5 fresh spring drinks

Cinco de Mayo means it's time to bust out some of your favorite Mexican recipes and start pouring the margaritas. I like my margaritas on the rocks, with salt, please. And I prefer to make them with fresh lime juice-forget the premade mix. You probably have your own favorite take on the margarita…and I'm not going to say it's wrong, but I would like to suggest a few other delicious drinks that are equally wonderful for a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

The photo above is the Salty Chihuahua. It's sort of a cross between the salty dog (vodka, grapefruit juice and a salt rim) and a margarita. It has tequila, Cointreau and grapefruit juice. Go for a good-quality juice like Odwalla or squeeze your own. You get vitamin C and vitamin A in this drink.

Here's the recipe:

Wet the rims of 4 glasses and coat with coarse salt (if desired); fill the glasses with ice. Pour 1 ounce tequila and 1/2 ounce orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau, into each. Top each with 3/4 cup grapefruit juice and stir. Garnish with a slice of grapefruit.

Here are four more of my favorites:

Island Limeade: This limeade-and-dark-rum drink works with store-bought limeade, but it's even better with homemade limeade. I go for Gosling's brand rum. Be careful, these go down really easy!

Strawberry-Coconut Daiquiri: If you love frozen tropical drinks, try this one: it's amazing. Plus strawberries are in season now.

Watermelon Agua Fresca: This is a great nonalcoholic drink made with fresh watermelon.

Shandy: Yes, this is a British-inspired drink, so it's a bit of a stretch for a Mexican holiday. But this mix of "lemonade" and beer is just so fabulous and refreshing made with Mexican beers like Corona or Dos Equis (the green one) that I had to include it.

By Jessie Price

EatingWell deputy food editor Jessie Price's professional background in food started when she worked in restaurant kitchens in the summers during college. She started out testing recipes for EatingWell and then joined the staff here full-time in 2004 when she moved to Vermont from San Francisco.

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