One recipe, infinite drinks

An easy margarita in whatever flavor you like best

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Here’s an unfortunate truth: The thing about cocktails is you have to make them from something.

Bars have those glowy shelves decked with spirits and liqueurs, plus cut-crystal bitters bottles and squeezies of syrups and juices. It makes sense for them to be well-stocked since they’re making hundreds of drinks on the daily—and it makes sense to visit bars for the kind of skill and careful cocktails they can provide.

But the biggest complaint I hear from people at home is that cocktail recipes call for stuff they don’t have, stuff that costs money! Or alternatively, drink recipes ask you to cook. Make a syrup! Make an infusion! You might as well make dinner.

The answer of course is to stick to making the simplest classics, or a handful of drinks using the same few ingredients. Add one bottle at a time to your stash, and make as many different cocktails as you can with it until you get bored.

Julianna McIntosh offers a clever cheat, though. In her book, Pretty Simple Cocktails, she shares an easy margarita that you can customize based on what’s already in your kitchen. You don’t need to cook fresh fruit into a syrup or blitz it with sugar or even find that muddler you bought. You don’t need to let chile slices sit in booze overnight. You just open your fridge and find a jar of jam. Mixed up with a classic margarita formula of blanco tequila, Cointreau, and fresh lime, a spoonful of blackberry jam offers deep flavor and a gorgeous ruby color, without leaning on a bottle of cassis that you’ll only crack open once a year.

The drink is simple to throw together but feels custom, selected especially for whoever you’re drinking with.

With blackberry jam—I used a seedless 365 organic version from Whole Foods—the Pantry Margarita is remarkably well balanced. But this is just where you get on the train.

Try apricot preserves or the world’s best plum jam or even pepper jelly. Play with whatever jam someone brought over as a gift. It’ll likely work out delightfully—and get you more comfortable with riffing on cocktails. Worst case, you’ll use the rest of the jam on tomorrow’s toast.

Photograph: Lucianna McIntosh

Pantry Margarita

Adapted from Pretty Simple Cocktails by Julianna McIntosh. Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

Notes from Julianna: This margarita makes the most of what’s already sitting in your pantry (or refrigerator), no customized simple syrup required. Just reach for your favorite jar of jam, shake a tablespoon in with the rest of the ingredients, and strain into a glass. A vigorous shake will distribute that fruity flavor (and color) throughout your drink, and a double-strain will make sure that none of the little solid pieces of fruit make it into your finished cocktail. Try this with any jam, jelly, marmalade, or preserves. If you have a jar that’s almost empty, you can even build your cocktail in the jar, twist on the lid, and shake it right in there.

Makes 1

For the rim:
Pinch lime zest
About 2 tsp. kosher salt
Lime wedge

For the cocktail:
1½ oz. blanco tequila (such as Tapatío)
¾ oz. Cointreau or other orange liqueur
¾ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon blackberry jam or preserves of your choice

Standard ice cubes, for shaking
1 large ice cube, for serving

To garnish: fresh or dehydrated lime wheel, plus 2 fresh blackberries (or other seasonal ingredient, optional)

To rim the glass, add lime zest and kosher salt to a small plate. Run the lime wedge around the outer rim of a rocks glass. Roll the outer rim of the glass in the salt. Place the rimmed glass in the freezer to chill.

In a cocktail shaker, combine 1½ oz. blanco tequila, ¾ oz. Cointreau or other orange liqueur, ¾ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice, and 1 tablespoon blackberry jam or preserves of your choice. Fill with ice, cover, and shake vigorously for 30 seconds to ensure the jam is fully incorporated. Using a cocktail strainer and fine mesh strainer, double-strain into the rimmed rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish as desired.