Stay Tranquilo - The Perfect Spicy Mezcal Margarita w/ Chef Chris Valdes 🍹

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

Chef Chris Valdes joined Cafecito y Croquetas to cook up the PERFECT spicy mezcal margarita — and trust us… this one brings the heat. 🌶️🍹 From fresh-squeezed lime juice and smoky mezcal to Tajín rims, jalapeños, mango puree, and pro chef tips, Chef Chris breaks down how to make a restaurant-quality cocktail right at home. Whether you’re hosting Cinco de Mayo, summer parties, or just vibing with friends, this spicy margarita recipe is a game changer. We also talk cocktail mistakes people make, balancing spice and sweetness, mezcal vs tequila, mocktail alternatives, and why presentation matters just as much as flavor. 🔥 Ingredients featured: • Mezcal • Fresh lime juice • Jalapeños • Mango puree • Passion fruit • Tajín rim • Agave • Bitters If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more food, culture, cocktails, and South Florida vibes from Cafecito y Croquetas. #spicymargarita #margarita #margaritarecipe #tequila #recipes #recipe Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All right, we are back. As you can see, we've eaten the tacos. We've still got a couple more over here, but now it is trying to make our spicy mescal margarita. Tell us about what we have here as far as a spread. Okay, so I think the most important thing, there's two very important things when you're making a good margarita. A is your lime juice or whatever juice you're using has to be fresh.

That's a great thing. People just use the mix. People use the concentrate. Don't do that. This took me five minutes to squeeze all of this juice, and it's just worth it. It makes all the difference in the world. The second point is we need to know what we're dealing with.

So we're going to pour a little tequila here straight up just so we do a taste test. Okay. Like, what are we doing with? I like that. Yeah. And it's not a thing that we're just trying to drink to drink. You know, one little finger for me. No, no, no.

Oh, okay. There, that's cool. Okay. I always mess with my boys and I always, like, okay, can you pour me something? I put a little beep. And they're like, dude, for real? And technically this is not a margarita, this is a shot, but so, you know, my Colombian side is like, by riva, to be right, to the center, to, always.

Oh, that's great. That is nice. It has a nice smokiness, smooth. I like it. I like it. Notice how we didn't say much about the flavor. We're just ready to. No, it's good.

Okay, so we're going to start off with, first let's do the rimming first. So we're going to start off with, I like getting the glass. And you could do these two different ways. You can grab a lime. So grab the lime and just wet it in the outside. The other technique is you dip it like this, slant it. Okay. And then you come here and you go to your tahin.

And look at that. Wow. That's how you do the technique. Now, let's see if I can match that. You could do it. Look, I'm going to show you how to do one more. Okay. And then you do two.

So slanted. Think about the Titanic. Okay. Slans it. Then you come back here. Shake off the X's. Bam. Bam.

Titanic. Titanic. Sinking ship. Sinking shift. And then just like that? Hashtag you're dirty. Yeah. Menlo.

Oh. You put half of the bottom of the tachine. Oh, no. I was like, what are we going to do with this now? Okay, that's good. Yeah? Now let's try it one more. Okay.

What are we going to do here? Okay, let's try one more. Okay. Why are you doing that? Okay, but, but like rest it like this? Wait, you didn't Titanic it. No, no, I know. I just want to make sure before I Titanic.

When you put it in type of thing, just shake it a little. Don't don't just put it in there. Okay, I was aggressive with it. Yeah, you were aggressive with it. We don't want to be aggressive with the time. So again, Titanic. Titanic. And then this is like Titanic, but I'll add it slanted.

I. No, but oh, me right. You're already, the way you're going in, there you go. There you go. Tilted a little. go in like that mc number a little bit more

i don't want to get more in there no there we go there there you go that's much better wait that's what the kitchen is trial and error and it's just a you have to have a sense of what the hell mentality that if it comes out good good and if it doesn't you learn for the next time oh yeah so we got here some of these keep these nice ice cubes i like that but here oops that's okay okay so let's

Let's grab the ice cube and just put it there. Perfect. Okay, I'm going to put this right here. Okay, next. So we have our tahin done. We did our taste test. Maybe we have to do it. No, I'm joking.

Okay, the next thing we want to do is we have to decide if we want spicy or non-spicy. We said we like spicy, so we're gonna get some jalapenos. Okay. So you could add maybe three. Okay. Maybe four. I was gonna say, I'd go crazy with the jalapenos.

Maybe five. Let's start with four. Let's see where that gets us. Where do we leave the muds? See, loaded with the seeds. The seeds are essential, right, to the spice. Yeah, of course. You don't got the seeds.

Once you mash that up, those seeds are going to bring out all of that little hint of spiciness and their essential oils and whatnot. Right. So how many did you add? I put four. Okay, I'll put three. You sure you don't want five? It's Friday.

