Avocado Margaritas

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Leslie Blythe 2 comments

My resident cocktail advisor, Eric is blogging today.

The Margarita is a drink that is much loved and comes in many shapes and forms. I personally am a purist and think that its magic lies in the fact that just three ingredients—tequila, triple sec and fresh lime juice—perfectly blend together (with an assist from the salt on the rim of the glass) to create something much greater than the sum of its parts. No other fruit or flavor is needed—not strawberries, bananas or Midori. You can alter the proportions to suit your taste and of course there is the blended or shaken debate (I am a rocks/salt man, myself) but in any event, stick to the basics.

So it was with initial horror that I heard someone on talk radio extolling the virtues of blended Margaritas made with avocados. I mean, I have never met an avocado I didn’t like and guacamole certainly goes well with a Margarita, but in one? Where I live, we eat our avocados, not drink them (and 95% of US avocado production comes from Southern California, where we live). The more I listened, the more I became intrigued. The idea is that the creaminess of the avocado imparts a silky smoothness to an otherwise slushy drink and the delicate flavor of the avocado pairs well with salt, citrus and—it seems—tequila. Now drinking this fruit isn’t as crazy as you might think: in the Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, and southern India, avocados are frequently used for milkshakes, so why not cocktails?

I tried it with one ripe avocado for four drinks, and the result is amazing. The liquid turns slightly opaque and jade green. The most interesting thing is that it made the drinks light and fluffy—that was the first thing one of my guinea pigs (I mean guests) mentioned. Depending on how you roll, you could even use cayenne pepper in the salt or introduce some Habanero simple syrup as the creaminess of the drink would complement the spiciness very well. I may not make them this way every time, but for now, I am a covert!