Key Takeaways
Reese Witherspoon’s watermelon margarita combines tequila, watermelon juice, lime, agave, and mint.
The recipe is versatile, allowing substitutions like mezcal, vodka, or spirit-free alternatives, and can be customized.
For a frozen twist, blend the ingredients with frozen watermelon cubes for a slushy, hydrating drink.
When we think about Reese Witherspoon, all signs point to “timeless.” Her polished fashion. Her inspiring book club. Her charming furniture collection. Her breakout role in 1998’s Pleasantville. There’s a lot to love about the actor, producer, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and mom. Including her taste in cocktails.
Since we named the Spa Spritz the drink of summer, I’ve been on a serious spritz kick. After a couple months of weekly Friday spritz-fests, though, I realized it was time to shake things up. Right on cue, Reese swooped in with a 5-ingredient cocktail recipe that’s timeless (margaritas never go out of style!) and timely (‘tis the season for watermelon) all at once.
Witherspoon originally shared her signature Watermelon Margarita recipe on Instagram 5 years ago, but after my phone heard me raving about Kate Middleton’s Watermelon Salad to my Mom, Witherspoon’s seasonal cocktail demonstration made its way back to my “for you page” a couple of weeks ago. For the sake of research, of course, I had to give this drink of summer contender a shot.
Tips
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How to Make Reese Witherspoon’s Watermelon Margarita
It’s a breeze to make this summer cocktail recipe. Here’s how to happy hour like Reese:
Mix the ingredients. To a cocktail shaker filled halfway with ice, add tequila, fresh watermelon juice or purée, the juice of one lime, agave nectar, and fresh mint. Add the lid and shake until the surface of the cup is icy.
Enjoy over ice. Fill a rocks glass halfway with ice. If you like, cut a slit into a small slice of watermelon to add as a garnish. Strain the watermelon mixture into the glass.
Related: Get Reese Witherspoon’s Watermelon Margarita Recipe
Tips For Making Watermelon Margaritas
After tasting a sip, I realized the foundation is strong and elegant, just like Witherspoon. It’s also ripe for remixing. Ahead, I’m spilling a handful of ideas to make this your own:
Swap in another spirit. Blanco and añejo tequila are classic margarita liquor selections. For a smoky substitute, consider mezcal. If you’re not a big tequila fan, gin, vodka, or rum would also play nicely with the watermelon, lime, and mint.
Try it spirit-free. Skip the tequila, and this transforms into a refreshing hydration-boosting beverage. Dig the flavor of tequila, just not the actual alcohol? Try a spirit-free alternative from a brand like Ritual, Almave, or Spiritless.
Add another herb. Fresh mint and watermelon are quite the dream team; however, if you don’t have any mint in your herb garden or don’t dig the flavor, tag in fresh basil.
Give it some kick. Calling all spicy margarita fans! Add a few jalapeño slices or a splash of pickled jalapeño juice to the shaker before mixing the ingredients for a swicy sip.
Remember that other sweeteners work, too. Witherspoon calls for agave. Feel free to use the same amount of honey or half as much simple syrup.
Make it sparkle. For my fellow spritz devotees, top your cocktail with 2 ounces sparkling wine, and you have a bubbly mash-up cocktail that’s a cousin to our 2024 drink of summer, The Lone Ranger.
The Verdict on Reese Witherspoon’s Watermelon Margarita
Since watermelon juice had a big viral moment on social media last year, I’ve been making fresh watermelon juice a habit all season long (May through September, in my neck of the woods). For some reason, I hadn’t thought to invite my favorite hydrating juice to happy hour before Witherspoon swooped in with her spirited memo about what I had been missing.
Like many parts of the country, we’re in the thick of a heatwave here in the Midwest, so the next time I make Witherspoon’s Watermelon Margarita recipe, I plan to ask it to chill out. I hopped down to our Test Kitchen to ask, “Could this be a frozen margarita?” Gratefully, they said “absolutely!” One cup of frozen watermelon cubes is equivalent to 1 ounce of watermelon juice, which is what Witherspoon calls for in the recipe. That means this cocktail is a cinch to make as a slushy. Instead of mixing the margarita in a cocktail shaker, simply add the ingredients to a blender to blitz them into a dilution-free watermelon-tequila cocktail that’s wildly refreshing.
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
