Let's be honest. A truly authentic margarita will always call for the same three ingredients. Tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice. And to learn how to make a margarita at home, it's best to start at the very beginning. Because once you understand the origins of the cocktail, you can make your own "best margarita recipe". And stop scrolling for someone else's.
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The Story
As is expected with any history that evolved through inebriation and mottled alertness, several popular stories exist. One theory points to the late 1930s showgirl Majorie King, an allergy to all liquor but tequila, and a restaurant in Mexico. Another claims it was actress Rita (Margarita) Hayworth sippin' a tequila cocktail at a house party in Tijuana during the same decade. The makers of Cointreau say it was Ms. Sames in Acapulco with the Cointreau.
While the woman and the place may differ, what's important here are the common threads in each story: tequila, orange liqueur, and Mexico. And this is where we move on to the good stuff.
Buying Tequila
Look for a decent bottle of blanco tequila for a classic margarita. And they're not hard to find. Great bottles cost around $20. And you can even snag a few mini bottles for less than $10. When I put on my sommelier-slash-mixologist hat for clients, I serve Caso Amigos. And when shaking up cocktails at home I send The Husband to buy Dwayne Johnson's Teramana.
Espolòn, El Jimador, and Lunazul are all pretty smooth and refined for their price point. Corazón Blanco and Pueblo Viejo Blanco win the seal of approval from professional bartenders. And cost less than $17 for a 750-milliliter bottle.
The Ingredients
For an authentic margarita - not a tequila-spiked fruit smoothie or a so-called "skinny" margarita - there is no room for adaptation. Three ingredients, in 3-2-1 succession.
- 3 parts blanco tequila
- 2 parts orange liqueur
- 1 part fresh-squeezed lime juice (not that &$%# in a bottle)
Salt is the legitimate garnish. But if a sugar-rimmed glass is your kind of party, by all means, proceed. Triple Sec may be the most popular orange liqueur brand in modern times, but Cointreau is more historically accurate. I'm not getting paid to write that. I just really love Cointreau.
Equipment
You can certainly make a margarita right in the glass. But I find shaking creates that thing that makes you go yum. And it also gets the drink nice and cold. If you don't have a cocktail shaker, you can fudge one out of two glasses. Just be sure you have a tight-enough seal between the tops of the glasses before you shake!
The Method
If we're going to keep this legit, reach for your cocktail shaker and a little ice. No blenders allowed. If you're n the mood for a tequila-laced fruit smoothie, make a frozen margarita.
- Salt rim. Pour a thin layer of coarse salt onto a small plate. Run a fresh lime wedge around the rim of an old-fashioned or rocks glass. Dip the top of each glass into the salt, turning and pressing a few times to evenly coat the rim.
- Shaken, not stirred. In a cocktail shaker (or makeshift version) filled with ice, pour in tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh-squeezed lime juice. Seal and shake until it frosts over.
- Strain and serve. Strain the cocktail into the salted glass. Garnish with a lime wedge, if you like.
On Sugar
Authenticity aside, what's good for the blanco-loving geese may not impress the resposado-sipping gander. I personally can't handle three shots of any alcohol in one drink. So I reduce my tequila shot to a single. And shake in a small amount of simple syrup. Which doesn't harm the true essence, but surely softens the blow.
Sweeter. For a sweeter margarita, shake in up to an ounce of simple syrup for every drink. Adding syrup also gives the cocktail a bit of a silkier texture, too.
Keto or Low-Carb Margarita. A majority of the carbohydrate count in a classic margarita comes from the orange liqueur. So the easy way to reduce it is to use less triple sec. If you'd like to eliminate it entirely, a small splash of fresh-squeezed orange juice or a few dashes of orange cocktail bitters are great substitutes.
On Simple Syrup
If sweet is what you're after, homemade simple syrup is a snap to make. In a small pot bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil. Then cool. In restaurants, we'd even skip the boiling and dissolve the sugar in hot water from the commercial dispenser. You could certainly try this with the hottest water from your faucet in the absence of patience.
What I love about simple syrup, is you can infuse it with endless flavors. Citrus rind, anise seed, juniper berries, cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean, and even hot chilis. Cocktails, mocktails, or homemade soda can all enter a new level of excitement with a flavored syrup. And all are drinkable times.
