041 – Margarita

Sydney Covid ‘lock-down’ Margarita cocktail, in a contemporary frozen variation.

Lock-down has inspired me to explore this famous cocktail. Let’s take a look at the almost 100-year old ‘Margarita’ cocktail and construct a 2021 ‘make-at-home’ Frozen Margarita remake.

Make your own ‘mix-at-home’ Locktail, the perfect Spring/Summer ‘Frozen Margarita’.

METHOD – SIMPLE SYRUP – Heat 100gm of Brown Sugar (or white if you prefer a lighter coloured cocktail) and 50ml of Water in a pan until the sugar is fully dissolved (don’t boil). Let cool and refrigerate. Will last up to 2-weeks or longer if you add 10-to-15ml of Vodka into the syrup when almost cool.

FOR THE COCKTAIL (APPROX. SIX SERVES) – Prepare the glassware by wiping a fresh lime slice around the edge of each glass and then dipping each glass rim into a plate with fine salt to ‘salt edge’ the rim. Then, into a blender capable of crushing ice and holding around a litre (1000ml) of contents, add 200ml Tequila (white preferred), 100ml Triple Sec (suggest Cointreau), 50ml of home-made simple syrup (pre-made and cooled – recipe above), 200ml of frozen fresh lime juice (in cubes or small pieces), and 200ml of ice (cubes or crushed). Blend the mixture, initially pulses to break the ice, and then a short continuous run to ‘frappé’ the mix. Pour into cool glassware with salted rims.

HISTORICAL NOTES – The Margarita is one of the most popular cocktails in the world, and it is one of the most confused when it comes to origin stories. By confused, perhaps I should say contested, in a quick search it is easy to find several origin stories, none more compelling than the last. If you want to get a snapshot, once again Simon Difford has done all the heavy lifting with an article on Margarita Origins & Story on his Difford’s Guide website, here.

Like so many early cocktails, the origin of the recipe and the origin of the (contemporary) name, do not necessarily align. A cocktail called the ‘Picador’ turned up in William J Tarling’s 1937 ‘Cafe Royal Cocktail Book’ (half Tequila, quarter Cointreau, and a quarter lemon or lime juice), basically a classic Margarita Recipe, turning up in an English cocktail book. For at least a year before this, mentions of a ‘Tequila Daisy’ were also turning up in US Newspapers, usually after a commentator had visited Mexico. ‘Margarita’ being the Spanish linguistic equivalent of English word ‘Daisy’.

The nomenclature ‘Margarita’ may not have made it into the US and UK until the 1950’s, but the ‘Spanish Daisy’ was being consumed for almost two decades before that under other names, and no doubt for even longer in Mexico itself. Rather than concerning us with when and how the name came about, or was resolved in favour of the winning title ‘Margarita’, what is clear is the cocktail came out of Mexico sometime before 1936. Even the ‘Frozen Margarita’ version may have a history that goes back as far as 1947.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The ‘Margarita’ is included in the International Bartender Association’s (IBA) ‘Contemporary Classics’ official cocktail list, here. The recipe calls for 50ml Tequila (100% Agave), 20ml Triple Sec, 15ml Lime Juice, shaken with ice and strained into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnished with a half salt rim (optional).

OK, I’m going to say it. Does anyone else have a problem with an 85ml cocktail? And while I’m at it, what is with the idea of ‘contemporary classics’? Surely that is an oxymoron, like ‘original copy’, ‘plastic glasses’, or ‘historically modern’. Alright, mini-rant over.

TASTING NOTES – Margarita’s are not only well known, but the tequila, salt and citrus flavour is similar to other great cocktails that use the simple formula of spirit, citrus and salt, for example the ‘Salty Dog’. Or Tequila shots with a citrus slice and salt on the hand. In Australia the cries of “Lick, Sip, Suck” while downing Tequila shots in this fashion, were almost a youthful right of passage.

Tequila has a unique flavour from its Blue Agave origins, however like most spirits, the flavour range is large depending on sourcing, aging, and the distillers approach and recipes. The can be sweet, citrus, oak, spicy, nutty, floral and fruity in an almost unlimited combination, so what Tequila you use will be the biggest determination in flavour.

I have used El Jimador Blanco, one of the largest selling Tequilas in Mexico and a good example of low-lands white Tequila, made from Blue Webber Agave sourced from near Guadalajara. It is relatively smooth, light to moderate in flavours that include citrus, pepper, mineral and a good saltiness that suits both a regular Margarita and the frozen variety. It is both readily available and relatively low cost and good value for money.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – There are so many changes you can make to a Margarita, additional sweet or berry flavours, spiced up with Jalapeño or Habanero (for the brave), with different citrus or additional spirits and liqueurs. So often we find bars have their own ‘take’ on this classic.

I have decided to go with my party recipe, a pretty standard mix but in a frappé (frozen) style and slightly sweetened. Using a very popular and well known Blanco (white and un-aged) El Jimador Tequila, 2-parts to 1-part Cointreau, 1/2 a part sugar syrup, and then some uplift on the lime (2-parts) and ice (a further 2-parts). This dilutes the overall alcoholic strength, a good idea for parties and younger drinkers, and the boost in lime makes sure the overall flavour doesn’t come across as diminished. This works out to be roughly one Tequila shot (30ml) and half a Cointreau shot (15ml) per Martini glass size cocktail.

Freezing the lime juice and chilling the other ingredients before hand is important to make sure you end up with a ‘frozen’ frappé version, not just a very cold but liquid mix. I also used ‘Brown Sugar’ for the Simple Syrup for the flavour match with limes, however if you don’t like the darker colour drink this makes, revert to Caster Sugar for the syrup.

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

This is the first cocktail of the 1931-1940 bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. Full list in the index.