If you love Bloody Mary's and Margaritas, you'll love this cocktail

I REALLY love Bloody Marys and Margaritas. They are my go-to cocktails whether I’m drinking out, or mixing at home. I wanted to find a way to marry the spicy, savory, flavors of a Bloody Mary and the salty citrus and pepper notes of the Margarita. My two favorite drinks in one! When you combine 2 of your favorite flavors sometimes it works out horribly (orange juice and tooth paste) and sometimes it's dynamite. T-N-T cocktail recipe below.

To keep my quest simple I wanted to add only one additional ingredient to a typical Margarita recipe. 

I tried a few different options; tomato juice (didn’t bring enough umph), Worcestershire sauce (just no), and pickle juice (vinegar can be tricky) before finally landing on the winner: hot sauce.  

Hot Sauce obviously adds the spice, but the right hot sauce can burst with a broader savory character (more on this below).

To name this drink I made a play on words with the two key ingredients, the tequila and hot sauce.




My choice for the tequila is Tapatio Blanco.  It’s an affordable choice at $0.87/oz and with it’s citrus heavy palate and light green pepper notes it brings the exact flavors I’m 
looking for.

For hot sauce I chose Tapatio. There is a great balance of spice (not over the top) and savory flavor that comes from the red pepper ingredient. It has always been a constant additive in my cooking repertoire (especially in chicken and egg dishes) but may be joining the liquor cabinet soon. 

Below is the recipe I came up with. Besides being incredibly tasty the hot sauce can help give the drink a pretty pinkish color. Don’t mind the particulate; it just adds character ;-).  

TNT Magarita

• 2 oz Tapatio Blanco Tequila
• 0.75 oz Cointreau Triple Sec
• 1 oz Lime Juice
• 0.25 oz Agave Syrup
• 6 dashes Tapatio Hot Sauce

Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake, double strain on a large ice cube in a rocks glass and enjoy!
If you want an especially spicy drink add a couple dashes of Hot Sauce on top of your drink in the glass.