My "Perfect" Margarita

A few people have asked me for for this recipe, so I'm putting it up here. Before I dole out the goods, though, allow me some prefatory comments. I should also say that I'm a bit a purist with margaritas. Rocks, no salt for me. And I consider a margarita made from sweet and sour mix, whether purchased or homemade, an atrocity.

This recipe is the result of a lot of trial and error. Good cocktails, as you may already know, are often hard to pull off despite their seeming simplicity. On my initial run through of margarita-ing, I had one seemingly insurmountable problem: overwhelming tartness (A quick note: I tend to like my margs tart rather than syrupy, but even I can handle only so much). I tried to balance the tartness by adding sugar, by adding more triple sec, by using limeades, and so on. The end result, unfortunately, was often a wretched combination of burningly acidic and treacly sweet.... Not exactly what what I was looking for. What a brighter person might have realized sooner did eventually dawn on me: cut down the lime juice. That really was the key discovery. In fact, as you'll soon see, I use only half of a typical grocery store Persian lime per marg.

As to sweetness, after trying many options I finally just admitted to myself that simple syrup is a necessity. This means, of course, that you can't make a proper margarita on the fly. Personally, I make up a small batch of syrup and keep in the fridge as long as my nerves can stand it (I'd say two to three weeks). You can fudge it with superfine sugar or a lot of triple sec, but I find that both options yield unpleasant results.

Now on to tequila. Look, there's only one real rule here: USE ONLY 100% AGAVE TEQUILA. I do recommend a mix of blanco (sometimes called "silver") and reposado but one or the other alone works fine. Don't bother using anejo; it's like using a single malt scotch in a 7 & 7.

Finally, there's the triple sec issue. Most bar margaritas use the cheapest available, so-called "cadillac" margaritas often use either Cointreau or Grand Marnier (Cointreau is a triple sec, the original I think, and Grand Marnier is an orange infused cognac with a strong brandy flavor missing in Cointreau), and Alton Brown eschews it altogether. I consider that hint of orange key to a good margarita, so let's skip the Brown method. Skip too the cheap stuff. It's fricking terrible. The easy answer here is that a little Cointreau is really the best option, flavorwise. Cointreau is not the best the option for your pocketbook, however. If you have a good liquor store, you can probably find some acceptable Cointreau knock-off from France for about 2/3 the price of the real stuff. Alternately, the stuff Patron sells ("Citronge") is an acceptable option as well. If you want to use Grand Marnier, I'd recommend going with will all reposado tequila as the aged tequila's more developed flavor will be able to stand up to the brandy a bit better.

The Recipe (makes 2 margaritas)
-juice from one medium Persian lime or two small limes (I use one of these for juicing)
-1 jigger (1.5 oz) of blanco 100% agave tequila
-1 jigger (1.5 oz) of reposado 100% agave tequila
-.5 oz (or 1/3 jigger) triple sec
-1 teaspoon simple syrup, lime-infused* if possible (more or less to taste)
-lime wedges or slices to garnish
-ice (I use an ice ball in the shaker and cubes in the drinks)

Assemble all your ingredients and equipment beforehand. You don't want your ice to melt while you dick around finding things. Put a generous amount of ice into a cocktail shaker. Add the lime juice (I just squeeze it right in), then the tequila, the triple sec, and the simple syrup. Shake vigorously for 20-30 seconds. Strain the drinks into two nice glasses (I like this style), and garnish with a lime wedge.

Cheers!

* To make simple syrup, combine one cup white sugar and one cup water in a medium saucepan and heat on medium until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool before using in cocktails. Should be ok in the fridge in a sealed container for two-three weeks. To infuse your syrup with lime, zest a lime into the sugar and water mixture before heating and strain out the zest before transferring to a sealed container.