![Tequila Mockingbird Cocktail Recipe](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.foodandwine.com/thmb/d5boBIsk1-SA9cAWbGbkQijtsqk=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Tequila-Mockingbird-FT-RECIPE0623-bd742637a0c744c2bd9186afcc586b9b.jpg)
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling Barrett Washburne
Looking for a refreshing cocktail with a hint of heat? This spicy lime and ginger recipe from Stephanie Izard features a syrup made with ginger, fish sauce, makrut lime leaves, cilantro, and Thai chiles. The fresh ginger is slightly sweet and gives the syrup a kick, but it’s the Thai chile pepper that brings the real heat. Makrut lime leaves perfume this drink with a hint of their citrus floral flavor. Lime leaves can be found in the produce sections of grocery stores, and are almost always available at Asian food markets. The fish sauce is the surprising inclusion here, but its funky salty flavor balances the sweetness of the syrup. And cooking with cilantro stems is a great way to reduce your food waste — the stems have lots of flavor.
You can make this syrup ahead of time, and then mix it with the tequila, lime juice, and soda water anytime you are ready. It makes for a refreshing cocktail you’ll want to sip all summer long.
Ingredients
Spicy Ginger Syrup
-
1/2 cup sugar
-
1 Thai chile, chopped
-
1 tablespoon fish sauce
-
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh peeled ginger
-
3 makrut lime leaves
-
2 cilantro stems, leaves stripped
-
1/2 cup water
Cocktail
-
1 1/2 ounces reposado tequila
-
3/4 ounce Spicy Ginger Syrup
-
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
-
4 ounces soda water, plus more as needed
-
2 springs cilantro
-
1 lime leaf
Directions
Make the syrup
-
n a small saucepan, combine sugar, chilies, fish sauce, ginger, lime leaves, cilantro stems with water and to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sugar has dissolved and chiles have softened, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and steep until syrup is at room temperature, about 1 hour. Strain syrup into a jar. Cover and chill.
Make the cocktail
-
Combine tequila, Spicy Ginger Syrup, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with soda water; garnish with cilantro sprigs and a lime leaf.