Tequila, triple sec and lime juice shaken with ice and poured into a glass with a salted rim. Three ingredients and three minutes, and the rim is done before anything else.
Lime, not lemon
The ingredient list on this page asked for lemon juice and lemon slices. The Spanish said limón, which in Mexico and Colombia is the lime.
It is not a small difference. Lime is sharper and more aromatic and it is what tequila is built to sit against. Yellow lemon is rounder and slightly sweeter, and in a drink with three ingredients it reads as wrong immediately.
Squeeze it fresh. An ounce and a half is about one large lime.
Do the rim first
Before anything goes in the glass. Run a cut lime around the outside edge to wet it, then turn the rim in a saucer of salt so it picks up an even band.
The instruction is emphatic that only the rim gets treated, and there is a reason: salt on the inside wall slides down into the drink as you pour, and a margarita with salt dissolved through it tastes of brine rather than of tequila.
Then pour carefully, down the inside, so the band stays intact.
Shaking
Ice in the shaker first, then the tequila, the triple sec and the lime juice. Shake until the outside of the shaker is frosted and too cold to hold comfortably, which takes about fifteen seconds.
That is doing two things: chilling the drink, and melting a small amount of the ice into it. Both matter. An unshaken margarita is harsh, and one shaken until the ice is crushed is watery.
The proportions
Three ounces of tequila, one of triple sec, an ounce and a half of lime. That is a tequila-forward margarita: many recipes use two ounces of tequila to one of each of the others.
It makes two small drinks or one large one. If it tastes too strong, another half ounce of lime brings it back into line without making it sweeter.
More drinks
- Cuban mojito — the other lime one.
- Coconut cocktail — from the Colombian coast.
- Sangria at home — for a table.
- Coconut lemonade — without the alcohol.
Margarita FAQ
Lime. The Spanish limón means lime in Mexico and Colombia, and the old ingredient list translated it as lemon. A margarita made with yellow lemon tastes flat against the tequila.
Fresh. Bottled lime juice has a cooked note that shows up immediately in a drink with only three ingredients, and there is nothing to hide behind.
Run a cut lime around the outside edge of the glass, then turn the rim in a saucer of salt. Only the outside: salt on the inside falls into the drink and makes it briny.
About fifteen seconds, or until the shaker is uncomfortably cold to hold. That is both the chilling and the small amount of dilution the drink needs.
Up to you, and the recipe says so. Poured over the shaker ice it stays colder and dilutes as you drink; strained into a chilled glass it is sharper and stronger.
Yes, which is what the recipe suggests. Pulse it rather than running it, or you will crush the ice and end up with a frozen margarita, which is a different drink.
The recipe allows both. Salt is traditional and it works against the lime. Sugar makes a sweeter, softer drink.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 ounces tequila
- 1 ounce triple sec
- 1 ½ ounces lime juice (freshly squeezed)
- 6 ice cubes
- Salt or sugar (for the rim)
- Lime (sliced, for the rim and to garnish)
Notas
Instructions
- Run a cut lime around the rim of the glass, then dip the rim in salt or sugar. Only the rim.
- Put the ice in a shaker, or a blender jug if you do not have one, and add the tequila, the triple sec and the lime juice.
- Shake until the outside is cold and frosted over.
- Pour the mixture into the glass, carefully, so you do not knock the salt off the rim.
- Add the ice from the shaker if you want it, and garnish with a slice of lime.
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