The O3 arrived, and the bottle itself was quite attractive.  A rectangular, amber-colored bottle with a nice weight to it, it would look beautiful on a bar shelf.  The weekend couldn’t come soon enough to give this liqueur a try.

Combined with tequila, lemon juice, and seltzer (for us weaker drinkers), the O3 added a wonderful combination of orange and sweetness to the margarita.  There was no syrupy feel, as can happen when using lesser quality orange liqueurs.  The O3 made our homemade margaritas brighter and tastier.

With the long weekend ahead of us, I’m sure a round or two of these will be made.

O3 Margarita

lime wedge

2 Tb. kosher salt

2 Tb. sugar

2 oz. tequila

1 oz. O3

1 oz. lemon juice

seltzer

Rub lime wedge along rim of margarita glass.  Combine sugar and salt on a plate, invert glass, and coat rim with sugar/salt mixture.

Fill martini shaker with ice.  Add tequila, O3, and lemon juice.  Shake well and pour into margarita glass.  (Strain, if you prefer your margarita up.)  Fill with seltzer.

Although we all have our go-to recipes or margarita mixes, sometimes it is fun to give a new recipe a try.  If you’re looking for something a little more elegant, The High-Roller may be the drink for you.  Made with Grand Marnier instead of triple sec and Cuervo Reserva de la Familia, you have a margarita that transforms this beverage from an everyday classic to an elegant cocktail.

A great margarita and some tasty dishes, such as nachos or enchiladas will make your Margarita Day celebration quite satisfying.

The High-Roller

1 oz. Cuervo Reserva de la Familia

1/2 oz. Grand Marnier

2 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tsp. salt (optional)

1 lime wedge

Fill a martini shaker with crushed ice.  Add Cuervo Reserva de la Familia, Grand Marnier, and lime juice.  Shake well.  Rim old-fashioned glass with salt, if desired.  Fill with ice.  Pour margarita into glass, and garnish with lime wedge.

Seriously, this is a holiday that is being recognized on February 22nd.  Being a Tuesday, it may or may not be the best night to stop by your favorite Mexican restaurant or bar, so why not make a batch at home?  In the midst of the cold of winter, a margarita will bring your mind to the warmth of summer.

Start a new tradition, celebrate National Margarita Day.  Courtesy of Mark Drew, mixologist and Tequila Herradura ambassador, this recipe is sure to be a favorite.

Watermelon and Apple Margarita

2 oz. Herradura Silver Tequila

1/2 oz. lime juice

1/2 oz. agave nectar

1 oz. watermelon juice

1 oz. apple juice

1 apple fan

Fill a martini shaker with ice, and add all ingredients except apple fan.  Shake well and strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass.  Garnish with apple fan.

Preparing your margarita glass is simple. Take two saucers or shallow bowls, fill one with water and one with margarita salt. If you don’t have margarita salt, sea salt or kosher salt both make fine substitutes. Dip the rim of the glass first in the water, then in the salt. That’s all there is to it.

For a cool new twist on this old favorite, add sangria to your margarita. The sweet red wine and diced fruit combination gives a refreshing lift to the tartness of the tequila and lime. If you like a sweeter cocktail, you can add a mix, or use limeade instead of fresh lime. If you prefer the do-it-yourself method to using a mix, you can prepare your own simple sugar at home by mixing two parts sugar to one part water and boiling for five minutes. When the mixture cools, bottle and refrigerate it; it will last a couple of weeks. When you mix your margaritas, add a shot of your sugar water with fresh lime juice.

Normally I am not a huge fan of frozen drinks; they’re simply too filling.  However, on a warm weekend afternoon, they make the perfect indulgence.  What could be a better way to spend an hour?  Put your blender to work, and then enjoy your frosty beverage on your front porch swing.

Here’s to hoping for warm, sunny weather this weekend!

Fiery Fiesta Margarita

6 oz. pineapple juice

1 mango, peeled, seeded, & sliced

2 cups Jose Cuervo Golden Margarita Mix

3 cups ice

3 large frozen strawberries

1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded & cored

4 Tb. Jose Cuervo Tequilla Gold

Garnish: minced jalapeño

Place the pineaplle juice, mango, margarita mix, and ice in a blender, and blend until smooth.  After it is combined, add frozen strawberries and 1/2 jalapeño.  Blend again until it looks like confetti.  Divide among 4 margarita glasses, and garnish each with 1 tablespoon of tequila gold and minced jalapeño.

Enjoy!

