Hibiscus Margarita

Hibiscus Margaritas are so refreshing and a perfect balance of sweet & sour. Made with hibiscus tea concentrate, grapefruit juice and tequila. The ingredients are simple, but the taste is amazing!

Coffee is a necessity for me in the morning, but it only takes a little of it for me to feel the effects. So, after my one cup, I make the switch to tea, or I just sip on some homemade bone broth. Regardless, I always need a warm cup of something in my hands at the office because I run on the cold side – aka, my toes are always ice cubes and I have constant goosebumps.

The only teas I’ll drink though are the fruity ones – like raspberry or lemon. (PS – I just spotted these teas on Amazon – They sound really yummy too!) But my all time favorite is hibiscus tea. It’s got such a great tang to it, and I love that bright pink color. I’ll normally doctor it up with a bit of honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon if I’ve got some citrus in the fridge. Yesterday, I was fixing a cup and although I didn’t have any lemon on hand, I did have some grapefruit leftover from making these margaritas. So, it got me thinking…

Why not use that hibiscus tea in a cocktail? 

This past summer, I took a cocktail class focused on spiked tea cocktails. We learned a bunch of techniques for incorporating tea into spirits, but one of my favorite techniques, and honestly the easiest, is to make a tea concentrate. Technically, you’re just steeping a bunch of tea bags in a relatively small amount of water. Simple. 

So, for these hibiscus margaritas, I steeped five tea bags in a cup of hot water and then just let that cool. Remove the tea bags and you’re left with about a cup of concentrate which will make four margaritas. I used 2 ounces of hibiscus tea concentrate in each margarita, combined with equal parts tequila and grapefruit juice, which makes measuring super simple.

I like to serve these hibiscus margaritas in salt-rimmed glasses, but if you prefer no salt, you can definitely omit this step. Or, you can rim your margarita in other ways too:

• Use sugar instead of salt.
• Rim your glasses with this homemade citrus salt.
• Combine kosher salt with a bit of chili powder to give your margaritas a spicy kick.

I hope you enjoy these hibiscus margaritas as much as I did! If you try them, snap a shot and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings.

Hibiscus Margarita

Course: Cocktail

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 1 cocktail

Calories: 188 kcal

Author: Erin

Hibiscus Margaritas are so refreshing and a perfect balance of sweet and sour. Made with hibiscus tea concentrate, grapefruit juice and tequila. The ingredients are simple, but the taste is amazing! 

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Ingredients

• 2 ounces tequila silver
• 2 ounces hibiscus tea concentrate recipe below
• 2 ounces grapefruit juice freshly squeezed, about ½ a grapefruit
• 1 teaspoon agave syrup or fine sugar
• Ice
• Lime wedge
• Salt for rimming glass

Hibiscus Tea Concentrate:

• 5 hibiscus tea sachets I used Tazo Passion Tea
• 1 cup water

Instructions

Hibiscus Tea Concentrate:

1. Steep tea sachets in water just off a boil for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool to room temperature.

Cocktail:

1. Run a lime wedge along the lip of your glass and dip in salt to cover the rim, fill with ice. Combine the tequila, tea concentrate, grapefruit juice and agave (or sugar) in a cocktail shaker. Shake to combine and strain into prepared margarita glass.

Recipe Notes

You will have enough hibiscus tea concentrate to make four hibiscus margaritas. You can store the hibiscus tea concentrate in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 

This recipe was originally published in October 2014. It was updated in January 2017 to add new photographs and update the post content. 

Tip:

• Use the lid of your cocktail shaker to get the seeds out of your grapefruit juice. Invert lid on top of cocktail shaker and squeeze grapefruit directly into lid, using it as a strainer.

Looking for more margarita recipes? Be sure to try these too:

Grapefruit Habanero Margarita

Grilled Pineapple Jalapeno Margarita