Margarita

The longer the tequila is infused with the chiles, the hotter it gets.

(Margaritas de Tunas) Cactus fruits, also known as "prickly pears," are any number of fruit nodules that grow wild on the nopales cactus in the deserts of Mexico and the southwestern United States. Although prickly pear juice is sold in bottles, nothing compares to the sweet taste of their fresh flesh and spitting out the numerous seeds. My dad taught me how to peel the fruits: Hold them with a pair of thick leather or work gloves, cut off both ends, cut a slit down the length of the fruit, then remove the prickly skins with a pair of tongs. Although they come in a variety of flavors and colors, I find the ones with the bright pink flesh to be the most tasty and the drinks from them come out more festive looking, too.

Adapted from Pichet Ong's P*ONG restaurant in New York. Aleppo pepper is a Syrian red pepper with a bit of smokiness and just a faint touch of heat.

The luscious purple color of this drink is a stunner! Taste a berry first to check for sweetness. If it's not supersweet, add a tablespoon of sugar when muddling the berries.

Editor's Note: This recipe originally accompanied a story on Mother's Day. Tequila and beer make these slushy, orange-and lime-flavored drinks pack a Texas-size punch. They're just the thing on a blazing-hot summer night.

Eben Freeman, bartender of Tailor Restaurant in New York City, developed this adaptation of a classic cocktail. Reposado tequila, aged in oak for at least two months but less than a year, gives the drink a smooth smokiness. If you prefer a more vegetal flavor, you could substitute blanco (unaged) tequila; it's probably best to steer clear of añejo (aged in oak for at least a year but less than three years), which could darken the hue and add unwanted oak, vanilla, or caramel flavors. To sweeten his Margarita, Freeman trades the traditional sugar syrup for superfine sugar, which gives the drink a slightly grainy texture. Freeman's final signature touch: Only half the glass gets a salted rim.

If desired, garnish drinks with a wedge of grilled pineapple and a chile slice.

A festive margarita variation with muddled fresh blackberries, thyme, and sparkling wine.

This drink was featured as a Cocktail of the Month. Click here to learn more about the Margarita and for another great recipe. This recipe comes from Tres Agaves, a San Francisco Mexican restaurant with an exceptional selection of tequilas. Because limes vary widely in acidity, tequila fanatic Eric Rubin, the restaurant's managing partner, recommends tasting the drink (use a bar straw if you're making it for a friend) before you strain it, so you're sure you have achieved the proper balance between sweet and sour. Adjust the amounts of lime juice and agave nectar syrup as necessary, but be careful not to obscure the flavor of the tequila.

Somebody had the bright idea to make a tequila Sidecar, using lime juice instead of the lemon and a glass rimmed with salt instead of sugar (tequila popularly being administered with a lick of salt and a slice of lime). The first notice of this practice comes in 1937, from London of all places, where the bartenders at the Café Royal somehow got their hands on a bottle of tequila and did some experimenting. But they called their version the Picador, not the Margarita, and didn't use the salt rim. It's entirely possible that the Margarita was born — in Texas, California, or Mexico — without prior knowledge of the Picador.

For extra-slushy Margaritas, freeze the drinks in the blender jar at least thirty minutes and up to one hour; stir, if necessary, before serving. Instead of using salt, coat the glass rims with superfine sugar: Run a lime wedge along the rims to moisten, then dip them into a shallow saucer of sugar.

Dipping the rims of the glasses into a mixture of salt and sugar is a nice touch.