Green Tea Cherry Margarita

You can usually find me with a glass of wine or bubbly, but when the weather starts to get warm I love a good margarita. I received some amazing Fleur de Geisha tea from Le Palais des Thés. The tea is inspired by the Japanese Hanami tradition of cherry blossom viewing and is a refined Japanese green tea delicately flavored with cherry blossom. Once again, I was unable to find fresh/frozen cherries anywhere so I used black cherry juice instead. Freezing the tea and cherry juice ahead of time yields a nice frothy margarita without it being watered down by ice.

Green Tea Cherry Margarita

• 4 tsp Le Palais des Thés Fleur de Geisha
• 12 oz water
• 12 oz black cherry juice
• 2 oz silver tequila
• 1 ½ tbs agave
• Juice from 1 lime
• Juice from half an orange
• Sugar and ground ginger form rimming the glass

To make tea, place tea leaves in lightly simmering water for 3 minutes. Filter leaves and let cool. Once cool, fill and ice tray with half of the tea and fill the other half with black cherry juice. If you are making double, fill one tray with tea and a second with cherry juice. Freeze until set.

For margarita, combine a little sugar and a few dashes of ground ginger to a plate. Moistened the rim of your glass with a lime and dip in the sugar ginger mixture. To a blender, add 4 cubes of tea and 4 cubes of cherry juice along with the tequila, agave, lime, and orange juice. If you like, add a splash of triple sec. Pulse until well blended. Garnish with a lime and cherry.