PREP TIME 10 min
We wish every happy hour started with a Blood Orange Margarita cocktail. This juicy cocktail is packed with all the bittersweet flavours you can wish for, making it a perfect aperitif that everyone will love. It may have a few more ingredients to gather than your average 3-ingredient sippers, but it’s an all-in-one wonder that’s easy to whip together in a matter of minutes.
Wet the rim of a rocks glass or tumbler with a little juice
Dip it in a saucer of salt to coat
Fill the glass with ice and set aside
Half fill a shaker or mason jar with ice
Add all the ingredients and shake until icy cold
Strain into the glass
Garnish with a blood orange slice tucked onto the rim and enjoy super chilled
The crimson-streaked flesh of blood orange is sweeter than a regular navel orange and a little less acidic with hints of berry flavour. These bold flavoured oranges are generally much juicer than their navel relatives and made up of a softer structure, so when you are making drinks with blood orange, you’ll see they easily collapse when juicing. The iconic dark red hue comes from the presence of anthocyanins, a pigment common to flowers and berries but usually rare in citrus. Blood oranges are in season in the cold winter months and start fruiting a month earlier than the navels, usually in December.
This beauty is one of the best Cocktails for beginners, as you literally chuck all your ingredients together and give it a good shake for an icy chill. Our Blood Orange Juice cocktail is built with the same blocks as the OG Margarita, which is one of those classic Mexican cocktails most people know. Made with tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice, the blood orange version also adds a dash of Campari (yum), freshly squeezed blood orange juice and a little sugar syrup for sweetness. Make sure you grab a good quality tequila like Cabo Wabo or Espolòn as this recipe calls for a smooth unaged blanco to add a good balance. For the orange liqueur, choose one that offers serious bitter orange notes like Grand Marnier for adding an extra depth of flavour to drinks with blood orange.
The finishing touch of a Blood Orange Margarita cocktail is a salt rim. Do this first before pouring your drink by tipping some sea salt onto a saucer, rubbing a wedge of orange or lime around the edge of a rocks glass or tumbler to wet it before twisting the rim in the salt.
A salt rim elevates the flavour and brings that extra Insta-appeal to your drink, since we all tend to feast with our eyes first, right?
If fresh oranges aren’t at your fingertips to juice for blood orange drink recipes, a 100% pure carton of juice will still be divine. Shop bought juices can be sweeter, so you may need to reduce the amount of sugar syrup in the cocktail. You can always substitute the blood orange with regular OJ – just remember you’ll lose a little sweetness along the way so add a little more sugar syrup.
When you add Campari to your Blood Orange Margarita, you’re bringing an extra layer of complexity to the drink. This iconic Italian aperitif adds a bittersweet note that plays beautifully against the sweetness of the blood orange and the sharpness of the lime. It’s a brilliant way to elevate a classic Margarita, making it feel just a bit more sophisticated. If you’re new to Campari, don’t worry—the bitterness mellows out with the other ingredients, creating a balanced, crave-worthy cocktail.
Also see: Drink Like an Italian (8 Campari Cocktails to Try)
If you want to give your Blood Orange Margarita a more traditional Mexican twist, swap out the sugar syrup for agave syrup. Agave syrup has a more neutral sweetness than sugar syrup and enhances the flavour of the tequila. It’s also a great option if you prefer a less-processed sweetener. Just be sure to use light agave syrup to keep the balance right in the drink.
Learn more: Easy Syrup Variations for Cocktail Making
