Groovy. Local. Food.

Warm weather = tasty, cool margaritas.

During the early part of the summer I don’t settle for any margarita — I prefer one made with my strawberry-infused tequila.

Nothing could be easier, really.

The real key is good strawberries — the ones you buy in the store will work but won’t be quite as good as what you find at the farmers market — and good tequila.

Last summer I mixed market berries with store berries and it wasn’t anywhere near as good as the all-market berry concoction. Yes, I taste-tested so you don’t have to. I’m always willing to make those kind of sacrifices.

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Strawberries are in season and they’ve been incredibly delicious. So get yourself to a market and grab some — ours fly off the tables. While they are around I try to keep a few infusions going. Right now I have one but will expand next week.

So … to the important part.

What you’ll need

A bottle of tequila, a quart of strawberries and a quart mason jar. You can use a smaller mason jar, just divide up the tequila and berries and pour enough over so they’re covered.

I cut up the strawberries and pour a bottle of tequila into the jar over the berries. For tequila, I go with white and buy Cazadores Blanco — it has a big deer head on the front and runs about $28 a bottle in the Washington, D.C. metro area. If that’s too rich for your blood look for something less expensive but try to avoid the cheapy stuff.

Now here’s the hard part — waiting. Three weeks. Yep. Good things take time.

I put the jar in my pantry and give it a daily shake and let it sit for about three weeks in a dark, cool space.

When it’s ready I drain it into a mixing bowl or large measuring cup with a spout so it’s easy to pour. Then chill.  I do make an effort to squeeze the tequila out of the strawberries because they soak up a fair amount of alcohol. But I don’t eat the fruit because, well, it’s kinda gross after sitting in the alcohol for three weeks and doesn’t taste too good.

Once it’s chilled I mix it with a bit of orange liqueur or Grand Marnier (yum) and shake over ice. Add salt or not to your glass and pour. I don’t add any mixers –  it’s all alcohol. I love the flavor of the tequila on its own. Smooth. But if it’s too strong there are plenty of mixers.

Let me know if you come up with a cool recipe and I’ll post it here.

Enjoy!