Mango Shrub Margarita: Pickle Margarita Cocktail

Mango Shrub Margarita is a spicy Pickle Margarita Cocktail using a bespoke Mango Shrub Syrup with raw cacao, chilli and demerara sugar infused in Coconut Vinegar, sweetened with a little Agave Nectar, with a base of Tequila Blanco with sweet, fresh and peppery notes. I garnish the Mango Shrub Margarita with a fresh wedge of mango dusted with Tajin powder, a Mexican spice mix with powdered dried lime, chilli and salt, and a half Mango Shrub and Tajin rim. I pair mango together with chilli, salt and lime inspired by the flavours of Mexican Paletas or fruit ice blocks with sweet frozen fruits then dipped in Tajin, a spiced citrus salt. The combination of sweet, sour, salty and spicy pairs well with the complex notes of sweetness, freshness and pepperiness of Tequila and in this case the tart fruitiness of mango and of chocolate complement one another while chilli adds heat and spice to the mix and citrus underscores refreshing sourness of mango and Coconut Vinegar.

Vintage Recipe Inspiration: Tequila Cocktail Recipe 1939

I have used the vintage Tequila recipe of Charlie Conolly (1939: 150) in his The World Famous Cotton Club as inspiration for the Mango Shrub Margarita. I like the 1 ½ oz. of strong to ½ oz. each of sweet and sour ingredients as a rough template to work with. Charlie Conolly’s Tequila recipe calls for 1 ½ oz. Tequila, ½ oz. Cointreau and the juice of ½ a lime which Conolly shakes with ice and strains into a cocktail glass with a salt rim, garnished with a lime wedge. Charlie Conolly (1939: 150) writes of the method for making the Tequila cocktail:

“Shake all ingredients with cracked ice. Strain into a cocktail glass, rimmed with the rind of lime and coated in salt. Garnish with wedge of lime.”

Charlie Conolly (1939: 150). The World Famous Cotton Club: Barman Charlie Conolly’s 1939 Book of Mixed Drinks. American Spirits Inc.: New York.

In this recipe lime is crucial as souring agent and as aromatic garnish combined with salt – aromatic lime underscores the refreshing sourness of lime juice paired with fresh notes of Tequila, while salt has flavour enhancing qualities that amplify the whole. Cointreau Orange Liqueur acts as a sweetener also bringing in citrus as tart sweetness.

How is the Mango Shrub Margarita Different?

The Mango Shrub Margarita is a Pickle Cocktail using a bespoke Shrub Syrup in which delicate sour Coconut Vinegar acts as a flavour intensifier and carrier for tart fruity mango, fruity, rich bitter raw cacao and spicy, hot chilli. I sweeten the Mango Shrub Margarita with a small amount of Agave Nectar to complement the 100% Blue Agave Kah Tequila Blanco base spirit. I finish the Mango Shrub Margarita with a half Mango Shrub and Tajin rim and a fresh mango wedge dipped in Tajin. Tajin is the magic visual and flavourful connecting thread here offering a red coloured spicy, salty, citrusy mix of dehydrated chilli, lime and salt used to season Mexican Paletas or ice blocks and fresh fruit and here to underscore a complex experience of sourness with notes of fruity tartness, sour coconut, citrus and fruity mango aroma amplified by the flavour enhancing properties of salt and the heating sensation or chemesthesis of spicy chilli.

Sour: Mango Shrub Syrup with cacao & chilli

I swap out the lime juice for Mango Shrub Syrup in this Pickle Mango Margarita recipe. My recipe for Mango Shrub Syrup uses the cold process method for making shrubs of Michael Dietsch (2016) which he outlines in his wonderful book Shrubs. I pair fresh local Australian Calypso mangoes with raw cacao and chilli, sweetened with demerara sugar and infused in Coconut Vinegar. The Mango Shrub thus adds sourness and complex flavour with notes of fresh fruity tart mango, fruity, rich and bitter cacao and spicy heat from chilli. I use a ½ oz. of Mango Shrub in the Mango Shrub Margarita, in line with the ½ oz. of lime in the Tequila cocktail recipe.

