Smoky Pomegranate Margarita

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe Add us as a trusted Google source

This post may contain affiliate links. We only promote products we actually use and truly love!

Go bold with this smoky pomegranate margarita next time you’re making carne asada tacos, chicken burritos ranchero, or just looking for a delicious tequila based cocktail.

A freshly shaken pomegranate margarita on the rocks with a salted rim, lime wheel, and pomegranate arils for garnish.

We’ve been on a pomegranate juice kick lately between this smoky pomegranate margarita and our Moscow mule inspired pomegranate mocktail. There’s just something about the slightly tart, slightly sweet juice that adds a fun twist to our favorite cocktails.

Specialty cocktails are always a treat, one of our favorites in fact! But since we don’t always want to leave the house or spend the money to get a fancy craft cocktail, we love coming up with recipes that hit the spot at home. Recipes like this one, or our spicy strawberry mojito, are perfect for fun weekends in, date nights at home, or when we’re hosting friends.

What To Expect

Great for: Elevated Mexican nights, a batch cocktail for a party, or a bold, unique cocktail when you’re feeling fun.
Ready in: 5 minutes
Serves: 1 cocktail
Flavor profile: Smoky and tart with a hint of sweetness.
How to make it: Rim the glass, shake to combine and chill, strain, garnish, enjoy.

Summarize and save this content on:

ChatGPT Google AI Perplexity

AI can make mistakes. Don’t trust everything it says.

Why We Love This Recipe

The smoky flavor of the mezcal and sea salt balances the sweetness of the pomegranate so well, this feels like a sophisticated cocktail I’d find at our local speakeasy. I love that we can mix these up in just a few minutes for a date night at home!
– nicole

Key Ingredients

Mezcal – Del Maguey Vida is always our preferred Mezcal.
Tequila – Blanco is the best tequila for this recipe. Recently we’ve been really enjoying Tres Agaves blanco for cocktails. It’s a little more expensive than we normally buy for mixing, but the fact that it’s additive free, made with traditional methods, and just straight up tastes better than cheaper alternatives makes it worth it to us.
Pomegranate juice – We always go with Pom Wonderful for our pomegranate juice because it’s 100% juice with no sweeteners added. You can also buy their arils for easy garnishing.
Lime juice – Fresh lime juice is always the best and does make this recipe taste better, but that can be a lot of work. We still very much enjoy this cocktail even with bottled lime juice.
Smoked sea salt – We always have variations of smoked sea salt on hand for both cocktails and cooking. Any variation will work, but they all do taste different, so find one you enjoy. Right now we have Hawaiian smoked sea salt and applewood smoked sea salt. Both are phenomenal, but we prefer the Hawaiian for this cocktail.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Pomegranate Margarita Variations

Remove the smoke – If you’re not a mezcal fan or just don’t have any on hand, you can easily change the recipe to make it a regular pomegranate margarita. Just use 2 ounces of tequila instead of the 50/50 split between tequila and mezcal. I would also leave out the smoky sea salt in this case.
No smoked sea salt? No problem – Simply omit the smoked sea salt and use regular coarse sea salt or Tajin for the rim. We believe this variation isn’t quite as good, but don’t let not having smoked sea salt keep you from enjoying an amazing margarita.
Holiday parties – Add a rosemary sprig for a garnish along with the pomegranate arils. This does two things: it adds a fresh, herbal flavor that ties the margarita in with the holiday flavors we all love, and two, if you’re serving it for Christmas, it makes the drink look like holly!

How To Make Smoky Pomegranate Margaritas

Rim the glass – Rub a lime wedge (it can even be an already juiced lime) around the rim of a rocks glass. Then roll it in a pile of smoky sea salt to coat the rim. We find a small plate works best for putting the pile of sea salt on. If you don’t have a fresh lime to rim the glass, see our expert tips section below.
Shake – Combine all ingredients, including a pinch of the smoky sea salt, into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until the shaker is getting too cold to hold, about 10 to 15 seconds.
Strain – Strain it into the rimmed rocks glass over ice. We like to double strain this margarita to give it a silky smooth texture and show off the vibrant color.
Garnish (optional) – Garnish the cocktail with a lime wheel and pomegranate arils.

