I am so excited to bring you today's post! As you may recall from my Date Night article last week, I talked about the fabulous cooking class my husband and I had taken at CulinAerie. We had enjoyed the most delicious Hibiscus Margaritas during the class, but at the time I wasn't able to obtain a copy of the recipe, so I shared a link with you all to a similar hibiscus margarita recipe. In a joyous twist of fate, the chef from our cooking class, Eliza Gonzalez, ended up reading the post and sending me the Hibiscus Margarita recipe!

Ingredients

1/4 cup Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
3 cups of strongly brewed hibiscus tea (recipe below)
1/2-1 1/2 cups of Granulated Sugar (to taste)
1-1 1/2 cups Tequila Blanco
Slices of Lime and/or Key Limes to garnish

How to make hibiscus tea: Rinse ½ cup of hibiscus blossoms (about 1 ounce) and put in a saucepan with 3 cups water. Bring to a simmer and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain and let cool down completely. Add ½ cup sugar and stir until dissolved. Serve chilled or use as a base for margaritas. You can make this one day ahead.

Where to find hibiscus blossoms: Blossoms are sold dry. You can find them in Latin stores or at some organic markets in their bulk or loose tea /spice aisles. Hibiscus blossoms are also sold on Amazon.com.

Instructions

In a large pitcher, combine lime juice, hibiscus tea and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved.
Then add the tequila blanco to the mixture and set pitcher aside
Rim glasses with margarita salt (I really like this lime infused salt) and then fill serving glasses with ice
Pour margarita mixture into each glass and garnish with slices of lime and/or key lime.

These margaritas are the perfect late spring/summer cocktail to serve at your next gathering because they are easy to make, refreshing and so delicious! I also love that this recipe allows you to tailor the ingredients to your own preferences (ex. I prefer cocktails with less sugar and lots of citrus), and regardless of the modification the recipe still turns out perfectly. I am planning on serving these fabulous margaritas tonight with Eliza's recipe for Shrimp Tostados. I honestly couldn't think of a better way to celebrate TGIF, than with this delicious cocktail/nibble combination. Cheers to TGIF everyone!

Many thanks to Eliza, for allowing me to share her Hibiscus Margarita recipe today!