Travel may be a little tricky these days, but you can still traverse the globe with these delicious drink recipes to try at home.
Today's cocktail hails from Mexico – Margarita.
What is it?
A sip of Margarita captures the life and color of a Mexican fiesta with lip-smacking lime and salt starting the party before the tequila dances in, all going down with the crushed-iced coolness of summer.
Origins
Nobody agrees on who inspired the Margarita. Was it a dancer in 1938 Tijuana with allergies to all other spirits? Or Margarita Cansino, aka actor Rita Hayworth? Most likely the muse is prohibition drink, the Daisy, tweaked to use tequila instead of brandy. After all, the Spanish word for “daisy” is margarita. In any case, it was Mariano Martinez’s 1971 frozen Margarita machine that really inspired a taste for the drink.
You'll need (serves 1)
1 lime
a little salt on a plate
½ tsp fine sugar (optional)
¾fl oz (20ml) fresh lime juice (or other juice)
1¾fl oz (50ml) Tequila (preferably reposado)
1fl oz (30ml ) Triple Sec (eg Grand Marnier or Cointreau)
ice (optionally crushed)
Method
Step 1: Prepare a chilled cocktail glass by running the juice from a lime wedge around the rim, then upturning the glass onto a plate of salt.
Step 2: In a cocktail shaker, mix the sugar (if you want it sweet) in the lime juice (or other juice) until as dissolved as possible.
Step 3: Add the Tequila and Triple Sec, fill with ice (or crushed ice) and shake well.
Step 4: Strain into the cocktail glass and decorate with a slice of lime.
Tasting notes
On balmy evenings with the music of both waves and mariachi crashing in, the first sight of the glittery rim of a Margarita glass is a fine moment. The citrus and salt carry the fragrance of a fresh sea breeze.
Take your first sip and these sour and salty flavors cut through the sweetness of the orange liqueur and whatever other juice flavors you have chosen – perhaps tamarind, lychee or simply lemon.
You know that tequila smokiness is there but it’s soothed under crushed ice, making it all too easy to glug down before it kicks in and you have a sudden urge to leap up and move your hips.
For additional cocktail recipes, check out our Destination Drinks page.
This article was originally published in July 2020 and updated in January 2021.