Cointreau has just launched Cointreau Spicy – and it’s basically a cheat code for making perfect spicy margs at home

an image of the Cointreau spicy bottle with five different cocktails around it — (Image credit: Cointreau)

Aperol. Marg. Cosmo. Each cocktail has been the it girl equivalent of the drinks world in its own year, gracing the Instagram boomerangs of every girl's night throughout summer. The margarita is sort of like every girl group duo – one classic, and one slightly spicer: the Barbenheimer of the bar menu, one whose food is too cold and one who will send it back to the kitchen. Now, Cointreau has made it even easier to create a delicious spicy marg at home meaning you no longer have to resort to flamboyantly adding in out-of-date chilli flakes from the back of the cupboard to try and replicate the bar-worthy serves.

For us, the marg is goated not through its taste but for its ease. Specifically its ease to make at home – your Tommy’s marg takes three ingredients: tequila, lime juice, and agave (all of which can be brought from Tesco express fyi) and you don’t even need to measure properly, just eyeball a 2:1:1 ratio, chuck in some ice and you’ll pretty much have something resembling a marg. Or at least resembling hazy memories of the last night out / birthday / Friday night. However, using Cointreau for a proper marg is a level up, and the latest release – a spicy iteration – might just be the addition needed to take your cocktails from ‘bah, this’ll do’ to ‘bar level’.

The Whisky Exchange

Cointreau Spicy

Cointreau spicy is, well, a spicy take on the classic orange liqueur bringing a natural chili kick through using Bird’s Eye Chili. The liqueur is macerated with natural Bird’s Eye Chili and jalapeños, with a touch of cucumber for a fresh, balancing note. If you’ve ever attempted to make a spicy marg at home and had your cocktail shaker look more like some kind of concoction from year seven breaktimes (random bottles of hot sauce, out of date chili flakes, and the scragends of chilli jam all thrown in) then this might be worth checking out. It basically means you can make a pretty perfect spicy balanced concoction without having to brave the out of date shelf in your cupboard. Also, if you’ve graduated past corner shop vodka and Jagerbombs as a shot, apparently the Cointreau Spicy has been designed so its enjoyable on its own as well as mixed up. Just grab some lime and salt and go to town, literally.

Our go-to ingredients for a Margarita

Casamigos

Casamigos Blanco Tequila

Or try a Mescalita

Rosaluna

Rosaluna Mezcal Espadín 70cl

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.