The longer you soak the ingredients in just boiled syrup, the stronger the essence. I rarely strain my homemade syrups, with the exception of spicy ones like jalapeño.
Fruit Margaritas
Adding berries or fruit purée to a margarita is sacrilege where purists are concerned. But, boy oh boy, a blackberry margarita can be just what the doctor ordered on a balmy summer night. Many recipes for strawberry, blackberry, passion fruit, and mango margaritas call for blending the ingredients. But not so fast...
You certainly can blend fresh whole fruit with the basic ingredients for a lovely drink. But I prefer to muddle a small number of berries, instead. Or shake in an ounce or two of a second fruit juice like pineapple or blood orange.
Whole Fruit. To infuse a classic margarita with fresh fruit in a subtle, classy fashion, first muddle the fruit. Then mix the drink. You can muddle fresh berries or the like in the cocktail shaker before adding the lime juice and alcohol. Or you can muddle the fruit directly in your glass and then pour the shaken cocktail over it. Muddling in the cocktail shaker will give the drink a brighter color and an overall fruitier flavor. Muddling in the glass creates a look more akin to a mojito, a more subtle fruit flavor that increases the closer you get to bottom's up.
Fruit Juice. For fruit juices and nectars such as pineapple, orange, mango, passion fruit, or blood orange when the season is right, add an ounce or two of juice to the recipe. If you like a stronger drink, you may want to increase the tequila. Since adding more fruit juice will sabotage the time-tested ratio of alcohol to juice.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make a margarita less tart, mix in half of an ounce or an ounce more of orange liqueur. Or for an even less tart, sweeter drink, try simple syrup. The tart flavor in a margarita is from the fresh-squeezed lime juice. So to balance out the sour citrus, add a little bit of a sweet ingredient.
To make margarita mix at home, multiply the recipe for however many margaritas you plan to shake up. Then combine the orange liqueur, fresh-squeezed lime juice, and syrup or agave (if using) in a pitcher or container. Chill the mix for up to a couple of days.
To make margaritas from the mix, shake the mix with the correct measure of tequila in a cocktail shaker, serve, and pour. To make two drinks at a time, measure out half of a cup of tequila. If you added simple syrup or agave, you will want to measure closer to six ounces of the mix for every two margaritas. Otherwise, measure five ounces of the mix, which equals half of a cup plus two tablespoons.
While Triple Sec is a brand name, it also refers to a family of dry, bitter orange liqueurs. Cointreau is one, and the most classic choice for an authentic margarita. So Triple Sec is absolutely a great substitute for Cointreau in a margarita. More to experiment with include Grand Marnier (the premium orange liqueur in a Cadillac margarita), Bols Orange Curaçao, and Patron Citronge Orange Liqueur.
Inebriation Epilogue
This recipe is one I developed while working as a private chef for clients in Malibu. One particular client had highly-recognizable amigos. Amigos who sipped their own brand of top-shelf tequila straight outta the shot glass. While overlooking the Pacific ocean (if you're jealous, get in line).
When a dinner guest didn't want their tequila neat, I'd serve up a clean, no-fuss margarita. With a tiny bit of lime-spiked simple syrup. I now shake up margaritas this way for anyone who asks. Most often my lovely brother-in-law. Let's call him Uncle M.
Over the course of a pandemic summer and a lot of backyard cocktail hours, I refined my recipe for his palate. And he named it "possibly the best margarita in the Pacific Northwest." I'll take the love, even though I don't buy into such hyperbole.
The moral of this story is that how to make the best margarita for you, may not be the best version for me. Or your brother-from-another-mother. So if I've accomplished my goal, you are now empowered with the knowledge to start at the very beginning. And shake up your best margarita.
What are you waiting for? This is surely how it all began once upon a time in Mexico.
📖 Recipe
How to Make a Margarita
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes (shake time!)
- Total Time: 6 Minutes
- Yield: Two Margaritas
- Category: Drinks
- Method: Shaken, Not Stirred
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Here's how to make a margarita for an authentic cocktail on the rocks. Or straight up, if you drink like a boss. In the absence of a cocktail shaker, you can simply stir the ingredients in the glasses with ice.
Agave nectar is a great substitute for simple syrup if you don't have or don't want to make your own. For a truly classic margarita, rim the glasses with salt, and use the first list of ingredients.
