“I’m a margarita person,” says Peter van Slooten of Horizons Bar at the Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort. The Dutch barman is also, at times, a DJ, magician and sing-along bartender.

The trick to this fruity variation on the classic margarita is the fresh maracuja juice – also known as passion fruit – which adds a little body to the sweet-and-sour taste, he says. It’s one of his most popular drinks at Horizons, where he’s been a barman for the past four years. “If somebody sits at the bar and can’t decide what they want, this is what I go with,” he says. 

Van Slooten has a knack for making people happy, whether it’s with his friendly manner, David Blaine-inspired card tricks or two-for-one drinks at the two daily happy hours. But why does he love working at Horizons? “I’ll show you,” he says, pointing to the panoramic view of sea, sun and sand. A few of these margaritas and you’ll never want to leave either

Maracuja Margarita
Makes 1 cocktail

1 lime
Small plate or bowl of salt, to line the glass rim
Ice
2 oz. Jose Cuervo Especial Tequila Reposado
1 oz. Cointreau
1 oz. lemonade
1 ½ oz. strained maracuja (passion fruit) juice
Strained maracuja seeds, to garnish, optional
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1. Run a cut piece of lime around the rim of a margarita glass.

2. Dip the glass into the salt to coat the rim.

3. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.

4. Add the Tequila, Cointreau, lemonade and maracuja juice and shake.

5. Add ice to the salt-rimmed margarita glass and strain the cocktail into the glass.

6. Garnish with some strained maracuja seeds, a straw and a piece of lime.

To make home-made maracuja juice, peel and blend fresh maracuja (passion fruit) with an equal amount of water. Then sweeten to taste. Van Slooten uses 6 tablespoons (60 ml) of sugar for 16 oz. of peeled fruit. Sieve out the seeds, and store in an empty Patrón Tequila bottle, like he does (or any other container). He makes the fresh lemonade the same way, adjusting the sugar as needed.