The Cointreau Margarita Challenge is Back - Here’s How to Win!

Hi, Friends of Cocktails! How do you make a cocktail… when you don’t know what the key ingredient will be? Picture this: You get one ingredient, randomly assigned, and you have to make it work - this is what the Cointreau Margarita Challenge is all about in 2026. Now, I’m not competing, but I’ll go through the exact same process with you. From how to apply, to letting you know what my secret ingredient is, the 6th edition of the Margarita Challenge is here and we’d love to see you join by clicking here: https://link.cointreau.com/umZM4 

First things first, the applications are open until May 31st, and when you apply you get a random ingredient, and build a Margarita around it. From all the recipes, 12 finalists will be selected, with 10 regional winners, plus a rookie and a wild card. They’ll all head to France for the global final, with the challenge being who can make the best Margarita. So after filling out the application, let’s first find out which ingredient I’m working with… it’s Bell Pepper!

I love bell peppers, so it’s a great start… though as we’ll see later, this might prove more of a challenge than I first thought. But there’s something I want to tell you about competitions in general: read the rules. Read them twice, or even three times. Also make sure you respect the theme, which means using the ingredient you're getting. Write everything down. Ingredients, ideas, experiments, all of it. That’s how you can build something special. 

Then we have story telling. Write down your story, then practice it. And then, there’s the presentation and the photo. Make sure you’re presenting the cocktail and the ingredient itself in a proper way. After this, the real work starts. If you want the full ideation process, make sure to check out the YouTube episode in full, but as a starting point I’ll use the Flavor Matrix book to understand how bell pepper behaves and what works with it. 

There are also resources online, if you need inspiration on how to get the most out of your ingredient, and how to turn it into a Margarita. For that, you’ll probably need a bit of R&D, but thankfully I’ve done this in the past few weeks. So let’s get started, using one of my favorite ingredients: soda water. It’s Cocktail Time!

Bell Pepper & Pickle Brine Soda

● 220g Red Bell Pepper

● 330mL · 11oz Pickle Brine

After clarification, per 100mL · 3.33oz of liquid:

● 10g Sugar

● 0.5g Lactic Acid

● 100mL · 3.33oz Chilled Water

We’ll first blend the bell pepper and pickle brine. Once blended, transfer the mixture and freeze it completely as we’re looking to clarify our soda. We’ve done freeze clarification just a few episodes ago, so you’ll know that after it’s frozen, let it defrost on a fine mesh strainer lined with a damp paper towel, and let it slowly strain through.

Once that’s done, measure your yield, and for every 100 milliliters, add 10 grams of sugar, 0.5 grams of lactic acid, and 100 milliliters of chilled water. Lactic acid tames the acetic acid from the vinegar, sugar adds balance, and we need a bit of dilution. Mix everything together, by hand or with a magnetic stirrer, then it’s time to carbonate the whole liquid. I’ll be using 2 CO2 cartridges in this carbonator. 

This gives you a balanced soda, where the bell pepper leads, and the brine adds depth without being too sharp. This is a great start, as soda water is a great addition to a cocktail. It gives us bubbles, this slight lightness, and I think it’s beautiful. Now for the rest of the cocktail, we’ll have lime in the garnish, so for the acidic component I wanted something different.

I went with a distilled solution using lemongrass and Sichuan pepper in my custom rigged water distiller. This is something I stumbled across in India, and it helps us condense the main flavor molecules from lemongrass and Sichuan pepper. 

Lemongrass & Sichuan Pepper Acid

● 2.5L Water

● 150g Lemongrass

●  10g Crushed Sichuan Pepper

Acid adjustment (per 100g distillate):

● 4g Citric Acid

● 2g Malic Acid

First, fill up the distiller with water, then place a strainer above it and add dried lemongrass and crushed Sichuan pepper. Crushed pepper will give it more flavor, and then mix it, before adding it on the strainer. I’m sealing the system with plastic wrap, so no steam escapes, then running the distillation. Sometimes you need to hack a system, to make it work better. 

As the steam passes through our flavoring agents it will pick up those notes. When it condenses and drips out we get a flavorful liquid. And I wish you could smell the amazing aroma that comes from this. The first part of the distillate carries the most flavor, so collect just the first liter. Once I have the flavored distillate, I need to adjust the acidity, to make it ready for the cocktail.

For this yield I’m adding 40 grams of citric acid and 20 grams of malic acid, to match it with the acidity of a lime. This creates a clear acid component with floral citrus notes from the lemongrass and a subtle tingling sensation from the Sichuan pepper. Now the third one is the garnish and we’ll once again go with something we haven’t shown on the channel so far: a microwave sponge.

Lime Microwave Sponge 

● 100g Egg Whites

● 70mL · 2.33 Water

● 20g Neutral Oil

● 30g Flour

● 2g Salt

● 20g Sugar

● 6 drops Lime Flavoring Oil

● Green Food Coloring

We’ll combine the ingredients until we get a homogeneous mix, then we’ll pour it into an iSi siphon that I’ll charge with a nitrous oxide charge. We’ll shake this well before siphoning the mixture into to-go cups. These will go into the microwave on maximum power, but the time until they’re donw will depend on your specific unit. For mine I went between 50 seconds and a minute and 10 seconds until I got the right result. 

As soon as it’s done, take it out, turn the cup upside down, and let it cool. Once cooled, remove the sponge and tear or cut it into pieces for garnish. This gives you a light, airy texture with a fresh citrus aroma and a bright green color that ties the whole drink together. With that, we now have everything we need to build the cocktail. And while I know the theme this year is “shake it up”, with ingredients like these you could also stir this Margarita.

I’ll split the difference and throw it, to add some air without making it cloudy.

Bell Fizz Margarita

● 1.5oz · 45mL Tequila Blanco

● 0.75oz · 25mL Cointreau

● 0.75oz · 25mL Lemongrass & Sichuan Pepper Acid

● 45g Bell Pepper & Pickle Brine Soda

● Lime Sponge Garnish

So ice goes in the small shaker this time, and ingredients into the big one. Blanco tequila, followed by Cointreau L’Unique, and my distilled acid component. No saline here, the soda and garnish both have the salt component added. Now I’m pouring the cocktail back and forth, increasing the distance each time. This  gently aerates it while keeping everything nice and clear.

Once chilled, pour it into a glass over ice, and top it up with the chilled bell pepper soda. Give it a few gentle lifts, and finish it with a big piece of the lime sponge garnish, on a cocktail pick - beautiful. And while it’s still looking this good, it’s time to capture its beauty with a perfect photograph. Prep the set for your shot before the drink is made for best results. 

It’s fine to have a few elements around the drink, something that hints at the ingredients or the story, but don’t overdo it, the cocktail is the star. Then find the best angle and lighting, to highlight what’s special about your Margarita. If the drink is clear, you might want to play with light coming through it too. If the garnish is on top or on the side, make sure that’s clearly visible. As for the light, you can make this work with artificial lights, or with natural light from your window.

If you need inspiration, check out past winners. There are some beautiful shots out there that you can use to guide your creative process. Now, I hope my photo did this Margarita justice, but with that the next step is to give it a taste. Find the tasting notes in the full episode linked below, but before we leave let me give you more information about the Cointreau Margarita Challenge. 

The recruitment phase is from April 1st to May 31st, and then announcing the finalists in September. And all these finalists are going to go to a global final. I was present there last year, and it was amazing. So you don’t want to miss this, as it’s from November 15th to November 19th. Which is great, it’s just during my birthday too, so I would love to be present there with you. Don’t forget you have until May 31st. Cheers, and please drink responsibly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQc6LrdjJsQ