Celebrate National Margarita Day w/ Fresh Orange Margaritas

Yep...today is National Margarita Day, and in honor of said "holiday," we suggest you celebrate with this delicious recipe for Fresh Orange Margaritas c/o local blogger, The Parsley Thief. 

I consider myself to be a very good margarita mixer and have made many different types over the years. One thing is always a constant and that is - Patrón tequila. Along with with the good tequila you must also have some sort of orange liqueur. Mostly, I use Cointreau {pricey!}...other times Triple Sec {when money's tight}....and once in a blue moon {usually because it's all I have laying around}, I'll use Grand Marnier. While I am sure this recipe would be equally delicious using blood oranges - I opted to use fresh Florida juice oranges because they're in season at the moment and I just so happened to have a 25 lb. box of them laying around.

In this particular instance I actually recommend you use Grand Marnier. I find it tends to be sweeter than the other orange liqueur options and I also find the orange flavor to be more intense. For this reason, it's not my favorite option when making a traditional margarita, because it tends to compete with the lime. Here, since the citrus being used is orange, it was the perfect compliment.

What makes this margarita special is the fresh squeezed orange juice, which is not what I would have ever thought to make one with - but it is so good. 

Fresh Orange Margarita

Makes one {strong} cocktail

If you find you'd like your drink a bit sweeter you could add in some simple syrup, or agave nectar.

3 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice

2 ounces Patrón Silver tequila

1 ounce Grand Marnier 

orange wedge & coarse sea salt, for optional garnish

Pour some coarse sea salt onto a plate. Rub a wedge of orange around the rim of a lowball glass {or a drinking glass of your choice} and dip into the salt. Add the orange juice, both liquors and a few ice cubes to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Add a few ice cubes to your prepared glass, strain in the contents of the shaker and serve.