Top 9 Prickly Pear Cocktails to Try

Prickly pear cocktails have been gaining popularity in recent years. The unique fruit adds a subtle sweet and tangy flavor to mixed drinks. Prickly pears grow on cacti and have a beautiful pinkish-red color inside. They’re harvested and used to infuse simple syrups or muddled directly in the glass. The resulting cocktails have a southwestern flair that transport drinkers beyond your average spirit and mixer.

Whether you’re looking to try something new or add a pop of natural color, prickly pear cocktails are worth exploring. The recipes are perfect for warm summer evenings on the patio or as tasty twists on classics. Foodies, cocktail connoisseurs and those with adventurous palates will find something to love in the range of drinks incorporating this unusual desert fruit.

The Prickly Pear Margarita

The Prickly Pear Margarita’s staple ingredient is the syrup derived from the fruit itself. The color is all-natural, and the syrup lends a fruity sweetness with hints of raspberry and watermelon. To make this one at home, you’ll need four ingredients: tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and Prickly Pear syrup.
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Prickly Pear Mojito

A deliciously sweet mojito, this drink highlights the strawberry notes found in the Prickly Pear fruit. A perfect option for bachelorette parties or bridal showers, this drink has a bright pink color. The ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe are white rum, lime juice, Prickly Pear cocktail mixture, simple syrup or agave syrup, and sparkling water or club soda.
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Prickly Pear Mezcal Cocktail

To compliment the sweet taste of the Prickly Pear, smokey Mezcal brings complexity to the cocktail. This recipe requires fresh ingredients and the usual mix of ingredients, making it a touch more complicated (but absolutely worth it). The ingredients to make this unique are fresh Prickly Pear, Mezcal, lime juice, ice cubes, coarse salt, and Prickly pear syrup.
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Prickly Pear Martini

The Prickly Pear martini is a twist on the old classic, bringing a taste of the southwest to your cocktail. The orange liqueur pairs charmingly with the notes of watermelon and strawberry from the Prickly Pear syrup. With just four ingredients, this martini isn’t overly difficult to make. All you’ll need for this martini is vodka, Prickly Pear syrup, orange liqueur, and lemon juice.
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Prickly Pear Royale Cocktail

A riff on the classic Kir Royale, the addition of Prickly Pear liqueur, fresh lime juice, and brut champagne makes for an absolutely luxurious cocktail to experiment with on your palate. You can add a chili powder dash to add complexity to the flavor. Made with Prickly Pear liqueur from Thatcher’s Organic, this is a simple and delicious taste of the southwest desert.
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The Prickly Lady Cocktail

Like the other Mezcal recipe on our list, this leans into that enticing pairing of smoky and sweet to utter perfection. You’ll pay for that sophisticated taste by working with a little more complicated recipe than average. But it’s a small price to play! To embark on the Prickly Lady adventure, you’ll need Mezcal, ginger liqueur, Prickly Pear juice (fresh), lime juice, powdered sugar, ice, and lime slice.
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Del Estroibo Cocktail

Based on a Daiquiri template, this cocktail brings joy with the bubbly pink of Prickly Pear syrup and the tang of citrus. Served in a highball and poured all over ice, this is a premier drink to enjoy when summer is at its height. You’ll need white rum, Prickly Pear syrup, toasted corn syrup, lime juice, and green Chartreuse.
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Prickly Pear Cactus Mojito

Everyone loves a good mojito, but adding Prickly Pear syrup in lieu of simple syrup is a fantastic way to dress this recipe up into something fabulous. The syrup adds Prickly Pears’ signature pink color and imparts a delectable fruity flavor. You’ll want to cool off with this one, and all you’ll need is Prickly Pear syrup, spearmint leaves, lime juice, rum, crushed ice, and club soda.
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The O.P.P. (Our Prickly Paloma)

Our Prickly Paloma doesn’t have the same hot pink color as other recipes on this list. Instead, what we have is a hue closer to grapefruit juice! We can thank the grapefruit juice soda for that, adding a sharpness to the Prickly Paloma’s sweetness. It is created with Patrón Reposado, Prickly Pear purée, lime juice, cane syrup, a pinch of salt, grapefruit soda, and grapefruit slice.
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