The Perfect Apple Margarita Recipe (with apple cider!)

If you are looking for the best fall margarita, you have to make yourself this apple margarita recipe. It's crisp, sweet, and the perfect drink for this time of year. 

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You'll love this apple cider margarita

It's easy to make. This seasonal twist on a classic margarita is truly the perfect cocktail for this time of year. With only a few ingredients, you can whip this together for yourself or your next party. 

It's the perfect fall cocktail. What screams fall more than apple cider, brown sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup? 

It can be made as a batched cocktail. This is such an easy recipe to make ahead of time! There's no sparkling aspect to this apple margarita, so if you're looking for a fall cocktail for your next party, try this.

Ingredients

Apple Cider. To give you the best apple margarita, I recommend using unfiltered apple cider rather than apple juice. It has that flavor of fresh apples and truly makes all the difference. 

Tequila. I prefer using blanco tequila for all my margarita recipes, however, reposado tequila could be really delicious in this recipe, too! 

Triple Sec. Triple sec is an essential ingredient for the traditional margarita recipe, and although this is a variation, it's still necessary for this margarita recipe, too. 

Maple Syrup. Rather than light agave nectar, and to add even more fall flavors into this margarita, I recommend using maple syrup. 

Cinnamon and Brown Sugar. I typically don't do rims for homemade margaritas. However, for this apple cider cocktail, you NEED a cinnamon brown sugar rim. It is so perfect and is the cherry on top of this drink. 

How to make an apple margarita

1. On a plate, place a pinch of ground cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix together.
2. Using honey, maple syrup, or lemon juice, wet the rim of your margarita glass. Dip the rim of the glass in your cinnamon-brown sugar mix. This'll give you your cinnamon sugar rim. 
3. In a cocktail shaker, add your tequila, apple cider, triple sec, and maple syrup.
4. Add ice and shake until the cocktail shaker is frosted.
5. Strain into your rimmed margarita glass over ice.
6. Garnish and cheers!

What type of apple cider to buy

I recommend buying unfiltered apple cider for all your apple cider cocktails. During the fall season, your local grocery store will definitely have unfiltered apple cider!

How to make this into a batched cocktail

You can easily make this into a batched cocktail and turn it into a Thanksgiving margarita. This makes 10 margaritas.

1. In a margarita pitcher, add in 2.5 cups of tequila, 2.5 cups of apple cider, 5 oz of triple sec, and 3-5 oz of maple syrup (depending on preference.) 
2. Place pitcher in the fridge and once you're ready to serve add 6 oz. into a cocktail shaker. Shake with ice, and strain into prepared glass, garnish, and cheers!

Triple sec or Cointreau? which orange liquor is best for margaritas?

Cointreau and Grand Marnier are triple secs, but pricey triple sec options. If you have the budget, go with Cointreau! If you don't, any other triple sec will work.

Best tequila for margaritas?

I always recommend using Blanco, or white tequila, for margarita recipes. Blanco is not an aged tequila, like Reposado or Añejo, so it allows the flavors of your margarita to be the stars of the show.

You can absolutely use Reposado for margaritas, but you'll get that richer, aged taste. You'll notice that in these photos I used Reposado tequila, and it is delicious! Reposado tequila is aged for anywhere from two months to a year in oak barrels before being bottled. That's where the golden hue and the richer flavor come from.

Añejo is tequila that is aged for anywhere from one to three years and is truly made to be sipped on. So, I would recommend not making a margarita with Añejo tequila, and rather pour it over ice and enjoy it straight.

Substitutions and variations

Reposado Tequila. Reposado tequila is an aged tequila so if you want to give your margarita an extra level of flavor, that would resemble an old-fashioned almost, try this with reposado. 

Triple Sec Substitution. If you don't have triple sec, you can use fresh orange juice or lemon juice. 

Garnish ideas

Here are some easy garnish ideas for this apple margarita recipe. 

• Cinnamon sticks
• Star anise
• Apple slices

Home bar finds

For all your favorite margarita recipes, you'll want to make sure you have a cocktail shaker! 

Also, there are some adorable fall glasses to serve these margaritas in! 

Want more fall cocktail recipes?

• Salted Caramel Martini
• The Perfect Fall Aperol Spritz
• Apple Cider Martini
• Apple Cider Fireball

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The Perfect Apple Margarita Recipe (with apple cider!)

If you are looking for the best fall margarita, you have to make yourself this apple margarita recipe. It's crisp, sweet, and the perfect drink for this time of year. 

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Course happy hour

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

  

• 2 oz tequila
• .5 oz triple sec
• .5 oz maple syrup
• 3 oz apple cider

Instructions

 

• On a plate, place a pinch of ground cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix together.
• Using honey, maple syrup, or lemon juice, wet the rim of your margarita glass. Dip the rim of the glass in your cinnamon-brown sugar mix. This'll give you your cinnamon sugar rim.
• In a cocktail shaker, add your tequila, apple cider, triple sec, and maple syrup.
• Add ice and shake until the cocktail shaker is frosted.
• Strain into your rimmed margarita glass over ice.
• Garnish and cheers!

Notes

How to make this into a batched cocktail

You can easily make this into a batched cocktail and turn it into a Thanksgiving margarita. This makes 10 margaritas.

1. In a margarita pitcher, add in 2.5 cups of tequila, 2.5 cups of apple cider, 5 oz of triple sec, and 3-5 oz of maple syrup (depending on preference.) 
2. Place pitcher in the fridge and once you're ready to serve add 6 oz. into a cocktail shaker. Shake with ice, and strain into prepared glass, garnish, and cheers!

Substitutions and variations

Reposado Tequila. Reposado tequila is an aged tequila so if you want to give your margarita an extra level of flavor, that would resemble an old-fashioned almost, try this with reposado. 

Triple Sec Substitution. If you don't have triple sec, you can use fresh orange juice or lemon juice. 

Garnish ideas

Here are some easy garnish ideas for this apple cider margarita recipe. 

• Cinnamon sticks
• Star anise
• Apple slices

Keyword apple margarita, simple apple cider margarita, thanksgiving margarita