Sour Tamarind Margarita

Tamarind is a wonderful ingredient that is not found routinely in Western kitchens. Whole tamarind pods can be opened up, boiled, and strained to produce a tamarind paste that is very tart and sour. You can also buy premade tamarind paste, which is easier to work with.

This recipe below is for two Sour Tamarind Margaritas.

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Sour Tamarind Margarita

Tamarind is a wonderful ingredient that is not found routinely in Western kitchens. Whole tamarind pods can be opened up, boiled, and strained to produce a tamarind paste that is very tart and sour. You can also buy premade tamarind paste, which is easier to work with.

This recipe below is for two Sour Tamarind Margaritas.

Ingredients

• 2 margarita glasses, (chilled in freezer)
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp white granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 3 oz tequila or mezcal, (chilled)
• 1.5 oz tamarind paste
• 1 oz water
• 3 oz lime juice
• 1 oz simple syrup
• Ice, (to chill drink and also to fill margarita glasses)

Instructions 

• Chill two margarita glasses in the freezer.
• Mix together the smoked paprika, sugar, and kosher salt in a wide, flat-bottomed bowl that is wide enough to accommodate the margarita glass. This will serve as the seasoning spice mix to go around the edge of your margarita glasses.
• When your glasses are very cold and your drink ingredients are prepped, remove glasses from the freezer.
• Lightly dip the rim of the cocktail glasses in the paprika, sugar, and salt mix and set glasses aside.
• *Some bartenders will serve a half-rim, where half of the rim of the glass is clean and the other half contains the salty spice blend. Do whatever you want!
• Combine the chilled tequila or mezcal with the tamarind paste, water, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice.
• Shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
• Strain drink into chilled margarita glasses, over ice.
• Enjoy cold.

Notes

You can easily scale this recipe up to accommodate more guests.
If you prefer a version of this cocktail that is more or less tart, feel free to augment the quantity of water and/or tamarind paste.