The Secret Ingredient for the Final Summer time Margarita: Grilled Pineapple

When the nice and cozy climate lastly settles in for the spring and summer season months, I’m exterior cooking nearly all the pieces on my grill—even my cocktails. If grilling for firm, my mentality is that I’ll as properly put these sizzling coals to good use and provide you with a inventive grilled drink for everybody, which is how this big-batch smoky pineapple margarita recipe was born. 

This margarita will get its distinct golden hue and smoky candy taste from charred pineapple rings and limes which are blended with normal margarita substances like good high quality 100% agave blanco tequila (or reposado in the event you want and have the finances) and triple sec (ideally Cointreau) earlier than it’s strained and chilled for serving. It’s a batch-sized cocktail that’s massive sufficient for a gathering, however you may simply scale the recipe in half to make sufficient for simply a few margaritas.

If you happen to’re a margarita purist, now might be the time you need to click on away and take a look at our traditional margarita recipe. However, in the event you strategy your margaritas with a “extra is extra” mentality, that is undoubtedly a riff you need to attempt.

Fruit-forward margaritas might be cloyingly candy and overshadow tequila’s nuanced, grassy, floral, and delicate citrus taste. The important thing, then, is to make a fruity, enjoyable margarita the place the added flavors truly improve the tequila, and do not cowl it up. Grilling the pineapple and limes over a sizzling hearth with smoldering wooden chips imparts a scrumptious charred and smoky taste. The fruits caramelize and sweeten whereas growing a refined and sophisticated smokiness, for a drink that’s fruity and festive, with out being too candy.

The Grill Setup

I’ve written this recipe with directions for each a charcoal and fuel grill setup. However the reality is the grilling of the fruit works simply as properly in the event you’re utilizing the final of the smoldering embers of your grill, and even proper once you’re firing up the grill. The fruit wants only some minutes to cook dinner, so it is simple to do it whereas grilling different meals. 

Whether or not utilizing a charcoal or fuel grill, the easiest way to attain the smoke is to make a foil packet with wooden chips and place it instantly over the warmth supply. For a charcoal grill, that is on the recent coals, and for a fuel grill that is over the first burner (that’s the burner that ignites first on the grill). Enclosing the wooden chips in a foil packet is only a neater, simpler method so as to add the unfastened wooden—simply be sure to chop just a few vent slits roughly two inches in size on the highest so the smoke escapes in a gradual stream. In fact, you could possibly skip this smoking step solely and nonetheless have a scrumptious, although sweeter charred-fruit margarita.

A Notice on the Smoke

My favourite ingredient on this margarita is the one not even listed: The smoke. You is likely to be questioning why I did not simply name for mezcal given the smoky taste I used to be chasing.The reply is that the smoke imparted on this grilled drink is softer and extra refined than that of most mezcals. So whereas you need to use mezcal, I discover it overtakes the smoky notes from the grilled fruit and shifts the drink in a really totally different path

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