Virgin Margaritas

There are actually quite a few recipes out there for non-alcoholic Margaritas. This one has a “secret ingredient” - pickle juice - to give it a little something extra. You could make a margarita using just margarita mix and not add any booze, thinking that it is non-alcoholic, but you have to check the ingredients listed on the bottle because although most mixes do not contain alcohol, some do. The idea of this recipe is not just making it yourself but something better than what you can buy in a bottle. The orange juice in this recipe helps compensate for the lack of cointreau, flavor-wise. I highly recommend mixing up the juices, simple syrup, and pickle juice ahead of time - with everything multiplied by 10 - in an appropriate sized container [must hold at least 24 ounces] that you could put a lid on and store in the refrigerator. I have shown these 10X amounts [in brackets like this] below. This is more efficient and you will be juicing three different citrus fruits, so doing anything different than this would be very wasteful. Then, when you use it to make a glass for each person, pour out approximately 2.4 ounces of the mixture at step 2 of the recipe.

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1 1/2 Oz (3 Tbsp) [15 ounces] fresh squeezed Persian lime juice

• 1/2 Oz (1 Tbsp) [5 ounces] fresh squeezed lemon juice

• 1/4 Oz (1/2 Tbsp) [2 1/2 ounces] fresh squeezed orange juice

• 1 tsp [1.7 ounces] simple syrup

• 1/8 tsp [0.3 ounces] pickle juice

• 3 Oz tonic water

• 1 Persian lime wheel for garnish

• ice

• flaky sea salt

Directions

1. Cut a circle out of a lime and notch it, then run the lime around the rim of a glass. Dip the rim in flaky sea salt on a plate.

2. Stir together the lime juice, lemon juice, simple syrup, and pickle juice in the glass.

3. Add tonic water and fill the glass with ice cubes.

4. Garnish with lime wheel and serve.