Margarita Recipes

I want to take you to margarita heaven. Here are a handful of the most sought after margarita recipes and how to make 'em. Salt on the rim is optional depending on how you like it. It's making me antsy for summer just thinking about it.

"If life gives you limes, make margaritas."

I'm not sure who came up with this one, but I plan to take it to heart.

Basic Margarita Recipe

1 1/2oz Tequilla
3/4oz Cointreau, or substitute Triple Sec - it's cheaper on the wallet
3/4oz fresh lime juice
2oz of sweet and sour mix
splash of orange juice

Muddle limes, pour ingredients, shake with ice, and then strain into a bucket glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wedge

Blood Orange Margarita

1 1/2oz tequila
3/4oz triple sec
2oz sweet and sour mix
3/4oz fresh lime juice
3/4oz fresh juice from blood orange

Muddle a couple lime and blood orange wedges. Pour the liquid ingredients and shake cold. Strain into a bucket glass filled with ice and garnish with a blood orange wedge.

Cadillac Margarita

The Cadillac is a symbol of luxury driving. It makes sense that the Cadillac Margarita recipe is more "uptown town" than the basic margarita recipe. Most of the components are the same, however, asking for a Cadillac Margarita implies that you what higher end ingredients used to make your drink.

1 1/2oz Tequilla - Patron Silver in a nice choice, plus you can use the bottle for a flower holder when it's empty.
3/4oz Cointreau
1/4oz Grand Marnier
3/4oz fresh lime juice
2oz of sweet and sour mix
splash of orange juice

Muddle limes, pour ingredients (the Grand Marnier is added last as a "floater") shake with ice, and then strain into a bucket glass filled with ice. Drizzle a 1/2oz of Grand Marnier on top and garnish with a lime wedge.

Italian Margarita

The Italian margarita recipe is called so because it used amaretto, an almond flavored Italian liqueur.

1 1/2oz tequila
3/4oz amaretto - this is used instead of triple sec
3/4oz fresh lime juice
2oz of sweet and sour mix
splash of orange juice

Muddle limes, pour ingredients, shake with ice, and then strain into a bucket glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wedge. Cin Cin.

Lovely Rita

This is a great alternative of the tried and true margarita recipe. It's extremely refreshing. Quality grapefruit juice is essential.

1 1/2oz of tequila of choice
3/4oz of triple sec
2oz of fresh grapefruit juice
splash of sweet and sour mix

Shake all ingredients together and strain into a sugar rimmed martini glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

Melon Margarita

1 1/2oz tequila
1oz Midori melon liqueur
2oz sweet and sour mix
3/4oz fresh lime juice

Mix ingredients together in a shaker tin. Shake cold and serve over the rocks in a bucket glass. Salted rim is up to your tastes. If melon is in season, try muddling some fresh melon fruit before mixing the liquid ingredients. Yeah! Garnish with a lime wedge and some melon slices.

Strawberry Margarita

Now we're talking. There are some cocktails that move to a whole new level when you add some fresh fruit to them. This just happens to be one of them.

1 1/2oz Tequilla
I think a silver tequilla will work best for this one.
3/4oz Triple Sec
3/4oz fresh lime juice
2oz sweet and sour mix
1/2 strawberry (depending on the size of it)

Muddle a couple of lime wedges and a half of a strawberry. Pour ingredients, shake with ice, and then strain into a bucket glass filled with ice. Experiment and try rimming your bucket glass with extra fine sugar instead of salt. You may also want to try different fruit. For instance, to make a Raspberry Margarita, simply substitute the strawberry for raspberry.

Three-Citrus Sunrise Margarita

I found this one recently in Park Kerr's Margarita Cookbook.

1 1/2oz tequila
1oz triple sec
1/2oz fresh lime juice
1/2oz fresh orange juice
1/2oz fresh grapefruit juice
splash Chambord (black raspberry liqueur)

Mix all ingredient into a shaker tin (except for the Chambord). Shake cold and serve over the rocks in a bucket glass. Salt is optional, garnish with a lime wedge. Lastly drizzle a splash of Chambord of top of the cocktail for effect.

You will notice that these margarita recipes are all very similar with just a few variations. They all have their own character though. Once you learn how to make the basic form of a cocktail, you can elaborate on it any way you wish.