Ingredients
Authentic
- 4 ounces/½ cup blanco tequila
- 3 ounces/¼ cup + 2 tablespoons of Cointreau
- 2 ounces/¼ cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
- coarse salt, for rimming the glasses
Edible Times-Style (slightly sweet, and not as strong)
- 4 ounces/½ cup of blanco tequila
- 2 ounces/¼ cup Cointreau (or Triple Sec or Grand Marnier)
- 2 ounces/¼ cup of fresh-squeezed lime juice, about the juice of two limes
- ½ ounce/1 tablespoon of simple syrup or agave, optional
- ice, for shaking and serving
- course salt or sugar
- lime wedges, for rimming glass
Homemade Lime Simple Syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- several strips of lime peel, optional
Instructions
Simple Syrup
- In a small pot, bring water and sugar just to a boil.
- Turn off the heat, and for lime syrup, add several strips of lime peel.
- Let cool to room temperature, then store chilled for up to three weeks.
Margaritas
- Rim the glasses. Sprinkle a layer of salt or sugar on a small plate. Run the inside of a lime wedge (or a damp cloth) around the rims of the two glasses. Press the top of each glass into the salt or sugar, turning and pressing a few times to get a nice coating.
- Shake the ingredients. In a cocktail shaker, combine tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and simple syrup if using.
- Shake. Add a couple of handfuls of ice, place the shaker lid on securely, and shake until it frosts over.
- Strain the cocktail into the prepared glasses, dividing it evenly (wink, wink). For a margarita that mellows as you sip, serve them on the rocks. Otherwise, serve the drinks straight up (without ice).
- Garnish with a small lime wedge, if you like.
Notes
Measure Cheat Sheet
Two ounces = double shot = ¼ cup. For a less potent cocktail, stick with one shot of tequila per cocktail.
Buying Tequila
I love Teramana tequila and find it to be a sinful steal at its regular price. Espolòn, El Jimador, or Lunazul are all pretty smooth and refined for affordable bottles. Corazón Blanco and Pueblo Viejo Blanco win the seal of approval from professional bartenders. And cost less than $17 for a 750-milliliter bottle.
Fruity Margaritas
You certainly can blend fresh whole fruit with the basic ingredients for a lovely drink. But I prefer to muddle a small number of berries, instead. Or shake in an ounce or two of a second fruit juice like pineapple or blood orange.
Whole Fruit. To infuse a classic margarita with fresh fruit in a subtle, classy fashion, first muddle the fruit. Then mix the drink. You can muddle fresh berries or the like in the cocktail shaker before adding the lime juice and alcohol. Or you can muddle the fruit directly in your glass and pour the shaken cocktail over it. It all depends on the color and fruit level you're after. Muddling in the cocktail shaker will give the drink a more pronounced fruit flavor and color. Muddling in the glass will give you speckles of fruit in the bottom of the glass, and a more reserved fruity essence that increases as you sip.
Fruit Juice. For fruit juices and nectars such as pineapple, orange, mango, passion fruit, or blood orange when the season is right, add an ounce or two of juice to the recipe. If you like a stronger drink, you may want to increase the tequila by a shot or two. Since adding fruit juice will alter the classic margarita formula.
Dietary Accommodations
Paleo. Orange liqueur is not quite prehistoric and contains processed sugar. So if you are a paleo stickler, swap in fresh-squeezed orange juice for the orange liqueur. Replace simple syrup with agave nectar. Or make a homemade honey syrup by bringing a quarter of a cup of honey and half of a cup of water just to a boil. Cool, and store chilled.
GAPS Diet. Like with paleo, replace the orange liqueur with fresh-squeezed orange juice. And for a sweeter GAPS-legal margarita, make the honey syrup above to replace the simple syrup.
Keto or Low-Carb Margarita. A majority of the carbohydrate count in a classic margarita comes from the orange liqueur. So the easy way to eliminate it is to mix in less Triple Sec or Cointreau. If you'd like to eliminate it entirely, a small splash of fresh-squeezed orange juice or a few dashes of orange cocktail bitters are great substitutes.
Nutrition Information
The Nutrition Information below is based on an authentic margarita made following the recipe above. If you add simple syrup to your cocktails, the sugar content will be significantly higher.
Keywords: how to make a margarita, simple margarita recipe, margarita recipe on the rocks, classic margarita recipe
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