Hibiscus Margarita

I don't know what to praise more, the pineapple slicer and corer or the delicious Hibiscus Margarita inside the hollowed out pineapple. 

I mean...look how handy this slicer is? One of my dearest friends has had one for a while now but honestly, you sometimes don't appreciate a gadget until you use it yourself. This thing effortlessly cores and slices the pineapple like nobodies business. 

You line it up, twist a few times and pull! It's as easy as that. I don't have a pic, but if you remove the handle, you can slide off the tower of sliced pineapple for an impressive display. 

If you want to be fancy, remove the core and you have these cute little pineapple cups. As long as the pineapple wall is thick enough, or you didn't slice to close to the bottom.

But to make the beautiful, exotic margarita inside, the hardest part might be finding the hibiscus. I found mine at a local Latin market. You can use hibiscus from teabags but that could be costly. Buying in bulk is the way to go. For each batch, you'll need 1 cup of dried hibiscus blossoms. That would be a lot of teabags. To put it in perspective, for 1 tablespoons, you need 3 teabags. 

Bulk is the way to go. 

Hibiscus Margarita (inspired by My Recipes)

Printable Version

1 cup dried hibiscus blossoms

3 cups water

3/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups tequila

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup orange liqueur 

Lime slices to garnish

Carefully rinse the hibiscus blossoms in a strainer. Don't be alarmed when the water turns red. And don't worry...there's plenty of that beautiful color left in the blossoms to make your margarita turn this beautiful fuchsia.

In a medium sauce pan, combine the rinsed hibiscus blossoms, water and sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered for about 15 minutes. 

Strain. Toss out the hibiscus blossoms. They have done their job and met their destiny. Chill the liquid until ready to use.

Mix together the hibiscus liquid, tequila, lime juice and orange liqueur. At this point, you can either serve it on the rocks, or pour it into a blender filled half way with ice. 

Garnish and serve.

I typically like my margarita's on the rocks. This one however, is served best blended. And was so good. The flavor reminded me vaguely of sweet cranberries without the tartness. It wasn't floral in any sense. 

I made these for our Memorial Weekend BBQ. I actually made 4 batches and they went fast. Even the guys liked them, despite the girly appeal not only in name but in appearance. 

Not to mention, they were a great prelude to the tequila shots that have become the ritual at the end of the night as we all sit around the fire pit.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy this lovely drink, made from Hawaii's state flower. Maybe at your next BBQ, sitting around in your floral shirt, wearing a grass skirt and a lei.

Aloha!