A Margarita sitting on a book shelf with assorted items.

Classic Margarita

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A classic Tequila cocktail that's super refreshing and surprisingly easy to make. Many have probably had the frozen or blender style, but this drink is best served shaken: we're not making something sweet and watered down from a machine, we're making a classic cocktail that has been enjoyed for years.
The beauty of this cocktail is its simplicity. Much like a Classic Daiquiri, there are variations on this standard recipe, but there's something to be said about the basics of Tequila, Lime, and Triple Sec.
Margaritas are, of course, best enjoyed with friends and a Mexican feast. So have a party and make more than a few of these.
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

  • 60 mL Tequila Reposado or a Tequila of your choice
  • 30 mL Triple Sec
  • 20 mL Lime Juice
  • Garnish with a salted rim and/or lime wedge (optional)

Instructions

  • Shake Tequila, Triple Sec, and Lime Juice in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice until very cold.
  • Strain into a glass of your choice. Some like a Margarita in a Martini glass, some like it in a Rocks glass, some like something else. You do you.
  • Enjoy.

Notes

Being such a classic cocktail, the origins of the Margarita aren't very well known. However, being such a famous cocktail, there are plenty of stories and theories about the drink.
What is known is that the drink's recipe first appeared in the early 1950's, which is surprising given just how famous this cocktail is. Other versions of the standard Margarita recipe have appeared earlier, but they have a different name and are different enough in ingredients to not be really considered a "proper" Margarita.

Our Review of the Classic Margarita

Who hasnā€™t heard of a Margarita? Perhaps you havenā€™t tried one before, but itā€™s up there with the MartiniĀ with well known cocktails.

Although I do enjoy a Margarita from time to time, it does tend to have a bad reputation. A Margarita made to the specifications of the recipe shown here is great, however, the concept of the Margarita has been somewhat destroyed by the introduction of frozen Margaritas and cocktails using cheap and nasty Tequila. When made with fresh Lime Juice and a good quality Tequila, a Margarita is a wonderful cocktail.

If youā€™re not in the right mood, a Margarita may be on the slightly bitter and astringent side, thanks for both the Lime Juice and the Tequila, but thatā€™s also where the refreshment comes in. With that in mind, personally I prefer to use Cointreau rather than a basic Triple Sec as it adds more depth of flavour. Technically Cointreau is a Triple Sec, itā€™s just a nicer Triple Sec. It really helps in crafting a very good Margarita.

If youā€™ve had bad experiences with Margarita in the past, whether thatā€™s because you had too many of them or because you had a poor quality one, I really suggest you revisit this wonderful cocktail. At only three ingredients, the simplicity in the recipe is quite key here. Sometimes itā€™s fun to make and drink a wild cocktail with all sorts of different ingredients in it, but itā€™s also fun to enjoy something basic and stripped back while still being impressed that it just works so well.

The Margarita is up there as a very famous cocktail for a reason. Itā€™s easy to make, easy to drink, and itā€™s a classic. Go make one.

9.5/10Ā 

  • Review by Bobby

Keep the Tequila flowing with more cocktail recipes

We like cocktails here at What Cocktail Can I Make (it’s probably pretty obvious), so we have a fair recipes on this website. We’ve put some links below to some of the sections of the site we think you may like:

All Tequila cocktail recipes:Ā if you’re keen to keep making Tequila based cocktails, peruse all of the recipes we have to offer.

Top 15 three ingredient cocktail recipes: a lot of famous cocktails (like the Classic Margarita) are actually really simple to make and only have a few ingredients. Take a look at other recipes that are easy.

Top 20 classic cocktail recipes:Ā the Margarita is also a classic; it’s just so well known. These are our favourite classic cocktail recipes for you to try.

All classic cocktail recipes:Ā if you’re digging the classics, take a look at the other classic cocktail recipes we have to offer!

3 Responses

  1. 5 stars
    This is a great recipe but I like it with Cointreau. As the Cointreau is a fair bit richer you only need about 20 mills of it. Our opinion at least.

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