Expert Tips

Rimming the glass – Using an already squeezed lime is the best way to prepare the rim of a glass for salt. The used lime pulp will leave the rim really sticky. Lime juice does not work for this. So if you don’t have a fresh lime, use simple syrup instead. Simply put a couple drops of simple syrup on your finger and run it around the glass until there’s an even coating.
Smoked sea salt – This is not a common ingredient, but it’s one we absolutely love having around and highly recommend you get. Any smoked sea salt will work, but the flavors do vary, so choose one you like. Currently we have two, a Hawaiian smoked sea salt and an applewood smoked sea salt. Both are fantastic. When we’re not using them in cocktails, they make a great addition to burrata toast, crispy potatoes with whipped ricotta, pan con tomate, and so much more.
Double straining – To double strain you’ll want to use both a Hawthorne strainer and a fine mesh strainer. Place the Hawthorne strainer in the shaker as normal, and pour through the mesh strainer into the glass. Here is a tutorial on YouTube if you’re a visual learner like me.
Pomegranate arils – We recommend just buying a pack of pomegranate arils to save yourself the headache of removing them from a fresh pomegranate yourself. You can normally find these in the grocery store next to the pomegranate juice.
Batch it – Margaritas make great batch cocktails because they don’t have any carbonation. Simply combine all ingredients in a big pitcher with ice and stir very well to combine (since it won’t be shaken). Keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve whether it be for a party, happy hour, or game day.
Margarita glasses – If you want to use margarita glasses instead of rocks glasses, it’s best to chill them before serving. You can even rim the margarita glasses before sticking them in the freezer to make life easier when serving. Margarita glasses are better used without ice cubes due to the shape, so chilling them before serving allows your cocktail to stay cold without the ice. Bonus: it also means no dilution while drinking!

Garnishes on top of a pomegranate margarita on the rocks, including a lime wheel and fresh pomegranate arils.

Serving Suggestions

Good margaritas deserve to be enjoyed with good food. Here are some of our favorite recipes to pair with our smoky pomegranate margarita:

Pomegranate Margarita FAQs

Our pomegranate margarita is made with mezcal, tequila, pomegranate juice, lime juice, triple sec, simple syrup, and a pinch of smoky sea salt. We swapped out the more traditional agave nectar for simple syrup to allow the pomegranate and smoky flavors to stand out better.

Yes! Pomegranate and tequila play really well together in cocktails. Tequila benefits from a slightly tart, slightly sweet flavor like pomegranate. That’s why tequila goes so well in margaritas, you get the tart lime with the sweeter triple sec. Pomegranate helps with both.

Other Cocktail Recipes To Try

Love this recipe? You may enjoy these recipes, too:

Pineapple Coconut Margarita

Spicy Mezcal Margarita

Pineapple Mezcal Old Fashioned

Tequila Pina Colada

Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

Nicole & Alex Langdon

Go bold with this smoky pomegranate margarita for your next Taco Tuesday, making burritos at home, or just looking for a delicious tequila based cocktail.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Save this recipe!

Enter your email and we’ll send it right to you.

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Course Drinks

Cuisine American, Mexican

Servings cocktail

Calories 176 kcal

Ingredients

▢ 1 fluid ounce mezcal
▢ 1 fluid ounce tequila blanco
▢ 1 fluid ounce pomegranate juice
▢ ¾ fluid ounce lime juice
▢ ½ fluid ounce triple sec
▢ ½ fluid ounce simple syrup
▢ 1 small pinch smoked sea salt

Instructions

Rim the glass – Rub a lime wedge (it can even be an already juiced lime) around the rim of a rocks glass. Then roll it in a pile of smoky sea salt to coat the rim.
Shake – Combine all ingredients, including a pinch of the smoky sea salt, into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until the shaker is getting too cold to hold, about 10 to 15 seconds.
Strain – Strain it into the rimmed rocks glass over ice. We like to double strain this margarita to give it a silky smooth texture and show off the vibrant color.
Garnish (optional) – Garnish the cocktail with a lime wheel and pomegranate arils.

One last step:Please consider to let us know how it was!

Notes

Rimming the glass – Using an already squeezed lime is the best way to prepare the rim of a glass for salt. The used lime pulp will leave the rim really sticky. Lime juice does not work for this. So if you don’t have a fresh lime, use simple syrup instead. Simply put a couple drops of simple syrup on your finger and run it around the glass until there’s an even coating.

Smoked sea salt – This is not a common ingredient, but it’s one we absolutely love having around and highly recommend you get. Any smoked sea salt will work, but the flavors do vary, so choose one you like. Currently we have two, a Hawaiian smoked sea salt and an applewood smoked sea salt. Both are fantastic. When we’re not using them in cocktails, they make a great addition to burrata toast, crispy potatoes with whipped ricotta, pan con tomate, and so much more.

Double straining – To double strain you’ll want to use both a Hawthorne strainer and a fine mesh strainer. Place the Hawthorne strainer in the shaker as normal, and pour through the mesh strainer into the glass. Here is a tutorial on YouTube if you’re a visual learner like me.

Batch it – Margaritas make great batch cocktails because they don’t have any carbonation. Simply combine all ingredients in a big pitcher with ice and stir very well to combine (since it won’t be shaken). Keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve whether it be for a party, happy hour, or game day.

Margarita glasses – If you want to use margarita glasses instead of rocks glasses, it’s best to chill them before serving. You can even rim the margarita glasses before sticking them in the freezer to make life easier when serving. Margarita glasses are better used without ice cubes due to the shape, so chilling them before serving allows your cocktail to stay cold without the ice. Bonus: it also means no dilution while drinking!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cocktailCalories: 176kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 0.1gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.04gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.04gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.02gSodium: 52mgPotassium: 103mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 11IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 8mgIron: 1mg

Like this recipe?Please below! We read and respond to every single comment.

If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.