Every once in a while all of the options for writing a drink recipe aren’t available.  I haven’t tried a new cocktail at a restaurant.  I don’t have suggested concoctions.  I didn’t host a party and share a new drink.  When this happens, I actually have to take the time and create a recipe.  Sure, I could tour the Internet and find a recipe and call it my own, but that isn’t right. Plus, making a drink isn’t as easy as just reading a recipe.  You need to tweak each recipe to meet your preferences.  So, even though a cocktail might sound delicious, once made it could be too sweet, too heavy, too strong, etc.

So, this week I needed to create a recipe, just for the sake of posting a new recipe.  Of course, I guess it wasn’t an awful burden.  I mean, I did get to enjoy the fruits of my labor.  I did find a new drink that could work well as an offering at a Mexican-themed party.  Maybe lacking an article topic for this week’s cocktail article was another perk. . .

Pineapple Margarita

1-1/2 oz. tequila

1-1/2 oz. pineapple juice

1/2 oz. lemon juice

splash simple syrup

seltzer

Fill a martini shaker with ice.  Add tequila, juices. and simple syrup.  Shake well.  Pour contents (including ice) into a margarita glass.  Fill with seltzer, and enjoy!

When you hear those two words, what is your reaction?  Do you see hearts and flowers and eagerly anticipate the holiday that you will spend with your one true love?  Perhaps you roll your eyes back and wish that you could hide under the covers all day?  Or maybe you really have no opinion about it, it just is another day of the week?

Regardless to how you feel about Valentine’s Day, there’s no reason not to have a cocktail in honor of this day.  Even if you don’t like the day, you still can enjoy a delicious cocktail.  To help you find the perfect cocktail, Parched No More has collected a dozen recipes that will appeal to those who are in love and those who feel scorned.

Check out our Valentine’s Day cocktails, decide which you like best, and then share your thoughts.  On Friday, February 12th we will announce which cocktail was the most popular and share its exact recipe.  Being two days before the holiday, you’ll have time to gather all of the ingredients and make a drink for you (and others, if you wish).

The Lolita- raspberry vodka, Chambord, cranberry juice, sour mix, champagne (Joel Finsel, Caffe Phoenix, Wilmington, NC)

Dulce Kiss- muddled strawberries, Malibu rum, Castries Peanut Liqueur (Darryl Robinson, DR Mixologist, New York City)

Yellow Roses- honey, lavender-infused vodka, lemon juice (Top Flr, Atlanta, GA)

French Kiss- Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur, Ketel One Vodka, Captain Morgan Rum, Chambord (RA Sushi Bar Restaurant, Atlanta, GA)

Hearts Afire- Bacardi Dragonberry Rum, lime juice, simple syrup, sage leaves, strawberries, club soda (Adrienne Seabloom, Will Rogers Lounge, Colorado Springs, CO)

Love Letter- Campari, lime juice, Cointreau, maple syrup, grenadine, bitter, club soda (Adam Wilson, Beretta, San Francisco, CA)

Pop Rock Passion- pink Pop Rocks, Svedka Vodka, Red Hook Raspberry Soda, pink lemonade (Scot Parish, Two Boots, Brooklyn, NY)

The Essensia Sparkler- sparkling wine, Essensia, Deviation, grenadine (Quady Winery, Madera, CA)

Cupid’s Kiss- Canadian Club Whisky, Cruzan Raspberry Rum, cranberry juice (Jim Beam)

Cayo al Corazon (Key to the Heart)- Mount Gay Rum, peach schnapps, Malibu Coconut Rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, Angostura Bitters (Al Nelson, Sunset Pier, Key West, FL)

Dark & Stormy- Goslings Black Bermuda Rum, ginger syrup, lime juice, Regatta Ginger Beer (Adam Schuman, Fatty Crab, New York City)

Valentine’s Kiss- Jose Cuervo Especial, cranberry juice, apple juice, seltzer (Jose Cuervo)

Now that you’ve read them all, cast your vote!

Strawberry Margarita Fizz

Sugar for coating rims of glasses
1-1/2 cups softened strawberry ice cream
1/2 cup chopped strawberries, plus whole strawberries for garnish
1 ounce tequila, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/3 cup chilled club soda
Garnish: lime slices

Rim edges of two highball glasses with sugar, and set aside.  Place ice cream, chopped strawberries, tequila, and lime juice in a blender.  Mix until all ingredients are combined and smooth.  Divide strawberry mixture between the two glasses, and top each with half of the club soda.  Stir gently to combine.  Garnish with limes and strawberries, if desired.

Makes me want to get some ice cream and umbrellas and head to the beach!

