Greetings, Wonketeers! I’m Hooper, your bartender. And it is stinking HOT outside. I’ve had an elegant stirred cocktail in mind for a while, but when it’s this steamy, screw it, I want a margarita. I’ve talked about this very popular drink a few times, but I’m seeing a few new riffs on this classic worth talking about. Let’s make a Perfect Margarita. Here’s the recipe:
2.5 oz Exotico Reposado Tequila
1 oz Stirrings Triple Sec
.75 oz fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients over ice. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lime twist.
There are a ton of different flavors of margaritas out there. Tequila and fruit love each other, so it’s no surprise that strawberry margaritas, watermelon margaritas, et al. have their place on the bar menu. They’re tasty and wonderful on a hot day. However, I’ve been seeing a new, minimalist take on margaritas in my bartender circles. What happens when you take out all the flourishes and sweet juice from a margarita and reduce it down to its essence? No fruit, no salt, not even simple syrup — what’s the real, authentic core of a good margarita taste like?
When the margarita is stripped to its bare essentials — tequila, triple sec, and lime — it takes on the same structure as a daiquiri. And just like a daiquiri, balance becomes everything. Too much lime, and the drink’s acidic. Too much triple sec, and it’s flat. But unlike a daiquiri, the flavor of the tequila becomes the star of the show in this glass. The agave flavors need to cut through the lime and sweet and shine here. A daiquiri that’s mostly lime and sugar is acceptable, but the margarita needs to be all about the agave. It’s tricky, but a rewarding effort. This margarita will linger on your palate. Sweet, smoky, funky flavors stay with you well after your first sip, putting you in a mellow Jimmy Buffet mood that takes the edge off the scorching heat outside.
A DAIQUIRI!
With so much on the line, your choice of tequila becomes critical. A blanco tequila, unaged and raw, gives you a lot more leeway in your balance. The strong agave flavors are perfect for a fancy fruit margarita. Reposado tequila, aged for only six months, becomes much more mellow while still maintaining its rustic character. An anejo tequila, aged for years in oak barrels, takes on a quality that reminds me of a fine bourbon or brandy. I love this kind of liquor, but the core flavors in anejo need support, not contrast.
I’m seeing that cristalino tequila is making a transition from ultra-premium bottles to more midrange brands. It’s a new distilling process that tries to be the best of both worlds, blanco and anejo all in one. In essence, distillers take anejo tequila and filter it multiple times, removing the color but keeping the sweet mellow notes of anejo tequila. I am, to put it mildly, not a fan. Overprocessing liquor inevitably gives you vodka. I like my tequila to taste rustic and down to earth. A grown man turned a 60 pound vegetable into booze for you. It took a lot of work. Erasing all that effort in a laboratory seems criminal.
On the other hand, I”m very pleased that another tequila trend is showing up on the shelves — 100 percent agave no-additive tequila. Mexican law says that tequila must be 99 percent pure to be deemed “real” tequila, but distillers can get up to a lot of mischief with that one percent. Artificial sweeteners such as sucralose (aka Splenda) are hundreds of times sweeter than real sugar. I was very pleased to find that Exotico, one of my favorite midrange blends, is 100 percent agave. This is a trend I want to support.
Let’s talk ingredients:
Exotico Reposado Tequila: Use your favorite tequila here. I won’t judge. If you have a really expensive tequila lying around the house, or need an excuse to buy, this is the recipe for it. I find that reposados strike a good balance between blanco and anejo tequilas — perfect for this simple, beautiful glass.
Stirrings All Natural Triple Sec: This is my favorite affordable triple sec. Cointreau is lovely, but the price is out of control. Stirrings is sweet, citrus, and herbal, nicely sophisticated but not blowing the budget. Plus, it’s all natural, a perfect match for the additive-free tequila. Taste your triple sec before making the drink, to judge the sweetness level.
Lime: Here more than ever, fresh lime juice is critical. I like to garnish this margarita with a lime twist to provide the scent, but not the acid, of lime.
In summary and conclusion, drink well, drink often, and tip your bartender — donate to Wonkette at the link below!
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