Li Hing Guava Margaritas

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Celebrate with my Li Hing Mui Guava Margaritas!

May is my birthday month and I have always loved kicking it off with Cinco De Mayo and margaritas. Guava margaritas are probably my favorite, which is a tall order since I love all margaritas. So I should say any kind of tropical margarita is my favorite. And always on the rocks with salt. This time I used my favorite salt - Li Hing margarita salt.

Li Hing or Li Hing Mui is a salty dried plum that is popular in Asian cuisines. Popular as a snack as well as a powder or salt to sprinkle on foods, fruits, shave ice or for margaritas. Li Hing powder is popular in Hawaii and that is where I picked up this bag of Li Hing Margarita salt.

You can also find it in Asian and Hawaiian grocery stores or international stores that have Hawaiian sections or you can buy the powder online.

I used to dip glasses in simple syrup then dip into the salt or sugar rim but that would often drip down the sides of the glass and make a big mess, now I just rim the glass with a lime wedge first. This gets the salt to stick nicely with less of a mess. The fewer messes I have to clean up the better.

I prefer to use silver tequila in Guava margaritas. My husband is a fan of Anejo or Gold tequilas but I find their flavors to be a little too strong for my liking especially when I use a juice that is light in flavor such as guava. I recently discovered this 3 Amigos silver tequila and I really like it in my margaritas.

My newest favorite liqueur, actually it became my newest favorite 4 years ago when we first moved to Las Vegas is Solerno Blood Orange liqueur. When my husband and I got our first date night out in town we went to the Chandelier bar at the Cosmopolitan and I got a blood orange Cosmo cocktail. It was one of the best if not the best cosmos I had ever had. I bought a bottle of the liqueur the next day.

Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur has replaced the other orange liqueurs I have used in cocktails - Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Patron Citronage. It is my go- to and I have several other cocktails that I make with it that I will share this year.

Another trick or shortcut I use is bottled simple syrup and lime juice. Of course these are the two easiest ingredients to make or use a fresh lime instead, but limes have been really pricey lately and for some reason I never make enough simple syrup to have on hand so I bought a few of these Barsmith mix syrups and juices to go with my cocktails. Barsmith mix also sent me some a little while ago to use in cocktails and they have a ton of different kinds of syrups and mixes for cocktails. I love that their products are Non-GMO too. I use Hawaiian Sun Guava juice. I get it at World Market, but again it can be found in international grocery stores as well as some bigger stores such as Whole Foods. If you have access to fresh guavas, peel and puree those for the juice. Fresh guavas are amazing, I can't ever find them here so I use this juice instead.

We go through a lot of ice living in Las Vegas especially in the summertime. So I love to buy giant bags of ice from Sonic Drive through because they have the best ice. Its the little pebble like ice and its perfect for cocktails.

Garnish with a lime circle and enjoy!

Li Hing Guava Margaritas

Shanna

Li Hing Guava Margaritas www.pineappleandcoconut.com #CincoDeMayo #Margarita Makes 2 cocktails, easily multiplied for more

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Ingredients

  

• 4 ounces Silver Tequila, I like 3 Amigos, Tres Generaciones, Patron, Hornitos, Milagros
• 3 ounces Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur*
• 2 ounces Barsmith mix lime juice*
• 1 ounce Barsmith mix simple syrup*
• 4 ounces Guava juice, Hawaiian Sun or Ceres
• Li Hing Margarita salt*
• Limes, wedges and thinly sliced circles

Instructions

 

• Pour a few tablespoons of Li Hing Margarita salt in a shallow dish. Rub the top edges of two margarita glasses or rocks glasses with a lime wedge then dip into the Li Hing margarita salt making sure there is an even amount all the way around. Fill glasses with crushed or small round ice*.
• In a cocktail shaker combine all the cocktail ingredients well. Strain into the prepared glasses. Top with a thin lime circle and serve.

Notes

!I love the Solerno blood orange liqueur in place of tradional Cointreau or Orange Curacao for the orange liqueur in the margaritas. It has that classic blood orange flavor and works really well especially with the guava juice.
!I also love using the Barsmith mix lime juice and simple syrup. I tend to forget to make simple syrup so having a bottle of it in my fridge just for cocktails is handy to have. Same with their lime juice. Limes have been on the expensive side lately so this is an excellent substitute. Feel free to use your own simple syrup ( 1:1 sugar to water ratio, simmered then chilled) and fresh lime juice.
!For the Li Hing margarita salt - if you can’t find any of the salt I used in an international grocery store you can find Li Hing powder in International, Asian or Hawaiian grocery stores, and mix it with sea salt. Sometimes I add a little sugar to this salt when I make cocktails using it of the rim of the glasses.
!Ice - I love the ice from Sonic drive through so I buy a big bag and use that for cocktails. Just something I love but crushed ice works too

Whichever kind of Margarita you decide to enjoy this lovely Cinco De Mayo, hopefully you go for one of my Li Hing Guava Margaritas. Enjoy the holiday and drink responsibly!  I am off to make a giant bowl of guacamole for dinner tonight. I could seriously live off chips, guacamole and margaritas for the rest of my life. I won't, but I could!!