The Twisted Tailgate Competition: Every vote gets us closer to a champion

Welcome to our Twisted Tailgate Bracket, where every cooler in the parking lot thinks it's got the drink to beat and every week a new one earns the top spot on our bracket. This week's lineup happens to be the marquee matchup of the season, a Game Day slate stacked deep enough that the parking lot is already tracking as the biggest crowd on record. Big game, bigger crowd, and one drink that earned its spot fair and square. Your vote helped put it there, and your vote decides what everyone's drinking this weekend.

Say hello to this week's number one, the Spicy Burnt Orange Margarita. Blanco tequila, real heat, a whole lot of 100% Cold Pressed Blood Orange. It's the kind of margarita that gets a text the next morning asking what was in it, usually from someone who swore they were only staying for one game. 

Why This One Earned the Top Seed

Tailgates are chaos by design, and this week's version comes with a bigger crowd and less room to fumble a drink order. What you need is something fast to build, nearly impossible to mess up, and good enough that nobody minds waiting for it. Real Blood Orange juice and a proper Spicy Margarita mix do most of the heavy lifting. You're just the one holding the shaker and accepting the compliments.

Spicy Burnt Orange Margarita, 

Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz blanco tequila
• 1.5 oz Twisted Alchemy Skinny Spicy Margarita Mixer
• 1 oz Twisted Alchemy 100% Blood Orange Juice
• Salt, for the rim
• Lime, for the rim and garnish

Directions

1. Pour a layer of salt onto a small plate, ideally one just slightly larger than the top of your margarita glass. Slice off a small piece of lime and run the wet edge along half of the rim.
2. Dip the top of the glass into the salt at a 45-degree angle, rolling it side to side to catch an even coat. Fill the glass with ice and set it aside.
3. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the tequila, Skinny Spicy Margarita Mixer, and blood orange juice. Seal and shake for a full 30 seconds, until it's properly cold.
4. Strain into your prepared glass and garnish with a slice of lime.
5. Tailgate-Ready Tips

Tailgate-Ready Tips

• Use Twisted Alchemy Juice: No squeeze labor required, saves you time and money, for those championship tickets.
• Batch it. Multiply the tequila, mixer, and juice by your headcount and combine in a jug the night before. With a crowd this size, keep it iced in the cooler and shake or stir servings to order.
• Salt half the rim, not the whole thing. It gives people options, and it's a lot less messy when hands are already full of chips and a foam finger.
• Bring extra limes. They disappear fast on a normal week. On a record-crowd week, bring more than you think you need.

Set this next to the grill, keep the cooler stocked, and let the rest of the lot figure out on their own where the good drinks are coming from. Follow us on Instagram and vote for the drink you'd bring to the party.