However, polling has ended, and our readers have spoken.  We are pleased to announce that the Pumkinlicious Martini from ECO-BAR was chosen as the favorite drink for Thanksgiving.  In order to create this delicious beverage for your Turkey Day celebration, we have posted the recipe below.

Thank you to all who voted.  Don’t forget to check back for more cocktail recipes and contests.

toPumkinlicious Martini
1/2 oz. Organic Vanilla Vodka (TRU Organic Vodka)
1 oz. pumpkin spice liqueur
3/4 oz. butterscotch schnapps
1/2 oz. Kahlua
1/2 oz. half-and-half
Crushed graham crackers and raw sugar
Cinnamon stick (garnish)

Add all liquids in a shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into large martini glass rimmed with crushed graham crackers. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

We solicited recipes for Thanksgiving-inspired cocktails.  Our editors have chosen their ten favorite and now are seeking our readers’ thoughts.  Which cocktail is the most tantalizing for Turkey Day?  Read their descriptions, then cast your vote.

1. Gobble-Tini- (Smirnoff Cranberry Twist, Chambord, & cranberry juice) Courtesy of SMIRNOFF

2. Pumkinlicious Martini (TRU Organic Vanilla Vodka, pumpkin spice liqueur, butterscotch schnapps, Kahlua,  half-and-half, & crushed graham crackers for rimming) Courtesy of ECO-BAR

3. Maple Cinnamon Nog (Bourbon, clove & cinnamon infused maple syrup, spiced rum, egg white, & cream) Courtesy of Deborah Harris of Harbour Restaurant

4. Hot Rum Cider (apple cider, orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, honey, cinnamon, whole cloves, coriander seeds, whole nutmeg, & Zaya Rum) Courtesy of Zaya Rum

5. Carrot-Ginger Martini (Stoli Vodka, spiced rum, Stoli Vanilla, carrot juice, & ginger beer) Courtesy of Ben Provost of The American Bar at The Stafford

6. Feel Like a Holiday (vodka, raspberry eau-de-vie, & sparkling wine/champagne) Courtesy of Sara Gaum of VendorBar.com

7. Pumpkin Pie Frappe (Mount Gay Rum Eclipse, pumpkin puree, sugar in the raw, cinnamon, allspice, half-and-half, & vanilla ice cream) Courtesy of Jonathan Pogash

8. Holiday Pie (Canadian Club Classic 12, Tuaca, apple cider) Courtesy of Canadian Club

9. Autumn Side Car Wine-tail (Yellow Tail Chardonnay, brandy, agave nectar, orange slices, basil leaves, Grand Marnier, & orange twist garnish) Courtesy of Trudy Thomas

10. Pumpkin Margarita (pumpkin puree, agave nectar, lime, tequila, Crema’s signature spice blend, & white and black sesame seeds for rimming) Courtesy of Crema

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

The winner will be announced on Thursday, November 19th!

Having been inspired by some of the bartenders at local restaurants we enjoy, I have come to realize that much like cooking, ingredients are an important part of a good drink.  So, when my mother-in-law told me that she wanted to try a coconut and lime margarita recipe, I asked her to share the ingredient list with me.  One of the main ingredients in her suggested drink was cream of coconut.

As I am not a fan of a heavy drink, the words “cream of coconut” gave me the shivers.  Once I saw the nutrition label on the package, I knew it was not an option for my drink.  With almost 250 calories in 2 ounces of this thick liquid, it seemed obscene.  However, the idea of coconut and lime mingling with some tequila was intriguing.  Being a diligent researcher, I created a couple different recipes until I found one with the correct balance of sweet, sour, and tequila.

Served over ice in a glass with a salted rim, this drink could fill all of your salt and sweet cravings.

Put the Lime & the Coconut in the Margarita

2 oz. gold tequila

1 oz. triple sec

1/2 – 1 tsp. sugar

2 oz. lime juice + 3 additional oz.

4 oz. coconut rum

lemon-lime seltzer

ice

kosher salt

Fill a martini shaker with ice.  Add tequila, triple sec, sugar, 2 oz. lime juice, and coconut rum, and shake well.  Pour 3 oz. lime juice in a small rimmed plate and kosher salt in another small rimmed plate.  Dip the rim of a margarita glass in lime juice, and swirl to coat well.  Then dip the rim in kosher salt, and press firmly to allow the salt to adhere.  Repeat with second glass.  Fill each glass with ice, and pour half of tequila mixture into each.  Fill to rim with seltzer, and stir gently.