Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope everyone is celebrating with a drink in hand (maybe this one) and lots of Mexican food!

Last year Rose and I got to go to Mexico for a week. It was amazing. Think lots of sunshine and reading on the beach until you were napping on the beach until eventually you were burning on the beach and it was time to reluctantly get out of the sun. This would usually mean we would just retire to a cabana so we could still enjoy the beach.

This also meant we could sneak a margarita into our afternoon as well. You can’t go to Mexico and not have a margarita (or two) every day. Plus, they had all sorts of delicious flavors like watermelon, peach, strawberry, and mango.

I was quite partial to the fresh flavor of the mango margarita, especially when it was paired with some chips and guac/salsa. I could drink and eat that combination for days.

Mental note – buy some avocados at the grocery store so I can consume this delicious margarita with chips and guac.

Drinking this mango margarita takes me back to when we were sitting on the beach with waves crashing in the background and seagulls squawking overhead. We created this drink in part to reminisce of the warm sunny weather and times we enjoyed while in Mexico, and also in part to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, also also in part because we just love margaritas and any excuse to create a fun drink.

This mango margarita is very simple to create and uses only a few ingredients, with no added sugar. We like to keep our drinks simple and less sweet, but if you wanted some extra sweetness it would be fine to add some agave. We also created a strawberry mango version to add a little extra delicious kick to it. I recommend sipping these with a friend, possibly on the beach, but if you don’t have one of those in your backyard then a couch will do just fine. Also, be warned, you will need some sort of salty chip or taco action to add to this drink.

Mango Margarita:

• 1/4 cup frozen fruit (we used mango, duh)
• 1 shot of tequila
• 1/2 shot of triple sec
• 1/4 cup coconut water
• A dash of lime juice
• 1 ice cube
• Optional salt to rim the glass

Mix all the ingredients in a high speed blender and enjoy in a tall glass with some sounds of beach waves playing in the background or sounds of your roommate munching on popcorn, either work, but I recommend the beach waves.

Simple, sweet, frozen, and delicious. What more could one ask for out of a margarita? Plus, you can mix in whatever fruit you prefer and make it a watermelon margarita or a strawberry margarita.

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Now go throw all these ingredients in your blender and break out some chips and salsa. And, if you do that please invite me over so I can drink and eat it all.