The Margarita is a classic cocktail with a fairly recent history, and when mixed correctly, you get a pleasant sour “or pucker up” experience. Most believe the origin of the margarita stems from a drink called the Daisy. The word for daisy in Spanish is indeed margarita! The Daisy goes back to the mid-1800’s and is a mixture of rum or brandy with citrus, curacao and simple syrup. No one exactly knows when tequila became the liquor of choice or exactly when the name Margarita stuck, but Jose Cuervo was running ad campaigns in the 1940’s and the first known published recipe for the Margarita was when it was Esquire’s cocktail of the month in December of 1953! Now, we have variation upon variation of this beautiful creation.
Classic Recipe
- 2 ounces tequila
- 1 ounce of lime juice
- 1 ounce of Cointreau
- shake and serve in a salt rimmed glass with a lime wheel
My favorite recipe can be found in Shake, a new perspective on cocktails, by Eric Prum & Josh Williams. They use equal parts tequila, Cointreau, fresh lime and fresh grapefruit juices. They add ice, shake vigorously and serve on the rocks in a chile salt rimmed glass with a slice of lime. And, this version is even better if you have access to a cocktail smoker. The smoky flavor goes well with the chile salt and grapefruit twist on the classic.
Pucker up!