Margarita magnificence: a consummately customizable cocktail

Despite being one of the most popular cocktails in the world, most margaritas are made poorly — intentionally. Nobody buys a margarita in a plastic cup for its complex flavor and balanced profile. They’re for long days out on the beach, to cool you down and kick things up — and they’re mostly made quickly and sweetly, like slushies with crushed ice.

Frozen margaritas are the invention of Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez, who started serving them in 1971 from a converted soft-serve ice-cream machine, but the exact origin of the classic margarita was at some unknown far earlier date. Margaritas were introduced to Americans in the 1950s, with the arrival of Sauza and Cuervo tequilas, and by the 1960s, had secured their place as one of the nation’s most popular cocktails. A “Margarita” — “daisy” — as with the gin daisy, Hemingway Daiquiri, Sidecar and brandy daisy — is composed of the main spirit, a sweet liqueur and citrus.

Once you have this classic recipe down, it’s easy to modify to make flavored margaritas, and the sky’s the limit here. Dice half a red chili and add it to the mix, along with a dash of hot sauce, and you have a spicy margarita, hotter or milder depending on your preferences. From there, you can swap that sugar syrup and triple sec for 15ml of a dark chocolate liqueur to make a beautiful chili chocolate margarita. You can also make a blood orange margarita using blood-orange juice instead of lime; or a carrot margarita by adding two parts fresh carrot juice to the classic recipe. Adding some MSG also gives margaritas a nice umami flavor, which can be paired with nori.

Try another spin: the margarita soda — make a ¾ version of the classic margarita (skipping the sugar syrup) and serve in a highball glass, topped up with soda water. Or the 50/50 Margarita, where you replace half the tequila with a nice sherry. You can also just throw out the tequila and use bourbon instead, which is lovely, or a Jägerita, using Jägermeister instead of tequila, which is surprisingly good. I also really enjoy playing around with using different wine-based aperitifs instead of triple sec, preferably Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto or Campari. Perhaps my favorite approach, though, is to treat a margarita like a martini. In recent years, boutique, high-end tequila has seen a surge of popularity — and done properly, there’s no reason why a margarita can’t be a perfect vessel for it.

For this one, use the same classic recipe (right), but reduce the triple sec and lime juice by 5ml each; leave out the simple syrup, and add a couple of drops of homemade saline solution. Use only triple sec and make it the good stuff; I would recommend Citrónge from Patrón or Luxardo’s Triplum.

Then, most unusually, add two to three tablespoons of raw rice, for a rice wash. You’ll strain it out for the final drink, but washing a drink with sushi rice makes for a more cohesive flavor, moderating the bite of the spirit and giving a rounder mouthfeel courtesy of the starch. If you want a slightly nutty flavor, toast the rice beforehand on a pan — unwashed gives it a smoother, creamier flavor. Stir it in a mixing glass rather than shaking, and double strain into a chilled martini glass. Serve straight up with a lime twist.

The result is elegant and interesting — and truly brings out the flavor of your tequila of choice, while still being light and refreshing, as all margaritas should be.

Recipe

Classic margarita

For my classic margarita, I add the following ingredients to a shaker:

2 parts (50ml) blanco tequila. I generally use Tapatio Blanco, but Arette Blanco is also fantastic for roughly the same price.

If you want a reposado, I recommend Ocho; and if you want to use mezcal instead of tequila, Ilegal Joven is unbeatable

1/2 part (15ml) triple sec. Cointreau is the default triple sec, but you can play around with orange curaçao if you want a slightly sweeter, more bitter taste. If so, I recommend Giffards

1 part (25ml) fresh lime juice

5ml 2:1 simple syrup, made with muscovado sugar. This can be skipped, but it adds a nice sweet note and the warmth of the brown sugar pairs well with the tequila.

If you want to go for a more traditional Mexican flavor, instead use 10ml of 1:1 agave syrup

Shake your mix for roughly ten seconds over ice, double strain into your glass and finish with a classic lime wheel

This article was originally published in The Spectator’s August 2024 World edition.