It's Friday. I don't need much because I'm already... You really got it. And then you're just going to give this a little... little mash. I don't know you see that. You know, you don't have to beat the shit out of it. I'm sorry, you don't have to beat, you don't have to beat the crap out of it. You just need to, you know, a nice little smash and bam. Perfect. Okay. Okay. All right. And while you're doing that, I'm going to add some ice to mine. I can smell it. We got seeds flying everywhere. Have you ever, like, touched your eye after?

Bro, one day in culinary school, we were making a vegetarian chili. Uh-huh. But we probably used like five different peppers from, I don't know what part of the world. And in one of that, I was crying and I get my, like the palm of it. And I go like that. And I guess I had touched one of those seeds, bro. Dude. Like about four days. I look like.

Same. No, it was bad. People thought I was sick or something. Okay. A little. How much are we putting in here? It's just, no calories. Don't worry, bro.

You need some tube? Hey, I already have. Oh, here you go. Okay. So we're going to start with our freshly squeeze lime juice. Mm-hmm. How many limes, like, should you? use. It depends how many you're making for it. This is 10 limes. Okay. So this gave me a good amount.

But when you go to the grocery, here's a nice tip. When you go to the grocery store, don't just grab limes. Like, grab the softest ones. And right now the limes are four for three dollars. So this is a luxury item, my friend. So you need to make sure you get the softest ones because that's what's going to give you the most juice. Right. If you're just grabbing the hardest limes, you're not going to have any juice. You're going to be bad at the tip of the tip of it. Yeah. So you want to make sure that you get the softest. So that's what I did. I got my $12 worth. That's $12. Wow. That's great. That's more than a dollar. I just realized. I paid more than a dollar. And that makes how many margaritas basically? We're going to see now. Okay. No, no. From this whole thing, this is going to make about two.

Right. And then this will probably make about eight. Okay. Yeah. How much am I putting here? Two ounces. So one more. One more dash. Okay. Okay. Then, so we're making a mango mescal one. So we're going to add some mango puree. about again about two ounces and I'll share the recipe with you if you want to share it with everyone two ounces me oh that was like six ounces that was six ounces that was a shitload I was waiting for your signal you blame it on me what the hell okay we're gonna add some passion fruit okay passion fruit the maraquia is just gonna add it's just to we're not trying to add maraquia flavor we're just trying to add a little a little sense of what's happening in there you know

and obviously the the the masquale is going to help with that too. You know what's happening better with life? Right. Type of situation. Okay. Okay. So, which is why I like the mescal. A little dash. Okay. Yeah, no, no. No, no. I mean, unless we're making a passion fruit one, then, no. I'm personally someone that like more tequila, you know, more jalapeno and that's where I'm at. Um, agave, a little agave. It's going to add our, it's going to add some sweetness to that. And mind you, these are both purees. You can find this in the frozen section or you could make your own puree, but these don't have any sugar to it. Obviously, mango is already sweet, so this is just a little dash.

Okay. Again, that little, what's that flavor in there? We're going to add a little dash of this, this, this, this, this bitter. This is a angoucester bitter. A little bad. It's just a little dot, like a tear drop. Yeah. Okay, perfect. And we, oh, the mescal. The mescal. Yeah. So you can pour yours and then I see you're very, I got a heavy hand. I got a heavy hand. No. No, no, for you. For you. For me, you're gave me a little bit. So I'll pour my own. Okay. I got you.

That's about right right there. Ma? All right. Oh, corn. You didn't have anything. You're like those bartenders that they spend 10 minutes making a drink and it tastes like juice. No, we're going to. I'm on for that. So this one's going to probably make one. Okay.

So. Yeah, we're ready. Ready to shake it up. I'm sure this thing's tightened up and it doesn't go all over the place. And if it does. Yeah. Then we got a... And your girlfriend will be... We got a party.

Okay. And then, again, if it's ready, you want to go ready, and then, you know, just give it a nice little shake. You'll do something like you. You go put some music. If you try to impress someone, you shake out the guns. And give that a nice shake. And then one little thing I like to do before I pour it is I use this little top.

Okay. And I taste it. And that's going to tell me if it's good or not. Okay. and what I have to adjust before I pour it. Smart, okay. That tastes good. I just need, my needs a little more sweetness.

It needs more tequila. What does yours need? I think it needs more mescal. Yes, okay, you're right. I know, depending on the mescal you're using, make sure that you realize that these type of drinks, since we're using some good stuff, make sure that you're not like, oh, this is too light, and you keep adding.

because it's just like those chick drinks, so-called chick drinks. I probably did it to myself because I had so much of this. But I don't mind. I like living life on the edge, so I had some more. The spice is good, though. Yeah, well, again? I felt that we already, yeah, that's got to do it. If that doesn't get me there, then. A little shake here.

