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*Difficulty Rating is based on the techniques used as well as the number, uniqueness, and the cost of ingredients
Why are Margaritas so Great? Lip-smacking tartness. Rich sweetness. The warm vegetalness of roasted agave pina that gives tequila depth and scope. The crisp and clean finish. Together these give you one of the most iconic cocktails of all time.
Margs have been maligned and abused since the 70’s: carelessly thrown in slushie machines, dumped into $5 pitchers at college bars on Wednesday nights, polluted with fake syrups that are more plastic than the gallon jugs they come in.
Luckily in the past decade we have rebounded as a society and found the truth in simplicity. Three ingredients are all you need to make this world-class cocktail.
1 oz
3/4 oz
2 oz
Lime Juice
Agave Syrup
Tequila
As with many cocktails, the birth of the Margarita is up for debate.
Several great stories exist, all occurring between the 1930’s and mid 1950’s, and most share a female named Margaret, Marjore, or the eponymous Margarita. One claims the creation as a birthday present for a girlfriend, another a debutante actress sickened by any alcohol save tequila, and still another involves a liquor rep for newly distributed Cuervo brainstorming, creating, then naming the new cocktail after his wife.
Any of these seem reasonable enough, absent the perspective of history. As it happens, the formula of two parts spirit + one part sour + one part sweet was found in several drinks well before the turn of the twentieth century. One pre-prohibition libation very popular was the daisy. Commonly made with brandy, the daisy used two parts brandy + one part lemon juice + one part triple sec.
It is no real stretch to imagine a traveler familiar with the daisy to find themselves in Mexico, talking to the barkeep about his craft. With no brandy on hand, the barman instead grabs a bottle of tequila, a spirit he has in abundance. After a few drinks with just one substitution, limes get thrown into the equation and it works beautifully. Epicly.
Word spreads about this new “tequila daisy” and it grew, easily and inevitably. Simple, clean and refreshing. Eventually local products and resources were incorporated into the drink, putting a new spin on a classic. After a while it’s more than just a new spin though. It has become its own entity, and instead of using the term “tequila daisy”, it is now simply translated to the spanish word for daisy…or Margarita.