Few things are as glorious as a margarita on a hot summer day. Actually, let's be real—few things are as glorious as a margarita on any day. So how do you make an already amazing drink even better? Add prickly pear and make it spicy.

If you've never stopped on the side of a Texas highway and picked yourself a prickly pear (those purple fruits that grow on cacti) then you're not living. And if you've never had a prickly pear margarita, you're most certainly not living. The sweet, particular flavor of a prickly pear just isn't reproduced anywhere else in the fruit kingdom.

Throw in a little sweet and spicy jalapeño and you've turned a classic margarita into a truly special one. Trust me. I should know. I've pretty much had every margarita Texas has to offer.

Spicy Prickly Pear Margarita

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounces lime juice
• 1/2 jalapeño
• 3 ounces tequila
• 1/2 ounce orange liqeur
• 1 ounce prickly pear syrup
• Salt
• Jalapeño slices 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the lime juice and the half jalapeño to the bottom of a shaker, reserve the lime. Muddle the jalapeño and lime juice until well combined.
2. Add the tequila, orange liqeur, and prickly pear syrup to the shaker. Top the shaker and shake well for about 30 seconds.
3. In the meantime, run the reserved lime, cut edge down, along the edge of a glass. Sprinkle salt on a plate and dip the wet edge of the glass into the salt on the plate.
4. Pour the margarita into the glass. Add jalapeño slices for garnish.