This is going to be good. This is going to be good. Is this, is this like a staple that you make regularly? I don't know if I want to say regularly, but this is, yeah, yeah. Like a go-to-do. Yeah. Is it a go-to? Yeah.

Not every night. No, I don't. Wait. I'm going to give one. You're going to do another taste this? I feel confident. Mine is perfect. Actually, mine could use a little more mescal, but...

No, it's good. It's really good. My mom every year, she does the same thing to me when I make the coquito. I always let her try and she goes, and she moves it around with her two fingers. She's like, And this has alcohol. And mind you, usually, I'm like, wow, that has so much alcohol. She's like, that doesn't have alcohol.

Oh, my God. So I'm like, mom, this is we're starting the holidays. You don't want it like. Yeah, yeah. That's not what we're going for. It's about familia. She's like, yeah, yeah, so now we're going to, are you happy with yours? I am very happy with it.

A great amount of, uh, see. Okay, perfect. Okay, so now we're just going to pour it. Mm-hmm. And take off the tapita? Yeah, you have one of you have to, no, no, no. because that's the strainer. Yeah, yeah, okay, okay.

That's the strainer. You just wanna like that. All the way? No, I didn't go all the way. I left the- A little bit of room? Yeah. Look at that.

There we go. I made perfect amount for two drinks. I should have two, no? You should have up to three. Okay. Your shaker is bigger than mine. Yeah, I know. I was kind of worried because it was getting a little,

I'm getting there. It's coming up. Oh, there we go. How funny. Your Yed-Ey water bottle shaker is bigger than mine, and it made- Yeah, and it made. less than mine. Interesting. I might have put a lot of ice maybe. I'll say. I know you didn't

add enough of tequila. Okay. So you have this, right? And the next thing we're going to do is, you know, we put all his love into it, as garnish it. Okay. So I get these little dehydrated limes and I just like topping it with that, like that. Mm. Okay. It's about the little things, you know? Yes. It's about the little. Presentations everything, right? And then, um, I mean, taste is important. He's ugly pineapplies that everyone throws away. You break them apart, you clean them, and you just put it right there. Nice.

And hopefully it doesn't Titanic on me. If you add more ice, it doesn't Titanic. But we went light on the ice because we're on a diet. And there, there slanted. Look at that, bro. Doesn't that look like a restaurant style? Let me see. A-e, right?

Yeah. You get it to sit up here. Oh. No, you're Titanic. You're Titanic. That's perfect. Yeah. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Okay. Anyway, so let's give it a try. Just give it a try. I'm excited. You're going to try mine. Okay, yeah. And I'm going to try yours and then we're going to see. See which one came about.

We see what happened. Cheers. Great stuff coming. Yes. Congrats on your first cooking demo and too many more to come. Absolutely. Definitely got to do this again. Let's see.

Oh, this is good. You're right. It has a good amount of mescal. Oh yeah. That's a stronger than mine. Probably. But we went to cook cooking. Okay, yeah, yeah, that's good.

Okay, now put it down. Okay. Now try yours. Let me see. Cheers. Cheers. Oh, yeah. Yours is stronger.

Lines my foot, for sure. Now you try, no, I'm joking. But it's got the perfect amount of spice. I think what did I do, four or five jalapeno? No, I think for what you were trying to describe, you probably wanted like a whole jalapeno. See. And then you probably could have used it, maybe some sweetener in there.

Okay. But it was good. This is fun. This is what drinks is about. Yeah, yeah. And what I told people, I'm like, on the next round, I'm going to fix it. And then I messed that one up, and I'm like, on the next round.

And then by the time we finish the bottle, I'm like, let's start a new drink like a mojito. And then the next time. So, you know, you just make it fun. This is delicious. This is delicious. This is delicious. Hell yeah. Appreciate you.

Love it. Like, as we said, great. You saw it simple, easy recipes for your Cinco de Mayo. I mean, it is the perfect set of, right? You got tacos. You got a little bit of spiciness. And if someone doesn't want to do spicy for something like this, just don't do jalapenos and you can kind of follow a similar recipe.

You omit the halapeno. Something else is very popular right now or the mocktails that people are. Some people are not drinking. So you can make the margarita and omit the mescal. Okay. And it's still going to make a great drink. You know, just add a few extra bitters in there. Right.

But it's going to be a great drink. Oh, delicious. Well, chef, appreciate the time. Horse brother. Hope everybody got to enjoy this. Let us know, show us your recipes. Hopefully we get to see you guys making this in the kitchen. and yeah, happy Cinco de Ma.

Cheers. Cheers, Salud.