Dr. Jekyll’s Monster Margarita

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Cocktail History

The Dr. Jekyll’s Monster Margarita is a Halloween cocktail that was created in 2022 by Alex Sukopp, former bartender of Sips From Scripts. Meant to be a variation of the Black Magic Margarita first published by Delish, it was supposed to be an almost-black concoction without needing to use food coloring, but it ended up orange after experimentation instead. The recipe calls for a unique list of spicy and sweet ingredients, including two types of tequila, citrus, raspberry, agave syrup, and black salt. This disparate mix of flavors works surprisingly well and is reminiscent of Harry Jekyll and his split personality Mr. Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, hence its name.

Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Tequila Añejo: This is a type of tequila made in Mexico with blue agave, sugar, and alcohol that is aged from one to three years in oak barrels. I used Camarena Añejo Tequila.

Ancho Chile Tequila: This is a type of tequila made by infusing ancho chile peppers in tequila blanco for a few days.

Triple Sec: This is a liqueur made with bitter oranges, lemons, sugar, and alcohol. I used Cointreau.

Black Raspberry Liqueur: This is a liqueur made with black raspberries, sugar, and brandy. I used Chambord Liqueur.

Lime Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lime. I used freshly squeezed lime juice.

Agave Syrup: This is a sweetener that is made from the fluid inside agave plants. I made mine using this stovetop recipe.

Black Salt: This is a type of volcanic rock salt mined in countries that border the Himalayan mountains.

Bartending Tools

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:

Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. I used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. I used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. I used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.

Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. I used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.

Juicer: This is used to juice citrus. I used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer.

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Tasting Notes

This cocktail has the following flavor profile:

• Appearance: Bright Halloween orange color

• Aroma: Raspberry and slight ancho spice

• Taste: Salty kick followed by sweet raspberry-forward flavor accented with tequila and citrus

• Finish: Tongue-tingling pepper and berry

Kendall’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Kendall’s Take: “This drink ended being entirely different than the original concept. As it turns out, it’s surprisingly difficult to create a truly black drink without either food coloring or activated charcoal, neither of which are ingredients I care to use for various reasons. Even though the ingredients it ended up using after some experimenting sound a bit odd together on paper, they do work quite well. The amount of ancho chile tequila lended too much heat for my taste, so I’d scale back on that if I made the Dr. Jekyll’s Monster Margarita again. But overall, I liked this spooky variation of the classic quite a bit.”

Recipe