49 Fun Facts About Margarita

What are the three classic ingredients of a margarita?

A classic margarita is tequila, triple sec and lime juice, shaken with ice; it is served on the rocks, straight up or frozen and is the best-selling tequila cocktail in the United States.

What does the Spanish word 'margarita' mean in English?

Margarita is the everyday Spanish word for the daisy flower; the same word is also the Spanish form of the given name Margaret.

What is traditionally rubbed on the rim of a margarita glass?

Salt is the traditional rim: the glass edge is wiped with a lime wedge and dipped in coarse salt, while Tajín chili-lime seasoning is a common modern alternative.

What spirit-to-liqueur-to-citrus ratio does the IBA's 2020 margarita specification give?

The IBA's 2020 specification calls for 50 ml tequila, 20 ml triple sec and 15 ml freshly squeezed lime juice, which simplifies to 10:4:3.

For which dancer, allergic to every spirit but tequila, did Carlos Herrera claim to invent the margarita in 1938?

Marjorie King, a former Ziegfeld dancer, is the customer for whom Carlos 'Danny' Herrera said he mixed the first margarita at his Rancho La Gloria, between Tijuana and Rosarito, in 1938.

Which Ensenada bar claims the margarita was created there in 1941 for a customer named Margarita Henkel?

Hussong's Cantina in Ensenada says bartender Don Carlos Orozco mixed the first margarita there in October 1941 and named it for regular Margarita Henkel, reputedly a German ambassador's daughter.

In which city did Francisco 'Pancho' Morales say he first mixed a margarita on July 4, 1942?

Francisco 'Pancho' Morales said he improvised the first margarita at Tommy's Place, a bar in Ciudad Juárez, on July 4, 1942, after a customer ordered a Magnolia he could not remember.

Dallas socialite Margarita Sames said she invented the drink in 1948 at her holiday home in which resort?

Margarita Sames said she first mixed the drink for houseguests at her Acapulco holiday home in December 1948, using three parts tequila to one part Cointreau and one part lime.

Which singer supposedly had the drink named after her by Santos Cruz in Galveston in 1948?

Peggy Lee is the singer in this version: bartender Santos Cruz at Galveston's Balinese Room is said to have named the drink for her in 1948, Margarita being the Spanish form of Margaret, the root of Peggy.

Which magazine published the first known margarita recipe as its 'Drink of the Month' in December 1953?

Esquire printed the margarita as its Drink of the Month in December 1953, calling for an ounce of Sierra tequila, a dash of triple sec and the juice of half a lime or lemon.

Substituting Grand Marnier for triple sec makes which variation?

A Cadillac margarita is the top-shelf version, made with a premium tequila and Grand Marnier in place of (or floated over) the triple sec.

Tommy's margarita, an IBA new-era drink, replaces the triple sec with what?

Agave nectar (agave syrup) replaces the triple sec in Tommy's margarita, created by Julio Bermejo at Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco in the late 1980s.

Who introduced the dedicated frozen margarita machine in Dallas in 1971?

Mariano Martinez adapted a soft-serve ice-cream machine to dispense frozen margaritas at his Dallas restaurant in 1971; the original machine is now in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Where did Albert Hernandez popularise the margarita at the La Plaza restaurant from 1947?

Albert Hernandez ran the bar at the La Plaza restaurant in La Jolla, California, from 1947 and is credited with popularising the margarita across San Diego.

Which grapefruit-soda variant is the margarita's closest cousin?

The Paloma is tequila topped with grapefruit soda, in Mexico usually Squirt or Jarritos, served over ice with a squeeze of lime; the Greyhound, by contrast, is vodka or gin with grapefruit juice.

Swap the tequila for vodka and a margarita becomes which drink?

A kamikaze is vodka, triple sec and lime juice in equal parts, the margarita's structure with vodka in place of tequila; the cosmopolitan adds cranberry and the gimlet uses lime cordial.

What is a 'beergarita' or 'Coronarita'?

A Coronarita is a bottle of Corona (or another beer) upended into a large margarita so the beer slowly drains into the drink as it is sipped.

Which citrus are margaritas usually made with in Mexico, rather than Persian limes?

Key limes, known in Mexico as limón and also called Mexican limes, are smaller, thinner-skinned and more tart than the Persian limes sold in the United States.

Whose 1977 song 'Margaritaville' helped make the drink famous?

Jimmy Buffett released 'Margaritaville' in 1977 on the album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes; the song's name later went on a chain of restaurants and resorts.

What position did 'Margaritaville' reach on the Billboard Hot 100?

'Margaritaville' peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977 and topped the Easy Listening chart, the singer's best Hot 100 showing as a solo artist.

In 2023, 'Margaritaville' was selected for preservation by which institution?

The Library of Congress added 'Margaritaville' to its National Recording Registry in 2023, seven years after the song entered the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Which British band released the 1983 single 'Marguerita Time'?

Status Quo released 'Marguerita Time', written by Francis Rossi and Bernie Frost, in December 1983 as a single from their album Back to Back.

Tequila must be made from which plant?

Mezcal can be made from many agaves; tequila only from Agave tequilana Weber blue variety.

Tequila production is centred in which Mexican state?

Jalisco is home to the town of Tequila, about 65 km northwest of the state capital Guadalajara; the surrounding agave landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What is the name for the workers who harvest agave?

