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

When the nice and cozy climate lastly settles in for the spring and summer time months, I’m outdoors cooking nearly all the things on my grill—even my cocktails. If grilling for firm, my mentality is that I’ll as nicely put these sizzling coals to good use and provide you with a artistic 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 might be blended with customary margarita elements like good high quality 100% agave blanco tequila (or reposado in case you choose and have the price range) and triple sec (ideally Cointreau) earlier than it’s strained and chilled for serving. It’s a batch-sized cocktail that’s giant sufficient for a gathering, however you’ll be able to 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 basic margarita recipe. However, in case you strategy your margaritas with a “extra is extra” mentality, that is positively 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 really improve the tequila, and do not cowl it up. Grilling the pineapple and limes over a sizzling fireplace with smoldering wooden chips imparts a scrumptious charred and smoky taste. The fruits caramelize and sweeten whereas growing a delicate 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 gasoline grill setup. However the fact is the grilling of the fruit works simply as nicely in case 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 easy to do it whereas grilling different meals. 

Whether or not utilizing a charcoal or gasoline grill, one of the best ways to realize the smoke is to make a foil packet with wooden chips and place it immediately over the warmth supply. For a charcoal grill, that is on the recent coals, and for a gasoline 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 means so as to add the free wooden—simply be sure that to chop a number of vent slits roughly two inches in size on the highest so the smoke escapes in a gradual stream. After all, you can skip this smoking step completely and nonetheless have a scrumptious, although sweeter charred-fruit margarita.

A Be aware on the Smoke

My favourite ingredient on this margarita is the one not even listed: The smoke. You is perhaps 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 delicate 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 completely different course

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