The Spirit World

Since you’ve already purchased a nice bottle of Cointreau for use in the Sidecar, we might as well put it to good use. So this week I’d like to visit a cocktail that you no doubt already think you are very familiar with, the Margarita.

The history of the Margarita is unfortunately fairly cloudy. One of the more popular stories has it being invented in 1948 by Margarita Sames for a large party she was holding down in Acapulco. But there is also a story about Francisco Morales creating this drink in 1942, and calling it a “Daisy”, which in Mexican is “Margarita”. Even before then, there is a claim that it was created at the Caliente Race Track in Tijuana in the early 1930’s. These are but a few of the countless origin stories for this drink, I’ve long since learned to take most such claims as suspect until clear evidence is shown. One thing that virtually all such stories have in common is the specific ingredients of the Margarita.

If all of the origin stories describe the Margarita the same way, then it confuses my why so few places actually make it that way anymore. I’ve seen far too many examples of junk being passed off as Margaritas, not only at home gatherings, but also at many bars as well. This happens because when a drink becomes overly popular, bars will often attempt to take various shortcuts with the recipe, until eventually they forget how the drink should actually be made or, more importantly, taste.

There isn’t anything at all complicated about making a real Margarita, as all of the origin stories attest, it just uses three ingredients that all bars should have on hand. Tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice are all that it takes to make this wonderful drink. Now look at those ingredients carefully. Remember the Sidecar? It was Brandy, Cointreau, and lemon juice. The Margarita isn’t much more than a variation on a theme. One of the key objectives however, is to combine these ingredients together in a way that provides a nice balance. The balance is in creating a drink which is neither over overly sour or overly sweet, but also allows the very unique character of the tequila to still be apparent. Choosing the correct ratio for the Margarita is significantly important here. The one that I finally arrived at, is one in which I use 3 parts Tequila, 2 parts Cointreau, and 1 part fresh lime juice. Here is the full recipe:

Margarita

• 1 1/2 ounces tequila
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 1/2 ounce lime juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, or Margarita glass filled with crushed ice.

Optional: You can prepare the cocktail glass with a salted rim by rubbing a lime wedge around the rim, then dipping it into coarse/kosher salt.

Prepared in this way, I’m sure that you will agree that this is a wonderful cocktail, which bears only a passing resemblance to the commercialized concoction that you might find in most bars.

Here is a rundown of the ingredients, both to use, and to avoid:

Tequila

I personally prefer using silver tequila in most of my cocktails. Silver tequila (also known as “Blanco”) is unaged, and as such has a much more distinctive flavor then the aged versions. Aged tequilas are known as “Reposado” (rested, aged for not less than two months in wooden tanks of any size) and “Anejo” (aged, which has to have been aged for at least a year, in a wooden tank or cask that can’t be larger than 600 liters). I would caution folks against using a “Joven” or “Gold” tequila. This is an unaged tequila, like the Blanco, but it has been colored and flavored (usually with caramel) to make it look at taste more like an Anejo. It is also usually not made from 100% agave, and the caramel will help mask what might otherwise have been the harsher flavor of a “mixto“.

Cointreau

We covered this last week with the Sidecar cocktail. If you haven’t already, you might want to pick up a bottle of anything labeled “Triple Sec” and compare it against Cointreau in a Margarita and see what you think. They are of course very similar flavors, but you should notice a difference between the two.

Lime Juice

The same issues apply to fresh lime juice in a Margarita as apply to fresh lemon juice in a Sidecar. You may sometimes see people using a product called “Rose’s Lime Juice” when they make a Margarita. This is just wrong in so many ways. Sometimes you’ll see them use Rose’s as a straight replacement for lime juice; this is because Rose’s is sweetened, and so if you are also using Triple Sec (I couldn’t even begin to imagine using Cointreau in such an abomination) you will end up with a drink that is far too sweet. Other times they will use Rose’s in place of both the lime juice and triple sec, with just a splash of orange juice to make up for what they lost by removing the triple sec. The bottom line, is that Rose’s should never be used in a Margarita.

Sour Mix

Ok, this is the big mistake. I see far too many people using Sour Mix in their Margaritas. This is just wrong. Even fresh home-made sour mix is wrong for this drink, and the commercial stuff, with all of its chemicals and preservatives is just nasty. Sour mix is a “shortcut” that many bars use for drinks that otherwise would have listed “lemon juice” and “sugar” as two separate ingredients (such as a Daiquiri, Lemon Drop, or Whiskey Sour). In those drinks it is passable to use a home-made mix (which is just equal parts simple syrup and lemon juice), but in a drink that is using a sweet liqueur as it’s sweetener you are just making a mistake.

Blenders

Just say no.

So now that you are well armed with the proper recipe for a real Margarita, give it a spin and let us all know what you think of it!