Anatomy of a Classic Cocktail: The Margarita

Tequila, lime, and orange liqueur make a splendidly simple, dangerously easy-drinking icon—that everyone wants to take credit for

Few cocktails are more refreshing than a classic margarita. (Goskova Tatiana/Shutterstock)

I remember my first margarita outside the United States: Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in 1993 while awaiting a ferry to Cozumel. It was a two-for-one deal, so I ordered two—one for me and one for my travel buddy, Dave. And, probably predictably, we ended up with four drinks. Small drinks, I thought, chilled but with a couple of ice cubes; not an icy slushie. Down they went. Then down we went, missing the next two ferries and rushing to make the last of the day.

Life lesson: The potency of a classic margarita is not to be trifled with. The sweet-sour balance of lime and orange liqueur masks the burn of the booze, and on a hot day, well, you may just miss your ferry!

Start with a 100 percent agave blanco tequila, which is clear, typically unaged, and has a strong agave flavor.(Evgeny Karandaev/Shutterstock)

The brain-freeze-inducing slurry I expected has its charm. And in fact, the first frozen margarita machine, invented in 1971 by Dallas restaurateur Mariano Martinez, is currently enjoying its retirement in the Smithsonian.

But while the original drink was splendidly simple, its story is anything but.

Orange liqueur and lime juice add a sweet-sour balance that masks the burn of the booze.(TaniaKitura/Shutterstock)

Vernon Underwood, who worked as an early U.S. distributor for tequila brand Jose Cuervo, claimed that in 1937, he asked Los Angeles bartender Johnny Durlesser to make a cocktail to help promote his brand. However, evidence suggests that Durlesser had been making it before Underwood’s suggestion. Regardless, by 1945, Jose Cuervo was advertising a margarita recipe with equal parts Cuervo, Triple Sec, and lime juice.

But Tijuana restaurant owner Carlos “Danny” Herrera claims he created it in 1936 for an actress who could only drink tequila due to an allergy (my eyes are rolling already), and that his recipe was based on shooting tequila—salt, shot, lime—but in gentler proportions. If he were alive today, David Negrete, a hotel manager in Tehuacán, Puebla, might beg to differ, having also invented it that year.

Salt cuts the bitterness, and makes the other flavors pop. (Sheli Jensen/Shutterstock)

Alternatively, consider the daisy cocktail, which was popular in the early 20th century and is made with the hard liquor of your choice—gin, whisky, brandy, rum—with lemon juice, orange liqueur, a bit of syrup, and a top-off of soda. It’s in the ballpark, but why is this relevant? Because “margarita” is Spanish for “daisy,” and one origin story has an Irish barman in Tijuana accidentally grabbing tequila for a customer’s daisy.

Meanwhile, Sara Morales, an expert on Mexican folklore, contests that the drink’s creator was the namesake owner of Bertha’s Bar in Taxco, Mexico, in 1930. We may never know.

Margarita

• 2 ounces Blanco tequila
• 1 ounce orange liqueur (Cointreau, Triple Sec, Curacao)
• 1 ounce lime juice
• Lime wedge
• Coarse salt

Sprinkle salt in a dish. Moisten the rim of a rocks or coupe glass with the lime wedge, then roll the rim in the salt.

Mix the ingredients in a shaker full of ice, shake well, and strain into the glass over ice.