Margaritas, not just good for Cinco de Mayo

Margaritas have a rich history and can be made with different ingredients and taste practically the same, but completely different at the same time. It all depends on the flavor profile you prefer, lemon or lime, salted rim or unsalted rim.

Margaritas first came on the scene when Esquire magazine named them "Drink of the Month" in their December 1953 issue. Jimmy Buffett made the drink even more popular in 1977 with the release of his hit, "Margaritaville." In 2004, it became well known as "the most popular mixed drink in America." Onto the recipe...

Margarita recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz silver tequila

1/2 oz triple sec

1 oz of lemon or lime juice

crushed ice

1 lime wedge or wheel

Salt, if desired for the rim of the glass

Method

Rim your margarita glass, if desired

Next garnish with lime wedge or wheel

Put some crushed ice into margarita glass

Put some ice cubes into your Boston shaker

Pour tequila, triple sec, and lime (or lemon) juice into shaker

Give it a good shake!

Strain it with a Hawthorne strainer into your prepared margarita glass

Tips

Instead of triple sec, you can use Grand Marnier or Cointreau for a richer orange flavor, or blue curaçao if you want a really pretty bright blue, which I did. The only problem with using blue curaçao, expect your teeth, tongue, and lips to match the vibrant blue of the margarita!

Juices are one place where the flavor can change a little, choose the fruit you like best, I always go for the lime.

Salt gives a margarita an entirely different flavor. You either love it or you don't. I do. The easiest way to get salt on the rim of the glass is to use a salt rimmer. They are circular and one side has a washable foam pad for saturating with juice, and the other side you fill with salt. You turn your glass upside down into the juice side and get it coated with juice. Next you put it upside down into the salt side and get as much salt on the glass as you want. Now you have a perfectly rimmed glass!

Enjoy your margarita and Salud!

The Margarita, many ways to make them