By: Julieta Hernandez Photos by: Rachel Benavides
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When most people think cotton candy they aren’t quick tobrvisualize a marg and vice versa.
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“Here at Green Light, we never really do anything straightbrup,” laughs Zak Kaszynski, barista and Southside manager. “We always add somebrfunky twist or weird hybridization to offer alternatives.”
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Green Light Coffee Southside quickly grew to offer much morebrthan coffee. The Cotton Candy Margarita was created from a hand-spun originalbrhouse recipe to make adult beverages just a little bit sweeter on the edges.
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“I try a lot of recipes. I test them and tweak them. Therebrare plenty of avenues we can take with the cotton candy, and this was just thebrfirst one on liquor,” says Sarah Hans, owner. “Balancing the tart with thebrsweetness just seemed to make sense. It’s a drink I’d have on my birthday, butbreven just as a happy hour drink.”
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If it’s not the silver milagro tequila, it’s the tang ofbrfresh squeezed lime juice that gives this iced drink the crisp flavor of anbrauthentic, well-rounded marg. Pure cane cream soda and grand marnier upgradebrthe laid-back party classic to a pinkie up cocktail.
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“It’s not the kind of drink that you slam back and shoutbr‘TEQUILA!’ It’s the kind of drink for when you want to let your inner kid outbrwhile being adult,” says Kaszynski.
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“You’re creating the drink on your own by pushing the cottonbrcandy in. You’re sugaring the rim. You’re the pro and creating your own uniquebrdrinking experience. You’re pretty much the bartender yourself.”
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For every order, the lemon-flavored sugar tuft that rims thisbrdrink is spun from Green Light’s homemade sugar recipe right in front of you.brIt goes straight from the dome to the top of your glass where it can either bebrtucked in to dissolve, left on top to sip through, or pulled apart and dippedbrin your marg. The margarita glass lends itself well to the shape, allowing roombrfor the lemon-flavored cotton candy to sit pretty on top and slowly dissolve onbrits own.
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The Cotton Candy Margarita is one of the eight unique concoctionsbron Green Light’s new cocktail menu, available only at the Southside location.
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Cotton Candy Margarita Ingredients:
1 ½ fl oz tequila
1 ½ fl oz cream soda
½ oz grand marnier
¼ fl oz lime juice
1 whole fluff of lemon cotton candy
