09 January 2012

2012 Margarita

The Margarita is one of America's least-respected cocktails. The origin is so simple: good tequila, fresh lime juice, orange liqueur, and a bit of sweetness if desired. Served shaken or over ice, but fresh and with little bits of fresh lime pulp popping between your teeth. Instead, we get green slushes mixd up with white rum or vodka and as long as it's tart and sweet and served in a salted glass, everyone is happy.

I'm not a tequila expert, but I do tend to be a purist when it comes to the margarita. And while I love the classic lime, I've always felt it was in the spirit of the cocktail to use other freshly squeezed citrus, like my Blood Orange Margarita.

For this I used a basic 4:2:2:1 ratio, which is four parts tequila, two parts lime juice, two parts orange liqueur, and one part simple syrup. The tequila is listed below, but I was really impressed with a new orange liqueur I found. O3 is made by DeKuyper and is clear and slightly sweet like Cointreau. It's made from Brazilian pera oranges and has a great fresh orange peel aroma to it. Not really sour or bitter but focused on the sweet and fruity aspects of the orange.

Lunazul Reposado
$30/1.75L bottle, 40% abv.

A decent and affordable tequila with a good bit of oak and earth on the nose. It's got that classic tequila tang to it but with more depth than I was expecting. As a cocktail ingredient it made for a great margarita, just enough agave aroma and flavor to make it authentic without being overwhelming in any direction.

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