What's In A Margarita Anyway?
The final MI house recipe promises to be the most complex exploration yet
I was reminded while traveling this week how complicated this one is going to be. When eating at the bar of Frontera Grill, I was confronted with their “margarita menu”1 full of cocktails that have very little in common with each other outside of a general base of agave spirit and lime juice. Which begs the question: what even is this drink?
The Standard
The Wikipedia headline is clear: “A margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice.” And then it immediately equivocates: “Some margarita recipes include simple syrup as well and are often served with salt on the rim of the glass. Margaritas can be served either shaken with ice (on the rocks), without ice (straight up), or blended with ice (frozen margarita).”
Not! Helpful!
But, in general, I think it’s fair to say that a “classic” marg follows that first description: it’s tequila, fresh lime juice, and triple sec. Generally in something like a 2-1-1 ratio respectively. Not so dissimilar from the classic Daiquiri, really. But, like that cocktail, this one has infinite variations…
The Main Variants
An extremely incomplete list of modifications that probably still result in a “margarita.”
Frozen vs Shaken
I do like a frozen margarita. Something about those massive, obnoxious Margaritaville machines feels so fun to me. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a “serious” frozen marg. And it’s not that I want my house cocktails to be some kind of super-serious cocktail bar analogue, but I do want them to be real drinks. I have a house in Central Phoenix that doesn’t even have a pool - can the house marg truly be frozen here?
Blanco vs Reposado
Unaged or “rested”? Similar to last month’s Daiquiri testing, the underlying character of the spirit has a major impact on the cocktail. I think a blanco is the more “classic” answer here, but in all my marg drinking experience I’m not sure I’ve ever developed a strong preference here.
Simple Syrup vs All Liqueur
A debate ignited by the increasing popularity of the “skinny margarita” that eliminated the liqueur in favor of a lighter (usually agave) syrup and reduced calories compared to an orange liqueur. This isn’t necessarily always all-or-nothing, but whether or not there’s a sweetener in the drink that isn’t from orange liqueur is an interesting question.
Cointreau vs Grand Marnier vs Orange Juice
Cointreau is tiple sec, so that’s the “standard.” But the rise of the “Cadillac” margarita has increased the prevalence of GM in the drink. And if what you really want is sweet orange flavor, why not just juice a sweet orange? Orange needs to be in the drink, of course, but what’s the best mechanism for that?
Other Fruits?
Not too many bars in the Phoenix metro don’t serve a prickly pear marg, and some of them are great! You know you need orange and lime, but why stop there? Why not strawberry, mango, guava, etc?
Mezcal?
I won’t be the first to tell you that Mezcal is having a moment. And as more bars have more mezcals, they’re using them in a classic margarita base. Does the smokiness belong in this classic daisy, or is that a different drink altogether?
Spice?
Perhaps less popular now than pre-pandemic, but you’ll still see an awful lot of spicy margs on menus these days. Similar to the question above, does that change the drink too fundamentally to still call it the same cocktail?
Salt?
The question you will no doubt be asked at any bar regardless of the answers to any of the above: salt, or no salt? Salted rims are fun! And messy! But I’m more interested in what they do for the flavor of the drink: does a salty addition make a better cocktail?
The Process for Determining the MI House Marg
In order of above, here are the predetermined vs open questions I’m battling with:
Shaken, always - frozen is fun, but that’s no house cocktail
TBD! This will be fun to test - I need to buy some tequila…
TBD! I have a house syrup, so lets see how that plays…
TBD! I’ve done some work on this before, but it’s worth exploring explicitly here
No - I did that with the Daiquiri, and I won’t be repeating it here
Also no - I love it, my wife doesn’t, and my house recipes need to represent our house…
TBD! Nothing crazy, but I’ll explore a spicy addition since I live in PHX…
TBD! But if I do add salt, it will be liquid (not a rim) for ease of home bartending
So, coming your way over the next several weeks:
Blanco vs Reposado tequilas, both alone and in margs
Cointreau, Grand Marnier, and Syrup sweetener comparisons and combinations
Garnish/”finish” and proportions for the house marg
This is gonna be a fun one, friends.
I went with the Blue Agave, for the record, which I enjoyed outside of being served in a martini glass and my subsequent spilling all over the place…