2 ounce Burquila Agave Spirit*

1 ounce Purple People Eater Prickly Pear Liqueur* 

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce Orange You Glad to See Me? Orange Liqueur*

1/2 ounce simple syrup or prickly pear syrup (for more vibrant color- recipe below)

*505 Spirits local Placitas distillery. 

Color Tip: Regular simple syrup yields a soft blush pink, but using prickly pear syrup gives it that vibrant, signature pink in the photo.

Method:

Prepare glass: (optional) Rub rim with lime wedge and dip in salt. 

Pour cocktail contents in a shaker with ice, strain into glass with fresh ice or into a martini glass for “up” (chilled but no ice in glass)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water 

2-3 fresh or frozen prickly pear fruit

Making your own prickly pear simple syrup is surprisingly easy and with the fruit ripening all over Placitas in late summer and early fall, fresh ingredients are usually just a short walk away.

About using prickly pear fruit: Always be careful not to touch the fruit with your bare hands and always use tongs to pick it! like to freeze the fresh ripe fruit, which makes them release so much beautiful fuchsia juice when they thaw. I recommend putting some of the ripe fruit in a ziplock bag in your freezer and pulling them out when you want to make some syrup. If you have a paper coffee filter and a sieve or funnel - or better yet, if you have a Chemex coffee maker with paper filter - you don’t even need to remove the skin and glochids! Just use the fruit whole, press after cooking with a spoon to release more juice, remove the fruit (WITH TONGS!) and discard or compost, then strain the syrup through a coffee filter. The paper catches all of the tiny glochids. It filters really slowly though through the paper, so be patient or even better, walk away and come back a bit later!

Making the Syrup:

Add sugar and water to a pan and stir over low heat to dissolve without boiling. Once dissolved, add prickly pear fruit (see notes above) and bring just to the boil then immediately turn off the heat to preserve bright color. Remove the fruit (per above) and strain. Chill or freeze. 

Cheers!