Have Yourself a Colorado Margarita This Cinco de Mayo

This one comes with a little twist on a classic.

Are you ready for Cinco de Mayo? It's a holiday that many of us celebrate while raising a salt-rimmed glass and enjoying our favorite Mexican dishes. According to the History Channel, the holiday itself is a celebration of the Mexican army's victory over France in the Franco-Mexican War. It was the Battle of Puebla in 1862 on, you guessed it, May 5. To me, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of culture and heritage of the Mexican people. It's bright. It's colorful. It's tasty.

Now back to that salt-rimmed glass.

My favorite kind of margarita is simple. I like a skinny margarita with muddled jalapeno and Tajin around the rim. It's spicy and tart and delicious. And since not all margaritas are the same, nor are they equal in my opinion, I thought there has to be a "Colorado version" of this famous drink.

This year, maybe you enjoy a green Chile margarita.

Now, before we go any further, I should say that the recipe I found for a green Chile margarita uses Hatch green Chile. I promise I'm not trying to stir up an old rivalry with our neighbors to the south. I looked and looked for a Pueblo Chile margarita, but couldn't find a recipe readily available online. Perhaps that's something we could dream up one day. I think you could just sub out the Hatch for Pueblo, but your mouth might be on fire if you get a particularly hot Pueblo.

Maybe we just stick to middle ground and use jalapenos.

This recipe calls for a Hatch Chile syrup. You boil and steep sugar, a Hatch Chile, and spices like cardamom, cinnamon and star anise. There's also bay leaves, coriander and peppercorns. It's sounds sweet and spicy.

Then you just use the syrup as the sweet (and, in this case, the spicy) agent in your classic margarita. You can even muddle some fresh Chiles in the bottom of the glass. Not ready to go full Hatch, the recipe said you can sub in jalapenos instead.