Honey Thyme Margaritas

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Tell me I’m not the only one whose eased the pain of the pandemic with booze…

Since it’s the beginning of Fall all I want are refreshing cocktails, and at this point I’ve made the Spicy Paloma Pitcher so many times that I finally decided to try something else. As much as I love simple syrup, it’s a whole lot of sugar and so I figured I could try to create something lighter, while still having that “refreshing” bite. BUT, I can’t change my tequila kick…

With that being said, this cocktail would be wonderful with whiskey or vodka, too. It was a ton of fun to make, and took very little time (cause I cannot stand waiting for a drink in ya girls hand).

P R E P

If you saw this title or post and thought to yourself “Yep. I’m making those bad boys tonight”, do the honey syrup ahead of time! It’s best when it’s cooled, anyways. See instructions below for how to make this syrup, but I’m still a fan of just makin’ cocktails on the fly.

honey thyme margs 1 — No need to boil–just a lil simma

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What you’ll need

Honey Thyme Syrup

Small saucepan.
A bunch of fresh thyme. I don’t typically “measure” this, just snag about 8 sprigs of it.
1/2 cup of honey. If you’re wanting to swap this out for agave instead you can!
1/2 cup of water.

The Rim

Little lime juice. I just use one of the limes I’ve cut in half and rub it on the rim of the glass.
Coarse sea salt.
Chili/Chipotle Powder. I use the Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Seasoning and it was perrrfect.

The Rest

Cocktail shaker.
3oz silver tequila. Feel free to swap this out for mezcal (my personal choice), whiskey or vodka.
1 oz Cointreu. Any orange liquor will do.
1 oz of the honey thyme syrup.
1/2 oz fresh lime juice (about 2 limes, but I doubled the recipe).
1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice (about 2 grapefruits, but I doubled the recipe). I know, you’re like “MORE GRAPEFRUIT?” You can do fresh oranges, even orange juice if you want, but your drink will likely be sweeter. I wouldn’t recommend juice since there’s so much extra sugar, but it’s up to what you have on hand.
Optional: Jalapenos! Just muddle those puppies for a spicy kick.
Optional: A lil’ thyme topper!

Total Servings: 2 cocktails.

Total Prep Time: 10 minutes.

Directions

Honey Thyme Syrup

Let’s start with the syrup! Add water, honey and thyme to your small saucepan. Bring to a SIMMER, there is no need to boil this. Just let it come to that simmer and then remove from heat; you’ll want the honey to dissolve.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Once cooled, remove thyme and transfer the syrup to an airtight container (if you’re making ahead of time). If not, I literally just poured it straight from the pan.

The Rim

Take a little lime (doesn’t have to be a wedge or specific “juice”), and rub along the edges of your glass. Don’t overthink it, you just want enough of that citrus-ness to allow the salt to hold on tight.
Using a small, shallow plate, add your sea salt and any other spice you want. You can always just do sea salt, but since I like it spicy, I added that Chili Lime seasoning.
Take your glass, and place it face-down in the salt mixture. Stir until you have yourself a little rim. Set aside until it’s drink time.

The DRANK

Get your cocktail shaker (you can be boring and just stir it, but treat yo self and order a shaker if you don’t have one), and throw some ice in there.
Add the syrup, tequila (or vodka/whiskey), cointreu, lime juice, and grapefruit juice.
Shake, shake, shake, Senora.
Strain into your spicy-salted rims and drink up. Chug, and repeat. Just kidding, don’t chug this. It’s just too good to rush it.

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POST COOKING NOTES

I just love a good kick, so adding jalapenos was such a fun add-on. I’d suggest (if you’re making more than one round), to try it with and without the peppers.
Mezcal is my go-to right now and I just can’t get enough of it. Again, don’t feel like you need this to be a tequila focused cocktail. I mean, hey, you could even do gin! Get creative, it’s hard to mess this up.

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