These Fresh Basil Peach Margaritas are made with classic margarita ingredients, real fruit juice, and muddled basil creating a deliciously sweet and fresh aromatic cocktail. This twist on a classic margarita includes fresh peaches, fresh basil leaves, agave or basil infused simple syrup, lime juice, tequila, and triple sec or Cointreau. If you love peaches and basil, you're going to love these fresh margaritas!
These peach margaritas are absolutely perfect for summer, especially when fresh peaches are in season, but they can be enjoyed any time of year! I have always loved cooking with the seasons and that includes what kind of cocktails we like to make as well! I find adding fresh ingredients that are in season and using 100% juice instead of margarita mixes or premixed cocktail juices can really take your homemade cocktails to the next level.
Adding fresh ingredients in to your homemade cocktails does not have to be hard. It can actually be quite simple. Homemade margaritas are a great way to start incorporating different fresh ingredients and trying different fruit juices. My pomegranate margaritas were one of the first cocktails I started to make at home. They quickly became mine and my husband's favorite.
Once you understand the basic parts of a classic margarita, you can mix it up and sub in different liquids for different flavors! Muddling a fresh herb or adding a spiced rim can also level up your homemade cocktail recipes.
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Ingredients for Fresh Basil Peach Margaritas
Margarita ingredients are simple. We use classic margarita ingredients as well as some juices and fresh ingredients to create these sweet herb aromatic peach margaritas.
- Peach Juice or Peach Juice Blend: If you're not juicing fruit yourself, be sure to find a store bought juice that uses real fruit juice from peaches, this makes all the difference! It can sometimes be hard to find peach juice, so if you can't find it and don't want to juice it, then I'd recommend an orange peach mango juice blend. I've tried it this way before and actually liked it just as much, if not more!
- Tip: Check the label on store bought juices! You will notice most of them have a bunch of other fruit or vegetable blends in them, like this one has apple juice and grape juice in it as well. Not that this will be bad, but peach may not be the primary flavor profile here if you switch up the fruit juices.
- **Please keep in mind that depending on the juice used, your margaritas will vary in color. Peaches also vary in color. Your drinks may be more pale colored or even darker depending on the juice you use.
- Peaches: You'll need 1 yellow peach per 2 margaritas.
- Fresh Basil Leaves: Only fresh herbs here! You cannot use dried herbs because they need to be muddled, so they must be fresh. Basil is actually an herb from the mint family, but it has a sweeter taste that pairs beautifully with fresh peaches. When basil is muddled and mashed, it releases a strong aroma and flavor from the basil leaf which infuses the cocktail with so much more basil flavor than if you were to just drop it in. One basil leaf per cocktail is my rule of thumb. Any more than that and it could be too herby for some.
- You can easily grow your own basil on your counter top to use in recipes whenever you want!
- Tequila: This margarita recipe calls for silver tequila. I typically use Blanco tequila which makes great margaritas.
- Triple Sec or Cointreau: Classic orange liqueur for margaritas.
- Lime Juice: Fresh lime juice is best but bottled 100% real lime juice will also work and can save time considering juicing limes can be a job all on it's own. I often keep the brand Santa Cruz lime juice in my refrigerator for convenience!
- Agave Nectar or Simple Syrup: I use this brand. Agave comes straight from the plant that tequila is made from so I believe it makes for the best margarita. If you don't have agave, you can use simple syrup. Instructions for basil infused simple syrup are below!
- Garnishes: Sea salt or fine sugar for the margarita glass rim, peach wedges, and basil leaves.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Fresh Basil Peach Margaritas
These peach basil margaritas only have one extra step outside of a traditional classic margarita and that is due to the muddling in the beginning.
Rub a peach wedge around the rims of 2 margarita glasses and dunk in salt or sugar, coating the rim. Fill glasses with ice and 1 or 2 fresh peach slices if desired. Place in the freezer until ready to use. A chilled glass makes for a cold drink and prevents the ice from melting!
Place 2 basil leaves and ½ of a peach (diced small) in the bottom of a larger cocktail shaker and use a muddler to really mash the two ingredients together really well. Then, pour in the peach juice, lime juice, agave nectar or simple syrup, tequila, and triple sec or Cointreau. Top with ice and shake well for 15-30 seconds.
Then pour the margarita mix over/through a strainer into the chilled ice filled margarita glasses. Garnish and enjoy immediately.
Feel free to garnish with a peach slice skewer or peach slices without the skewer. Top with some fresh basil leaves for a lovely herb aroma when you sip the margarita! Enjoy (responsibly) of course!
Variations of Fresh Basil Peach Margaritas
Batch a Pitcher of Margaritas
If you are wanting to make a larger batch of fresh peach basil margaritas to enjoy at a party or serve in a pitcher, you definitely can. Scaling this recipe is as easy as can be because we use the basics of ratios to create many of our cocktail drink recipes so that they can be batch made. This is one that is easy to batch.
Tip: Be sure to store the margarita pitcher in the refrigerator and pour over chilled glasses with ice instead of keeping ice in the pitcher. This ensures that the margarita mix does not get watered down. If the fresh margaritas are going to be served right away, then feel free to throw some ice in the pitcher. Always stir the margarita pitcher before serving.