I peel and chop fresh in season Calypso mangoes and add them to a Kilner or other sealable preserving jar with demerara sugar, raw cacao nibs and chilli flakes. This step of macerating in the fridge in a sealed vessel increases the fruit juices drawn out of the mango by the sugar itself due to its moisture attracting properties meaning that you only need to do a little muddling and stirring to dissolve the sugar and add equal amounts of Coconut Vinegar to the mango syrup. I like this method of macerating in a sealed vessel in the fridge which Jeffrey Morgenthaler (2016: 110) uses in his recipe for Oleo Saccharum available in his The Bar Book although he uses a vacuum sealed bag for maceration. The difference here is the use of mango rather than citrus in a Kilner Jar, and after maceration I add vinegar rather than citrus juice to the finished syrup. You can adapt this method for making Shrub Syrups with other fruits for use in drinks and cocktails – see my recipes for Lychee Shrub Syrup, Blueberry Shrub Syrup, Strawberry Shrub Syrup and Grape Shrub Syrup.

The Coconut Vinegar has a Titratable Acidity of 4.5% Acetic Acid so it is not recommended as a preserving agent, which requires 5% Acetic Acid, but rather for quick use – the shrub will keep for about a week in the fridge – mine never lasts this long though as it is so delicious it ends up being added to Soda Water or made into cocktails or used as a topping for fresh fruit or ice cream. Note also that mangoes are a quite tart fruit with their own acidity from citric and malic acid and fruity tart aroma – they pair well with the more delicate Coconut Vinegar. I also like working with Coconut Vinegar in my shrubs as it has a delicate aroma that is not overpowering the way that some stronger vinegars can be. You can find Coconut Vinegar in good Asian Grocery Stores, and it comes from different countries including Sri Lanka where it is known as Coconut Toddy and the Philippines where it is known as Sukang Paombong.

Sweet: Agave Nectar

I sweeten the Mango Shrub Margarita with a little Agave Nectar to complement the 100% Agave Tequila used in this recipe. I use only a half barspoon or less as Agave Nectar is a concentrated sweetener which is extremely sweet in comparison to the ½ oz. of Cointreau in the Tequila recipe. You could dilute the nectar with water to form a syrup and use more – but it is easy to mix with directly and simply use less.

Strong: Tequila Blanco

I use a Tequila Blanco, here the Kah Tequila Blanco made from 100% Blue Agave, as the base for the Mango Shrub Margarita with fresh, sweet and spicy peppery notes that marry well with sweet tart mango and delicate sour Coconut Vinegar along with spicy chilli and fruity rich bitter raw cacao. I use the 1 ½ oz. of the Tequila cocktail recipe.

How to make the Mango Shrub Margarita: Shake & Strain

I follow the directions of Charlie Conolly in his Tequila cocktail recipe and shake the Mango Shrub Margarita with ice and strain into a chilled Sherry glass. Instead of a lime and salt rim and a lime wedge I finish the Mango Shrub Margarita with a Mango Shrub and Tajin half rim, and a fresh mango wedge dipped in Tajin. To make the ½ rim simply use a clean basting brush dipped in Mango Shrub Syrup to apply the shrub to half the rim of a cocktail glass and gently press into a plate sprinkled with Tajin. Cut a wedge of fresh mango and dip it into the Tajin and rest on the same edge your cocktail glass.

Spice, Salt, Citrus, Tart Fruit: Tajin + Mango Shrub Rim & Mango Wedge with Tajin

Tajin is a Mexican spice mix of dried chiles de árbol, guajillo and pasilla, dried lime zest and salt which you can find in good grocers and delis. Tajin ties the tart fruitiness of mango and rich bitter fruitiness of cacao together with notes of spicy hot chilli along with reinforcing sour notes of dried lime powder and flavour enhancing salt that underscore the sourness we expect from a Margarita. However, here sourness comes in from the tartness of mango itself and Coconut Vinegar. The aroma of tart fresh fruity mango caused by fruity esters rather than acids, adds another layer to our experience of sourness in this drink – bringing sourness to life in a way that has more than a dimension of taste alone – we have lime aroma and mango aroma to call to our senses tart fruity and fresh citrusy sourness. Tajin also ties a visual queue of hot spicy chilli and red colour and texture that contrasts with the clear yellow mango colour of the drink. I have served the Mango Shrub Margarita in a Sherry glass as it is a smaller serve, and the wedge of fresh mango sits nicely on top of this. The red colour of Tajin connects with the red and yellow tones of the fresh Calypso mango and queues us for a spicy, salty and citrusy contrast to the tart fresh yellow mango fruit.