in my recipe here a margarita, since that’s where my head is at when I make one, you could take it in a few different directions.
And where my head is at… is a bustling patio in the full sun, licking salt off the rim of a glass, snacking on tortilla chips and guacamole, gently surrendering to a happy tequila buzz… and I’ve been trying to create that feeling at home. This margarita is something of a spin on a cucumber margarita, but more savory (but not in a green juice way—there’s still a nice balance of sweetness). John has a great trick for making infused/flavored syrups, where you blitz sweetener, water, and aromatics in a blender, and then strain. This dissolves the sugar, infuses the syrup without heat, and eliminates the tedium of simmering anything on the stove. I’ve utilized the technique here, combining it with the step of making celery juice, too.
My recipe has a 3-3-2 formula (tequila-celery juice-lime), so it’s easy to multiply, and even batch if you’d like. For batching, you’d compromise the frothy, icy, necessary dilution by mixing it in advance, but it’d still be worth it. Just add a few ice cubes to the pitcher, keep it in the refrigerator for up to a few hours in advance, and then give it a good stir before pouring it into ice-filled glasses. I prefer the flavor of serrano chile to jalapeno, but use what you’ve got—or adjust the heat by leaving it out, or by adding some of the seeds. I haven’t have agave on hand, so I haven’t tried using that as the sweetener, but I think it’d work great—start with about 2 tablespoons in place of the sugar. And another thing I haven’t yet tried, but which makes perfect sense, is dipping the rims in celery salt. As always, I’d love to hear how your experiments go.
Spicy Celery Margarita
Makes 1 drink, but easily multiplied
1½ ounces sweetened celery juice (see below)
1½ ounces blanco or reposado tequila (Espelon and Cazadores are my go-to’s)
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
Kosher salt, for rimming the glass
Celery sprig and lime wedge, for garnish
Sweetened Celery Juice
4 long stalks celery, scrubbed and chopped into 1- to 2-inch segments
1 serrano chile, seeded and coarsely chopped
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup water
To make the sweetened celery juice: Combine the celery, chile, sugar, and water in a blender and blend for 60 to 90 seconds, increasing the speed incrementally, until thoroughly blended and the sugar is dissolved. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids with a spatula or wooden spoon to extract as much juice as possible. If you don’t have a sieve, line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth, pour the mixture through, then gather up the corners of the cloth and wring out all the liquid. You’ll have about 1 cup juice, and any leftovers are great added to seltzer, with a squeeze of lime.
To make 1 drink: In a shaker filled with ice (or large mason jar, or anything roughly the same size as a shaker and that you can seal), combine the celery juice, tequila, and lime juice. Shake for 15 seconds. (Emmanuel taught me that to to this without wearing out your arm, you have to let the shaker, not your upper arm and shoulder, do the work. So, rather than holding the shaker upright and clasping it from the top and bottom with both hands, turn the shaker on its side [which will disengage your shoulder from the movement], hold the lid tight with one hand, and move the shaker left and right by essentially flicking your wrist, letting your forearm guide the motion of the ice and liquid inside. This is similar to learning how to whisk egg whites or cream by hand—you don’t want to put your whole upper body into it, you just want to flick your wrist around in a circular motion against the curve of the bowl, letting the utensil follow its natural path and do the work for you. I learned this technique by tucking a folded up newspaper into my armpit. Apologies for the digression.) Strain the drink over fresh ice in a salt-rimmed tumbler, garnish with the celery sprig and lime, and serve immediately.