I had other plans for the fragrant watermelon I’d bought at the farmers’ market last Sunday, but Kate Bush’s song “Eat the music” inspired me to make a sinfully delicious cocktail, one that is sure to make your taste buds sing…
I also thought the watermelon would be its usual seductive pink color, but it turned out to be deep-yellow — and, I might add, super-sweet!
The idea of garnishing the rim with more than just salt happened as I was making my first trial — it was a fluke! I found myself stirring into my sugar-salt mixture a bit of smoky chipotle powder. The result? As you put your nose in the glass to take your first sip you get a whiff of smokiness — an unbelievable counterpoint to the sweet aroma of the watermelon!
As for the drink itself, the Reposado tequila rounds off the flavor of the watermelon beautifully, the elderflower liqueur accentuates its lovely floral notes, and the fresh lime juice keeps everything in check. In a word: Heaven in a glass…
Cheers… And this time… Drink the music!
Yellow Watermelon Margarita with Chipotle Rim
serves 1
active time: 10 min
For the rim
- 1 tablespoon organic sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle
- lime wedge
For the cocktail
- 2 oz (59ml) Reposado Tequila
- 1 1/2 oz (44ml) watermelon juice (see cook’s note)
- 3/4 oz (22ml) Saint Germain elderflower liqueur
- 3/4 oz (22ml) fresh lime juice
- Step 1: Place the sugar, salt and chipotle powder in a small bowl and mix well. Spread on a small plate. Moisten the rim of a cocktail glass with the lime wedge and dip the glass rim in the sugar/salt/chipotle mixture. Set aside.
- Step 2: For the cocktail – Shake all ingredients with ice cubes until a thin layer of frost appears on the outside of the shaker. Pour in the prepared glass and serve immediately!
- Cook’s note: To make the watermelon juice – remove rind and seeds of watermelon and cut flesh in 2” chunks. Place in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Then process until smooth and liquidy. Strain through a fine sieve. Transfer juice into large squeeze bottle and refrigerate until ready to use. Refrigerate up to 3 days (after 3 days the juice starts losing its flavor).
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Disclaimer: As always, my point of view is my own. I do not accept samples, and have no commercial relationship with any product, food or wine company.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
what a great cocktail love your site
I love Kate Bush! Hope she puts something new out soon. Brilliant idea to add chipolte to a Margarita-always looking for a way to kick it up a notch.
What a beautiful cocktail! I love making fun cocktails- there is something celebratory about it, regardless of if there is a special occasion or not. The color of this particular cocktail is stunning and makes for beautiful photos. Wonderful blog!
Thank you so much for the heart warming comments! I can only say that this cocktail tastes as good as it looks!
In fact, I’m making another round tonight…
Cheers!
“after 3 days the juice starts loosing its flavor”
LOSING not LOOSING
Touché! Corrected the spelling error… Thanks for pointing it out!
There are always a few floating around… I do the best I can for the French-y that I am… :)
I can’t stopped starring at it, this is so beautiful!
This margharita sounds delicious and so refreshing! Thanks for sharing:)
What an original idea! This certainly beats a standard strawberry margarita.
I would like to have a glass now. That’s very creative and inventive. To me it is as I’m not good in mixing cocktails. The photo is just tempting.
Love your blog! I just got pointed here via Jaden’s blog (as I am sure many more people will now..) and she is so right. Lovely blog and gorgeous photos!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so very grateful to Jaden for her mention…
very refreshing, perfect cocktail to serve at a dinner party
It’s not even close to 5:00pm and I would like a sip of this drink right now—I’m excited to invite friends over and give them a try!
TGIF!
wow. What a fantastic and refreshing drink for these hot summer days. Thanks for sharing.
That sounds awesome! I might have to go back to the store to get a watermelon – and how perfect for the season! I have those same glasses but the stem is red! I love them for appetizers too!
What a gorgeous cocktail! I’m loving the chipotle rim, wow! :)
I love the color of this cocktail!! It’s so pretty!
I love all of the creative drinks you always come up with! The chipotle rim is definitely a nice touch!
very beautiful! i love that you used yellow watermelon. Is it happy hour yet? Now I want a cocktail!
wow! fantastic, I can’t believe how badly I want this. this is the cocktail for the next brunch!
just phenomenal!
-Leila
Fantastic cocktail!
Looks refreshing and delicious. Love the photo. Nice blog
Another stunning cocktail! And what an ingenious idea for dipping the rim…kicks these up a notch :)
Salt, sugar, and chipotle! That alone takes this margarita to another level! Just lovely!
Very pretty.
Looks & sounds refreshing! Looking forward to tasting it, :)
Thanks for bringing this recipe to the forefront! Besides just looking delicious, the combined flavors of chipotle and watermelon sounds very interesting. I love them both, but have never had them together. A must try margarita!
Thank you Mj… and raising a glass to you my dear!
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