Cocktail O’Clock: Salsa Verde

Find yourself with leftover tequila from Cinco de Mayo? Here’s a way to use it up that won’t make you gag on a moldy lime.

Firefly in Washington, D.C. infuses tequila with poblano peppers (how-to here), then mixes it up with cilantro and lime for a garden-fresh cocktail that makes drinking on Monday sound downright healthy.

Salsa Verde

1.5 oz. Partida Blanco tequila infused with roasted poblano peppers (how-to here)
1 oz. Cointreau
2 oz. fresh lime juice
2 oz. cilantro-agave puree (agave syrup blended with a few springs of cliantro)

Shake together and strain over ice into a Collins glass with a peppered salt rim.

Find more creative drink recipes in Endless Cocktails.

(Photo: Dakota Fine)

Cocktail O’Clock: The Tranquilo

Today’s Cocktail O’Clock comes from Firefly in D.C., which somehow fits everything we like about summertime drinking — tequila, grapefruit juice, fresh mint, lime — into one cocktail. Even though we just recently hated on jars, the Tranquilo is one summer cocktail we’d take for a spin.

5 mint leaves, muddled
3 parts fresh grapefruit juice
2 parts Herradura Reposado tequila
1 part Cointreau
1 squeeze of lime juice

Shake and serve in a mason jar, garnish with a mint sprig and a slice of grapefruit.

Find more summer cocktail ideas in Endless Cocktails.

(Photo: Dakota Fine)