Margarita Cocktail Recipe
Tequila, orange liqueur and lime with a salted rim. The benchmark tequila cocktail.
- Category: Contemporary Classics
- Glass: Margarita glass
- ABV: 22%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Tequila (100% agave)50 ml (1.7 oz)
- Triple sec20 ml (0.7 oz)
- Fresh lime juice20 ml (0.7 oz)
How to Make It
- Rim a chilled glass with salt.
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- Shake until cold.
- Strain into the prepared glass over fresh ice.
- Garnish with a lime wheel.
Garnish
Salt rim and lime wheel
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
The wide-rimmed margarita glass. That rim exists for the salt — the salted edge meets your lip while the drink itself stays unsalted.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Triple sec
- The general name for orange-peel liqueurs, running anywhere from 15% to 40% depending on the brand. That range changes the drink directly, so it is worth reading the label.
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
The Story
Multiple origin stories from Mexico in the 1930s–40s; the name means 'daisy' in Spanish.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Margarita mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a margarita glass.
- How strong is a Margarita?
- Roughly 22% ABV as served — in fortified-wine territory — plan it as a single drink.
- Can a Margarita be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Margarita hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.