The Only Virgin Margarita You’ll Ever Want

The other evening my husband & I were out at one of our local watering holes, I ordered a virgin margarita and he ordered a regular.  The drinks came to the table, I took one sip and declared it the best virgin marg I’d ever tasted — I mean this was unimaginably good — my cheeks were half off the seat and en route to the bar (this, my friends, was a secret I needed to know about) when we realized it was a little too good to be true; the server had mistakenly given my husband the alcohol-free margarita.

But fear not, I’ve been busy experimenting with an excitement worthy virgin margarita (that is genuinely alcohol-free) and I’m delighted to share it with you today!

One of my favorite things about the growing consumer interest in non-alcoholic beverages is that makers have really elevated their game and become increasingly creative and responsive to the growing market demand for quality tasting alternatives.  

Makers dedicated to the process of crafting non-alcoholic beverages are investing more time and attention into both the ingredients and the processes by which they’re creating their spirits and the result is better tasting, higher quality alternatives.

I have no affiliation with Ritual Zero Proof (the brand of tequila alternative i’m using in this recipe), I just think they’ve done a good job overall creating a clean fire tequila alternative with a smoky, grassy body. Here are some of the key ingredients they use in the mix: blue agave flower, Mexican lime, tropical guava, cracked sea salt, charred oak, mesquite smoke, black peppercorn, capsicum fruit, prickly ash, green bell pepper.

On the nose, Ritual is very reminiscent of traditional tequila (it exceeded my hopes) — of course it does not have the weight of alcohol (I explain the significance of alcohol in creating body/mouthfeel in my dealcoholized wine feature) — so that’s a trickier aspect to mimic ~ still, it does a good job with aroma and taste and, when combined with fresh lime and homemade orange liqueur (non-alcoholic), it creates a pretty darn good virgin marg!

friends, have you experimented with virgin cocktails? If you try this margarita please drop a note below to let me know how it goes…let’s have fun learning from each other as we mix delicious alcohol-free libations!

you might also enjoy checking out my spiced pear whiskey sour mocktail

5.0 from 1 reviews

Zero Proof Margaritas

 

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A delicious alternative to traditional margaritas ~ this zero-proof margarita has warm smoky tasting notes intermingled with a backdrop of bright succulent citrus

Author: kelly

Serves: For 1 Margarita

Ingredients

• ❀ 2 fl oz (59 ml) alcohol-free tequila such as Ritual Zero-Proof Tequila Alternative
  
• ❀ 2 fl oz (59 ml) zero-proof orange liqueur -- it's worth making your own! here's my recipe
  
• ❀ 2 fl oz (59 ml) fresh squeezed lime juice
  
• ❀ 1 fl oz (29 ml) or more plain soda water* (plain sparkling water)
  
  
• *note: if you like bitters, this is also an option instead of the soda water (for non-alcoholic bitters, I like the brand Hella Bitters & Soda - naturally flavored -- my suggestion would be to try the original recipe with soda water and then decide whether you want to experiment with the bitters - bitters add punch but also takes the drink in a slightly different direction, up to you!) tonic water could also be used instead of bitters (also bitter but less so but contains additives like sugars, etc.). Also, we sometimes add more soda water (especially when serving in a larger glass) so you can play around with that to see what works best for you.

Instructions

1. Prepare salted rimmed glasses using tumbler/lowball or margarita glasses as preferred (I use a lime wedge to wet the rim and then invert onto a salt-lined plate and rotate a couple times like you would a cookie cutter to get the salt onto the glass rim).
2. Place 4-6 ice cubs in a cocktail shaker and add: zero-proof tequila, homemade zero-proof orange liqueur, lime juice and soda water -- shake well and pour mixture into glass holding back on cubes initially -- gently add the ice if desired (all or just a couple cubes as preferred).

3.5.3251