Since the recipe for basil/mint/jalapeno margaritas includes jalapeno infused tequila as an ingredient, I thought that a “how to” may be in order.  It seems like any bar worth its salt these days has some sort of “house infusion”.  Initially, I was a little intimidated by the concept {perhaps thinking that weird distilling equipment or Bunsen burners were necessary}, but I was surprised to discover how simple infusions can be.  It literally takes seconds to mix these ingredients together – all you need is a little patience to leave the mixture alone for a few days to let the jalapeno permeate.

Instructions continued after the jump…

For this infusion, I used Espolon tequila blanco, partially because I love the label, partially because it is {relatively} fairly priced and partially because I love the way it tastes.  I doubled the recipe below for this party, but I think one batch would make about 6-8 margaritas, depending on the heaviness of the hand of the mixologist {mine is quite heavy}.

Step 1:  Pour 750 ml of white tequila into a jar that can be tightly sealed.

Step 2:  Cut 2 jalapenos in half, and remove tops and seeds.

Step 3:  Add jalapenos to tequila and seal jar tightly.  Let infuse at room temperature for a few days, up to a week.  The longer it infuses, the spicier it will be.

Note:  I made mine on a Wednesday morning and served it on the following Saturday night and found it to have the right amount of kick.

Thank you for reading!