Jalapeno Tequila

Easy to make Jalapeno Tequila is about to set your taste buds tingling all summer long! Give your life a little kick with spicy cocktails made from Jalapeno Tequila.

It’s so easy to infuse your choice of tequila with fresh jalapenos for a spicy jalapeño finish with the perfect amount of heat and a subtle vegetal note. Whether you use this spicy tequila for a jalapeño margarita or another tequila cocktail like a Bloody Maria or ranch water, or as part of a marinade in chicken or pork recipes, you’re in for a treat.

It doesn’t take much work -just a little time- and you’ll be ready to overhaul any tequila based drinks and classic recipes you have on your usual cocktail menu.

Glow up a classic margarita with this spicy tequila and use it to make the spicy margaritas of your dreams. Or simply serve it over the rocks with a little squeeze of fresh lime juice and Topo Chico; you’ll be thrilled with how easy it is to make spicy drinks!

The perfect tequila for your Jalapeño Tequila is largely a matter of personal preference. That said, knowing a little about what makes the different types unique can help you choose the best one for your own tastes.

What is Tequila?

In short, tequila is an agave spirit. Tequila is a distilled spirit made from the Weber blue agave plant. This is only produced in certain regions of Mexico.

You’ve probably seen depictions of the blue agave plant. It looks like a spiky, giant aloe vera plant. Incredibly, it takes 7 to 10 years for an agave plant to grow to maturity and be ready for harvest.

While you probably think of the spiky leaves when you think of agave, it’s the underground bulb -or piña- that makes tequila. Tequila makers cut up piñas and slow bake them to convert the starch into sugar.

They then crush the baked bulbs to extract the sweet juices and combine it with yeast, then ferment it to transform it into alcohol. They then distill it, cut it with water to bring it to a uniform percentage of alcohol, and bottle it.

Most tequila is between 35 and 45 percent ABV (alcohol by volume). There are some powerful outliers who are about 55% ABV (or 110 proof), but by law it cannot be stronger than that.

Mezcal Vs. Tequila

When choosing which tequila to use for your infused Jalapeno Tequila, you want to pay attention to the labels. If the label says “mezcal” it may or may not be tequila.

Mezcal refers to any spirit brewed from the agave plant. So all tequilas are mezcals, but not all mezcals are tequilas.

It’s kind of like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. Or how all bourbon is whiskey, but not all fine whiskey is bourbon!

In short, watch for tequila on the label. And once you find the tequila section, you’ll have to decide what kind of tequila you’d like.

Because the tequila you pick plays a key role in the flavour of the end product, you want to choose wisely. The best way to choose would be a taste test, but you may not want to invest in bottles of multiple varieties to do that.

Whichever type of tequila you opt for, just be sure to pick one that reads “100% de Agave” on the label. What are your options? Let’s break down the three most common types of tequila.

Tequila Blanco

Also known as white tequila, tequila blanco is a crystal clear spirit that is bottled immediately after being distilled. Tequila purists claim that Tequila Blanco captures more of the flavour of the original agave plant because of how it is distilled and bottled.

Blue Weber agave blanco tequila is also ideal for mixing into cocktails because it holds up well against other strong flavours like jalapeño, lime, or orange liqueur like Triple Sec or Cointreau. Hello Margaritas! While it is a bit harsh for sipping straight up, it’s easy to get a delicious blend of flavours in cocktails with tequila blanco.

This is my go-to choice of tequila for infusing. When fully infused, the tequila will be a gentle, soft, very light green.

Reposado Tequila

Reposado Tequilas are aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 2 months and a maximum of 9 months. It is often a little pricier than Tequila Blanco because it takes longer to prepare.

Tequila Reposado is good for fancier, craft cocktails and sipping neat or on the rocks. This is special stuff!

Anejo Tequila

Anejo Tequila means “old” tequila and it is exactly what it sounds like. Tequila makers age Anejo tequila in white French oak or bourbon barrels for a minimum of a year. This gives the anejo tequila a distinctive, bold, robust flavour.

Some folks describe anejo tequila a smooth blend tasting of butterscotch or caramel and agave with oak undernotes. Anejo tequila has a much more complex aged taste profile than the other options and is intended to be sipped neat.

Other Tequilas

At opposite ends of the spectrum, you may also find joven or oro tequila. This is a young tequila blended with an aged tequila to help mellow out the younger tequila.

You will may also see extra-añejo or muy-añejo tequila which is aged for 3 years and has a complexity rivaling super-aged bourbons and whiskies. These are rare and pricey!

I don’t recommend using Anejo, extra-anejo, or muy-anejo tequilas for our Jalapeno Tequila, but I think Joven and Tequila Blanco are great choices for different reasons. Both can bring something special to your infusion process.

Jalapeno Infused Tequila

Obviously, there are two stars in this show. Once you’ve chosen your tequila base, you can turn your attention to the jalapeño peppers.

You can choose green or red jalapeños, as your whimsy dictates. The only hard and fast rule is that you must use fresh jalapeños and not pickled, jarred, frozen, or otherwise preserved jalapeños.

Please do not try bell peppers or smoky chipotle peppers, either. The first choice will not create any heat and the second will overwhelm any finer flavours of the tequila.

As always, I highly recommend wearing gloves while handling hot peppers. This can help you avoid being filled with regret later if you wipe your eyes or blow your nose.

It is important to note that I do not recommend keeping extra jalapeño slices in the jar or bottle. While it is indeed pretty, it can make your infused tequila go bad more quickly.

Our Jalapeno Tequila does not contain added sugar because I prefer to adjust the sweetness of my cocktails with simple syrup. This makes our spicy tequila more adaptable to a variety of recipes.

Jalapeno Tequila

Wearing gloves, slice the stems away from the jalapeno peppers. Slice the whole pepper in half.

If you’d like a milder end product, remove the seeds and white membrane from inside the pepper. If you’d like a spicier tequila, leave the seeds and membrane intact. 

Slice the pepper halves into long very thin strips.This will help your tequila infuse more quickly.

If you’re looking for an extremely spicy tequila, you can add a sliced habanero or ghost pepper. 

Add all of your thin pepper slices to a quart sized mason jar or empty tequila bottle. Fill the jar or bottle with tequila blanco, joven, or -if you’re feeling very fancy- reposado. 

Cap the jar or bottle tightly and give it a good shake.

Let the jar sit in a dark place at room temperature for anywhere from 6 to 72 hours, depending on how spicy and strong you’d like the jalapeno presence to be. This is totally a matter of personal preference, so go with your gut!

I recommend shaking the jar every 3 to 4 hours, and tasting after 6 hours until it is just right like Goldilock’s porridge. When it reaches the perfect level of spice, pour through a fine mesh sieve or coffee filter. 

Discard the jalapeno strips. Pour the Jalapeno tequila into a clean jar or bottle, cap tightly, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months or the freezer for up to a year.

Use in margaritas, ranch water, or any place you’d like your tequila to have a little extra kick. 

Cap the jar or bottle tightly and give it a good shake. Let the jar sit in a dark place at room temperature for anywhere from 6 to 72 hours, depending on how spicy and strong you’d like the jalapeno presence to be.

I recommend shaking the jar every 3 to 4 hours, and tasting after 6 hours until it is just right like Goldilock’s porridge. When it reaches the perfect level of spice, pour through a fine mesh sieve or coffee filter. 

Discard the jalapeno strips. Pour the Jalapeno tequila into a clean jar or bottle, cap tightly, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months or the freezer for up to a year.

Use in margaritas, ranch water, or any place you’d like your tequila to have a little extra kick.