A pineapple cranberry margarita is very fruity, but has a tart aftertaste. Fruity, sweet cocktails are my type and I hope they are your vibe too. It has pineapple juice mixed with cranberry cocktail juice and lots of tequila. I used cranberry cocktail instead of regular cranberry juice because it is much sweeter. For those who don’t know, cranberry cocktail juice is completely non-alcoholic. When paired with the pineapple juice, it becomes a fruity cocktail haven. If you want to go the natural route, you can use homemade pineapple juice as well.
Making a fresh-tasting margarita
I always say a good margarita always starts with fresh lime juice. if you don’t have a citrus squeezer, it is a really good investment I promise! I use it for all my cocktails with no hassle. For a margarita experience, rim your glasses with salt. You can use coarse sea salt or Himalayan salt. I mix the salt with lemon zest and then squeeze a lime over the glass rims. This gets the rim wet enough for the salt to stick to the rim. I always like using tinned pineapple rings to make any pineapple garnish. It is cheap and easy to find at the grocery store.
What sweetener should I use for my margarita?
A good margarita needs a good sweetener. It can be simple syrup or agave nectar. Homemade simple syrup is boiled equal parts water and sugar. You can use my brown sugar simple syrup or my spiced simple syrup for an interesting taste. The rim for this margarita is sea salt and lemon zest. A cocktail shaker is recommended for any margarita, but you can use a mason jar to give this a good shake. My cocktail shaker has an imbedded strainer so use a portable strainer for a smooth margarita. Try to stick with fresh limes for a quality tasting margarita. A citrus squeezer is a great investment to have if you don’t already have one.
This margarita recipe makes just one serving but if you want more servings, no problem! Just multiply the recipe ingredients by number of servings you want. For example, if you want triple the amount of servings, multiply all the ingredients by 3. If you are going to make a larger serving, bear in mind that you may need to use a jug or pitcher instead of a cocktail shaker. You can have a look at the tutorial featured below for a step-by-step on how I whipped up this delicious pineapple cranberry margarita. You can also find a yummy pineapple & mango margarita which comes with a hint of spice in my eBook, The Cocktail Pit.
Ingredients
4 oz (1/2 cup) pineapple juice
4 oz cranberry cocktail juice
4 oz gold tequila
2 oz orange liqueur (e.g Cointreau)
1 oz (2 tablespoons) simple syrup
2 oz. (1/4 cup) lime juice from 2 limes
1 cup ice cubes
Handful of lemon zest to rim glasses
1/4 cup coarse salt to rim glasses
Instructions
- Mix the salt with the lemon zest.
- Squeeze some lime over the rim of two margarita glasses. Dip each wet rim into the salt-lime zest bowl from the previous step until the rim is coated in salt.
- Combine the pineapple juice, cranberry cocktail juice, orange liqueur, lime juice with ice in a cocktail shaker or mason jar.
- Strain and pour into the two margarita glasses.
- Serve chilled.