How to Scale this Margarita Recipe
This peach margarita recipe includes 3 parts tequila, 2 parts orange liqueur/triple sec/Cointreau, 2 parts peach juice, ½ (0.5) part lime juice, and 1 part agave or basil infused simple syrup.
For muddling large batches, I recommend calculating 1 basil leaf and ¼ of a peach diced small per every one cocktail. So, if you are making a batch for 4 margaritas, that would mean muddling together 4 basil leaves and 1 entire peach diced small. Be sure to mash the ingredients super well! The more ingredients you are muddling, the longer you'll need to mash! Leave the muddled ingredients in the pitcher to allow them to infuse longer in the margarita mix for large batches.
Continuing with the example of four margaritas, add 12 ounces tequila, 8 ounces triple sec/Cointreau, 8 ounces peach juice, 2 ounces lime juice, and 4 ounces agave or simple syrup. Stir very well to combine ingredients or if the pitcher has a completely sealed lid you can carefully generously shake. Pour finished margarita mix over a cocktail strainer into the prepped margarita glasses for serving to ensure you don't get any of the mashed pieces in the finished margaritas.
Make Frozen Margaritas
In order to make these fresh basil peach margaritas into frozen margaritas, simply place all the ingredients in a blender with a couple cups of ice and blend until desired consistency is reached. These frozen peach margaritas would be so refreshing on a summer day! I love frozen cocktails at a summer party when it's hot outside! Then again, I'm the girl that's drinking iced coffee in negative 10 degree weather, so there's that.
Basil Infused Simple Syrup
You can also make a basil infused simple syrup instead of using agave to sweeten the cocktail. To make the simple syrup, bring 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup water, and 6-8 finely chopped basil leaves to a boil. Boil for a couple minutes, stir, then pour over a strainer into a heat safe container and let it cool down. I often will keep the basil leaves in the syrup and then just strain it as I need the syrup. Chill and store in the refrigerator several hours before use. It should stay good in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Equipment to Make Fresh Basil Peach Margaritas
To make these fresh basil peach margaritas, you'll need a muddler and large cocktail shaker. You'll also need a strainer unless you want to use the one that may come with the shaker lid. However, keep in mind that there could be peach pulp from muddling that could get stuck in the small holes of the lid strainer, so you may want to use a separate cocktail strainer or pour over a cone strainer to make it easier to pour.
These peach margaritas are fun to serve in traditional margarita glasses, but any glass will do! To salt or sugar the rims of the margarita glasses, a cocktail salt rimmer or small plate makes this easy to do. If you want to garnish, you can just place the garnishes on top or use cocktail skewers to secure them.
Alternatively, if you are batching this recipe into larger quantities, you'll want a margarita pitcher as well. If you are making frozen margaritas, you'll need a high powered blender to cut through the ice.
This cocktail recipe is intended for those adults of legal drinking age in your pertaining country only. Consume alcoholic beverages at your own risk and be responsible.
Craving more? Check out our other deliciously unique drink recipes inclusive of alternative drink ideas, cocktails, and fun non-alcohol drinks as well!
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Fresh Basil Peach Margaritas
Equipment
- cocktail shaker with lid large sized (17-24 ounces)
- cocktail strainer
- muddler
- margarita glasses
- cocktail skewers for garnish if desired optional
- cocktail rimmer or plate for salt or sugar to rim the glasses optional
Ingredients
- 3 ounces Blanco tequila
- 2 ounces Cointreau or triple sec
- 2 ounces peach juice (or orange peach mango juice blend)
- 1 ounce lime juice
- 2 ounces agave nectar (or simple syrup or basil infused simple syrup)
- 2 fresh basil leaves
- 1 medium yellow peach (half of the peach diced small for muddling and half the peach sliced into wedges for garnishing)
Optional Garnishes
- fresh basil leaves
- peach wedge slices
- sea salt or sugar for glass rim
Instructions
- Dice half of a medium sized peach and slice the other half into wedges.1 medium yellow peach
- Rub a peach wedge around the rim of 2 margarita glasses and dunk in sea salt or sugar, coating the rims. Fill glasses with ice and 1 or 2 fresh peach slices if desired. Place in the freezer until ready to use.sea salt or sugar for glass rim
- Place 2 fresh basil leaves and ½ of a peach (diced small) in the bottom of a large cocktail shaker. Muddle and mash them together very well with a cocktail muddler.2 fresh basil leaves, 1 medium yellow peach
- Pour in the peach juice, lime juice, agave nectar or simple syrup, tequila, and triple sec or Cointreau. Top with ice. Place the shaker top on and shake well for 15-30 seconds.3 ounces Blanco tequila, 2 ounces Cointreau or triple sec, 2 ounces peach juice, 1 ounce lime juice, 2 ounces agave nectar
- Pour the margarita mix over/through a strainer into prepared glasses. Garnish with peach slices and fresh basil leaves. Secure garnishes on a cocktail skewer if desired. Enjoy!fresh basil leaves, peach wedge slices
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