Spicy Margarita in a Box

The Spicy Margarita tequila cocktail from Crafthouse Cocktails comes in an easy-to-pour box and serves 15 cocktails that are perfect every time.

Crafthouse Cocktails Spicy Margarita Tequila Cocktail in a Box 1 — Spicy Margarita in a Box

I love a Spicy Margarita cocktail and was very interested to try this Spicy Margarita in a Box from Crafthouse Cocktails. Some of my fellow spirits writers had been telling me about how wonderful the whole range of Crafthouse Cocktails is.

The Crafthouse Cocktails Range

Crafthouse Cocktails currently has a range of eight different ready-made cocktails. Seven of these are available in both 200ml cans and in 750ml bottles. The Moscow Mule is also available in a 1.75l box.

The current Crafthouse Cocktails range (though I hear that a few more cocktails are on the way) is:

Spicy Margarita
Paloma
Pineapple Daiquiri
Smoky Margarita
Rum Old-Fashioned
Southside
Gold Rush
Moscow Mule

Crafthouse Cocktails Range of ready-made cocktails in cans, bottles, and boxes — The Crafthouse Cocktails Range

Spicy Margarita in a Box

Their Spicy Margarita tequila cocktail is the only one that is only available in a box, and not in a bottle or a can. It’s made up of 100% blue agave blanco tequila and fresh lime juice, with the spicy kick coming from jalapeno peppers. There’s also a dash of chipotle in there, to add some smokiness to the blend. There has to be some kind of sweetness to, like Triple Sec, though the box doesn’t identify all the ingredients.

Each box provides 15 servings at 14% ABV (28 proof). This makes for a real drink, as many cheap canned cocktails are only about 5-6% ABV (10-12 proof). By cutting down on the alcohol they can cut down on the price, but it also cuts down on the quality of the cocktail.

Who Are Crafthouse Cocktails?

Crafthouse was founded by Chicago bar owner and restauranteur Matt Lindner, and Charles Joly, who was a Global Bartending Champion. Back in 2013 the two began experimenting, to see if they could produce cocktails of the standard that Joly was producing nightly in his bars, but bottle them and provide their bar customers with ready-made quality cocktails they could serve at parties and dinner parties.

Joly had become used to giving copies of his cocktail recipes to his customers, and then a few days later getting a phone call saying they’d followed his recipe but the cocktail just hadn’t come out right. What had they done wrong? Joly would talk them through it and of course discover they had somehow cut corners to the detriment of the recipe.

Crafthouse Cocktails Spicy Margarita Tequila Cocktail in a Box 2 — Spicy Margarita in a Box

Creating Crafthouse Cocktails

One of the corners people would cut would be to use bottom-shelf spirits where the recipe specified a particular tequila or rum. Not all spirits taste the same, and one reason a cocktail recipe used a specific spirit is because (a) it tastes better, and (b) is the right one to go with the other ingredients. So one of the Crafthouse philosophies is that you don’t stint on the ingredients for the sake of keeping prices down.

Joly knows what he’s doing. He’s been voted US Bartender of the Year by Tales of the Cocktail, and for the last five years has been creating and serving signature cocktails at the Oscars and Emmys. You don’t get invited to do those gigs unless you’re at the absolute top of your game.

Crafthouse Cocktails Awards

An indication of just how good the cocktails are is that every single one of them won Double Gold, Gold, or Silver at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2020.

Trying Spicy Margarita in a Box

After the build-up from respected colleagues, and my own interest in margaritas and love of spicy tastes, I was nervous about trying this Spicy Margarita in a Box. It wasn’t the box that bothered me, as these days there are some excellent cocktails in boxes and in cans and bottles. There are also some disappointing ones, of course!

No, what worried me is that tasting is so personal. I live in southern Arizona and have tasted and made lots of margaritas, especially on travels in Arizona and New Mexico, where the margarita is king.

The level of spiciness is also personal. I remember some friends introducing me and my wife to a chili beer in a bar in Phoenix, and sitting back and waiting for our reactions. They clearly expected us to take one taste and cough and splutter at how hot it was. Instead we both agreed that it was a very nice beer, but could have been a bit spicier.

Tasting Spicy Margarita in a Box

The nose is, basically, what you expect – there’s a sweetness from the Triple Sec, or whatever sweetener they use; there’s an earthiness from a good tequila, where a cheap tequila could give a blandness; there’s a welcoming spice from the peppers; and finally there’s a smokiness from chipotle, which makes it smell like mezcal.

Tasting it, it’s the wow factor. My wife and I looked at each other and nodded, as you do when you taste something extra special, and you both know it. It wasn’t a complex taste, as you might get with a good whiskey, where you can identify all kinds of tastes swirling around in there. No, it was the balance that was impressive, the balance of spiciness and smokiness, and then of a fresh lime zestiness with an orange sweetness from Triple Sec, Cointreau, or whatever they use.

It finishes with the spicy/smoky feel, but also incredibly smooth. We looked at the box and saw that there were 13 more helpings inside. Hmm, we said, we’re going to have to ration these… or get another box! We wanted to share these with friends, but also selfishly keep them for ourselves. That’s how good they are.