Jimadores are the field workers who harvest agave; the name comes from jimar, the verb for harvesting the plant, and the trade is traditionally passed from father to son.

What is the harvested heart of the agave plant called?

The piña, named for its pineapple-like look once the leaves are stripped, is the agave heart; it can weigh 40 to 90 kg and is baked to convert its fructans into fermentable sugars.

What is the special knife used to trim the agave leaves called?

A coa is the long-handled tool with a sharp, rounded blade that harvesters use to slice away agave leaves; the tahona, by contrast, is a stone wheel for crushing cooked agave hearts.

What is unaged tequila called?

Blanco, also sold as silver or plata, is bottled unaged or rested under two months in steel or oak; joven or 'gold' is usually blanco with added caramel colouring.

How long must añejo tequila be aged in oak?

Añejo tequila must rest at least 12 months in oak barrels of no more than 600 litres; reposado needs two months and extra añejo, created in 2006, three years.

What alcohol range must a spirit fall within to be legally sold as tequila?

Mexico's tequila standard (NOM-006) sets 35 to 55 percent alcohol by volume; production is also restricted to one core state plus listed municipalities of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit and Tamaulipas.

Which family received the first licence from the Spanish crown to make tequila commercially?

The Cuervo family received a royal licence from King Carlos IV in 1795 to produce tequila commercially, the founding year the Jose Cuervo brand cites.

Who was the first to export tequila to the United States?

Don Cenobio Sauza, founder of the Sauza distillery, is credited with the first export of tequila to the United States, a shipment of three barrels and six jugs in 1873.

What was the $225,000 tequila bottle that set a Guinness record in 2006 made of?

Tequila Ley .925's bottle was crafted from platinum and white gold; it sold for $225,000 in 2006 and Guinness recorded it as the most expensive bottle of spirits sold at the time.

Cointreau, the triple sec in the IBA recipe, is produced in which country?

Cointreau is made in France: the Cointreau brothers founded the company in Angers in 1849, and its distillery is located in neighbouring Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou.

Triple sec is flavoured with which fruit?

Triple sec is an orange-flavoured liqueur made from the dried peels of sweet and bitter oranges; the name, 'triple dry' in French, has disputed origins.

Grand Marnier blends bitter-citrus essence with which spirit?

Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge blends cognac with the essence of bitter citrus peel; Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle created it in 1880, and hotelier César Ritz reportedly suggested the name.

Patrón tequila was sold to which company in 2018 for $5.1 billion?

Bacardi, which had held a 30 percent stake in Patrón since 2008, bought the rest in 2018 in a deal valuing the brand at $5.1 billion; John Paul DeJoria and Martin Crowley had launched Patrón in 1989.

On which date is National Margarita Day observed in the United States?

National Margarita Day is observed on February 22 each year in the United States; National Tequila Day is a separate observance on July 24.

Tequila's source plant sprouts its flowering stalk at about what age?

The plant sends up its quiote, a flowering stalk several metres tall, at about five years of age; harvesters cut it back so the plant keeps storing sugar in its heart instead of flowering and dying.

Before distillation reached Mexico, what fermented agave drink had been brewed for thousands of years?

Pulque, the milky, mildly alcoholic drink fermented from agave sap (aguamiel), was brewed in central Mexico for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived; it is fermented, never distilled.

What is a 'skinny' margarita?

One version is just tequila, lime, fruit juice and a natural sweetener, with no liqueur at all.

Per historian David Wondrich, the margarita is a tequila remake of which older drink?

The brandy daisy, a 19th-century sour of brandy, a liqueur and citrus, is the template Wondrich identifies; in his account the margarita is that same drink remade with tequila.

A 1937 UK cocktail book lists the margarita's recipe under what name?

The Picador in W. J. Tarling's 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book combined tequila, Cointreau and lime juice, the margarita formula, a year before the earliest margarita origin stories.

Jose Cuervo says a bartender created the margarita in 1938 for which Mexican showgirl?

Rita de la Rosa is the showgirl named in the brand's own account, in which a bartender mixed the first margarita for her in 1938; the brand was advertising the cocktail by 1945.

What job did claimed inventor Pancho Morales do for 25 years after leaving bartending?

Milkman was the trade Pancho Morales followed for 25 years in El Paso, Texas, after he gave up bartending and crossed the border.

The classic margarita glass is a variant of which older glass?

The margarita glass is a variant of the champagne coupe, with a stepped bowl and a wide rim; the same glass is often pressed into service for guacamole and shrimp cocktails.

In which French town does a distillery claim triple sec was invented in a kitchen in 1834?

Combier, founded by Jean-Baptiste and Josephine Combier in Saumur in the Loire Valley, says it invented triple sec in its confectionery kitchen in 1834 using sun-dried peels and copper-pot distillation.

Who is credited with introducing pot-still distillation to western Mexico in the 16th century?

Filipino sailors arriving on the Manila galleons in the 16th century brought simple stills to the Colima coast to make coconut liquor, and the technique was soon applied to agave.

In which city did Harry J. Karns open America's first tequila distillery in 1936?

Nogales, Arizona, is where Harry J. Karns, a former mayor of the town, opened the first US tequila distillery in 1936; Mexico declared the word 'tequila' its intellectual property in 1974.