The classic margarita.

Truth be told there is no “recipe” I have spent more time perfecting than my regular friday night margaritas.

A classic margarita has only three ingredients:

tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh lime juice, served with a salt rim.

For the tequila I use either blanco {clear in colour, aged the least} or reposado {amber coloured, aged longer} tequila. Anejo tequila, caramel in colour and aged the longest, is for sipping and not to be wasted in a cocktail. Mezcal is a smokey tequila that’s a step beyond regular tequila and, if you don’t hate the thought of drinking a sexy liquid version of cigarette smoke, well worth a try. Patron and Casamigos are my go to’s, but as long as it’s 100% pure agave it’ll be fine.

For the orange liqueur it has to be Cointreau. PLEASE don’t use triple sec unless you can’t get anything else. {Maybe not even then. Lately I’ve been swapping Cointreau for Pavan, a French liqueur made of muscat grapes, as I ran out of Cointreau and had bought the Pavan to make Pumptini’s but only made them a couple of times and didn’t want the whole bottle to go to waste. Pumptini’s. I kid you not.}

For the sugar syrup I really really REALLY tried to avoid it for calorie counting purposes, but was just getting relentlessly hammered on only a drink or two. It was also that elusive X factor that I had been loving in the margarita’s I order every time I find myself anywhere near a bar, and was what my homemade marg’s needed for that smooth finish. HOWEVER, if you want to keep it low cal just use a short tumbler instead of a traditional margarita glass, and top up with soda water for a skinny version that tastes every bit as good.

If you run out of bought sugar syrup {sometimes sold as simple or bartender’s syrup} it’s super easy to make your own: simply boil one part caster {fine} sugar to one part water for about five minutes, or until the sugar has all dissolved. Move from the heat and cool before using. The syrup will keep in the fridge for a while.

Feel free to swap limes for lemons, and I don’t see why you couldn’t make do with bottled lime juice either if that’s all you can get your hands on.

To make one margarita:

sea salt flakes

45 ml tequila {100% agave, buy the best quality you can afford}

30 ml Cointreau

30 ml sugar syrup

approx. 30ml lime juice, or the juice of one or two whole limes

• Sprinkle the sea salt flakes on a plate. Take a cocktail or margarita glass {a nice short tumbler will also work}, and rub a cut lime all around the edge, then roll or dip the edge of the glass in the salt so that you have a salt rim all the way around.
• Place all the ingredients in a shaker or mixer, add some ice cubes, and shake well.
• Strain into the glass, and enjoy!