The Secret Ingredient for the Final Summer season Margarita: Grilled Pineapple

When the nice and cozy climate lastly settles in for the spring and summer time months, I’m outdoors cooking nearly every little thing on my grill—even my cocktails. If grilling for firm, my mentality is that I’ll as properly put these scorching coals to good use and provide you with a artistic grilled drink for everybody, which is how this big-batch smoky pineapple margarita recipe was born.

This margarita will get its distinct golden hue and smoky candy taste from charred pineapple rings and limes which can be blended with customary margarita components like good high quality 100% agave blanco tequila (or reposado in case you want and have the finances) and triple sec (ideally Cointreau) earlier than it’s strained and chilled for serving. It’s a batch-sized cocktail that’s massive sufficient for a gathering, however you’ll be able to simply scale the recipe in half to make sufficient for simply a few margaritas.

Should you’re a margarita purist, now might be the time you must click on away and take a look at our basic margarita recipe. However, in case you method your margaritas with a “extra is extra” mentality, that is positively a riff you must attempt.

Fruit-forward margaritas might be cloyingly candy and overshadow tequila’s nuanced, grassy, floral, and gentle citrus taste. The important thing, then, is to make a fruity, enjoyable margarita the place the added flavors really improve the tequila, and do not cowl it up. Grilling the pineapple and limes over a scorching hearth with smoldering wooden chips imparts a scrumptious charred and smoky taste. The fruits caramelize and sweeten whereas growing a delicate and sophisticated smokiness, for a drink that’s fruity and festive, with out being too candy.

The Grill Setup

I’ve written this recipe with directions for each a charcoal and gasoline grill setup. However the fact is the grilling of the fruit works simply as properly in case you’re utilizing the final of the smoldering embers of your grill, and even proper once you’re firing up the grill. The fruit wants only some minutes to prepare dinner, so it is simple to do it whereas grilling different meals.

Whether or not utilizing a charcoal or gasoline grill, one of the simplest ways to realize the smoke is to make a foil packet with wooden chips and place it straight over the warmth supply. For a charcoal grill, that is on the new coals, and for a gasoline grill that is over the first burner (that’s the burner that ignites first on the grill). Enclosing the wooden chips in a foil packet is only a neater, simpler manner so as to add the unfastened wooden—simply be certain to chop just a few vent slits roughly two inches in size on the highest so the smoke escapes in a gentle movement. After all, you could possibly skip this smoking step fully and nonetheless have a scrumptious, although sweeter charred-fruit margarita.

A Be aware on the Smoke

My favourite ingredient on this margarita is the one not even listed: The smoke. You may be questioning why I did not simply name for mezcal given the smoky taste I used to be chasing.The reply is that the smoke imparted on this grilled drink is softer and extra delicate than that of most mezcals. So whereas you should use mezcal, I discover it overtakes the smoky notes from the grilled fruit and shifts the drink in a really completely different path

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