Junglerita Recipe

Infuse

Combine dried bitter orange peel and vodka in a small jar. Seal and let steep at room temperature for 24–48 hours, shaking once or twice. Taste after 24 hours; continue until the peel aroma is well extracted.

Make syrup

In a small saucepan, bring water and cane sugar to a simmer until sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and cool to warm.

Finish Curaçao

Strain the orange-infused vodka through a fine mesh into the cooled simple syrup, discarding peel. Add blue food coloring a drop at a time until desired hue is achieved. Chill. (Yield ~6 oz.)

If using fresh prickly pear, remove skin and seeds carefully (wear gloves). Blend the fruit flesh until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh to remove remaining seeds and fibers. Stir in optional 0.5 oz simple syrup if needed to reach desired sweetness. Chill before use.

Prepare glass: Run a lime wedge around the rim of a rocks or coupe glass and dip into coarse sea salt or Tajín. Set aside. If you prefer, chill the glass beforehand.

Dry shake (if using egg white)

In a cocktail shaker, combine 0.5 unit egg white (if using), prickly pear purée (1.5 oz), guava purée (0.75 oz), fresh lime juice (0.75 oz), simple syrup (0.5 oz) and blanco tequila (2 oz). Seal and shake vigorously without ice for 10–15 seconds to emulsify and build a silky foam.

Wet shake

Add ice (about 4 oz or enough to fill the shaker) to the shaker. Add house-made blue Curaçao (0.5 oz). Shake vigorously for 10–15 seconds until well-chilled (or 15–20 seconds if you did a dry shake).

Strain & serve: Double-strain the cocktail into the prepared glass over fresh ice (for rocks glass) or straight into a chilled coupe. The blue Curaçao will tint the drink subtly — if you want a layered look, pour Curaçao last over the back of a bar spoon to create a thin blue layer.

Garnish: Float a thin prickly pear slice or edible flower on the foam (if egg white used) and add a lime wheel on the rim.

Adjust: Taste and adjust sweetness with small additional amounts of simple syrup if the prickly pear or guava are tart. For a lighter tequila presence, reduce tequila by 0.25–0.5 oz and increase prickly pear by same amount.