Drink of the Week: Blood Orange Margarita

For those in the know, this is also called a "Lower Cost of Market-arita" (... it's a long story involving getting blood from a stone, etc. etc.)

Ideally, you'd make this with fresh-squeezed blood orange juice. However, blood oranges are a seasonal citrus fruit for us, and we really can't get them in the summer, when most of us would want to make a margarita. So, I used Trader Joe's Italian Volcano Orange Juice, which is made from blood oranges instead. (Dunno where the volcano comes in.)

Since this recipe involves squeezing a fair amount of citrus, I recommend you make the juice mix ahead and store it in the fridge until you're ready to have a drink. It should keep for 2 days or so.

Blood Orange Margarita
Make the juice mix in a 4-cup measure, or quart mason jar (good for shaking in the sugar)

• juice of 3 limes
• juice of 3 oranges (Valencia are better than navels for this)
• pour in enough blood orange juice to bring your mix to about 3 cups total
• sugar to taste - this mix will be pretty sour at first, so you will want to add some sugar
  

Refrigerate until serving time.

To serve - prep your glasses, rocks or not, salt or not, etc.

Mix together:

• 2 oz. tequila
• 1 oz. (or less) triple sec
• 2-3 oz. juice mix (if it's on the rocks you may use less)

Pour into prepared glass, float a sliver of lime on top and serve. You should have enough mix for 5-6 margaritas.