Hot Chili, Lime & Sea Salt Syrup
In a small saucepan, combine:
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest
- 2 sliced jalapeno peppers, including seeds
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt > I used Sale di Cervia
- juice of one lime
- optional: handful of Thai chiles or other hot peppers
Bring to a boil, and stir with a whisk, and let simmer on low for twenty minutes. Cool briefly, strain, and bottle as desired.
Add to cocktails and mocktails for that extra something, in place of where agave is often called for in margaritas.
Enjoy!
Use in a traditional margarita recipe like so for a pleasant kick….
For an easy, spicy margarita (if there was a photo I’d have a perkier name for this, of course) combine 2 ounces silver tequila, 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice, 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice, 1/4-1/2 ounce of the spicy syrup (depending on how sweet & spicy you like your cocktails) and pinch of salt in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake, and pour into a glass with a salted rim, if so desired. Garnish with fresh lime and sliced jalapeno.
Next up, perfecting the cucumber margarita (I’ve got the color, but I’m working on the consistency), awaiting my cohorts’ take on the avocado margarita, an Austin cocktail round-up, plenty of culinary back-log, and making my own infused margarita salts. I’m still swooning over smoked salt & hibiscus-scented rims at La Condesa…
Ooh, this sounds very interesting indeed! A hot and spicy simple syrup sounds perfect for margaritas. 🙂
hell yeah!
Yes!! This is awesome. Pinning for those warm margarita days that are just around the corner. P.S. Every day is a “wake up in the morning with a countdown for the cocktail hour type-of-day” for me!
This was so good! Thanks for the recipe – I made this (and the margaritas) yesterday, and it was great. If I wanted to do a similar syrup with mint or basil, would I still simmer it like this, or just infuse the “raw” herbs into the syrup over time?
Hi Sarah –
That is so swell to hear you’re enjoying it! Yes, you can definitely do similar with fresh herbs on the stove top, no need to infuse. I’ve done similar with mint-cucumber syrup and basil-lime.
Now, if you wanted to do a tincture or a homemade liquor, however, infuse – if that makes sense.