Skip to content

Margaritas

Ingredients

tl;dr:

  • 3oz tequila
  • 2oz Cointreau 
  • 2oz lime
  • 0.75 tbsp agave syrup

Instructions

Pour over lots of ice in the cocktail shaker. Shake one minute.

Worth knowing: triple sec is not an actual brand of liquor, it’s the type of liquor that Cointreau is. The other big brand is Grand Marnier although that is apparently a bit heavier and sweeter.

A “silver coin” marg uses a silver (blanco) tequila and cointreau.

Various ratios are suggested, with 2:1:1 being the most common

  • 2:1:1 — 2oz tequila, 1oz cointreau, 1oz lime juice — original ratio which tbh was never actually wowed by
  • 6:4:3 — 1.5oz tequila, 1oz cointreau, 0.75oz lime juice — this tasted really good and I forgot agave syrup 
  • 3:2:1 — 1.5oz tequila, 1oz cointreau, 0.5oz lime juice — made this with ilegal joven mezcal and it was very good; the smokiness of the mezcal quite apparent; need to make w/tequila to compare with the 6:4:3 ratio 
  • 3:2:3 — 1oz ounce tequila, 2/3oz cointreau, 1oz lime juice — this also tasted really good, more limey in a good way. After more sips it seemed a bit lacking in booze, more like strong lime water.  
  • 7:3:4 — 1.75oz tequila, 0.75oz cointreau, 1oz lime juice — tbd

Made a 3:2:2 verging on 3:2:3 just by virtue of having extra lime and it really is good with more lime. The 3:2:3 above is just “low booze” but the way I made it for 2 people was 3oz tequila, , 2oz cointreau and 2+oz lime. Oh also good dash of agave syrup. 

A small amount of agave syrup in the shaker seems good to me otherwise it’s too tart, at least at the 2:1:1 ratio.

You also see variants that have other fruit juices as well as lime — lemon, orange and even apple.

To make margs for two I was going with 4:2:2, but it seemed like it made an inadequate amount of liquid so I scaled it to 6:3:3 — but that is too boozy for two drinks each. So then I knocked it back to 5:3:3. Still pretty crazy. Would like to make the drink “longer” with less booze somehow. Maybe that’s just serving it over more ice or adding more fruit juice.

Supposedly the Rio add apple juice which might explain the color at least:

  • 3 parts cuervo gold
  • 2 parts triple sec 
  • 1 part Duffy’s lime juice (can’t google up any such product…BS? Use Roses?)
  • 1 part clear (as opposed to cloudy) apple juice

Xmas 2020 ¡Muy Fuerte! variant

  • 3oz lime juice (typically 3 limes)
  • 3 oz cointreau
  • 5 oz tequila
  • Juice of one large orange
  • Small drizzle of agave syrup (optional, adds some sweetness, don’t overdo it)

Nutrition

Estimated, per serving

  • Servings: 2
  • Serving size: 1 margarita (~4 oz), based on the “tl;dr” 3:2:2 tequila:Cointreau:lime ratio at the top, assumed to yield 2 drinks
  • Calories: 240
  • Protein: 0 g
  • Carbs: 15 g
  • Fat: 0 g
  • Saturated fat: 0 g
  • Fiber: 0 g
  • Total sugar: 13 g
  • Sodium: 5 mg