Perfect Margarita
Firstly, credit for this recipe goes to Simply Joy. I’ve done a few tweaks but her recipe is great and works every time! If you have the time head over to her website to give her the clicks.
Photo by Brian Jones on Unsplash
The Recipes
The key to this margarita is the sour mix. I’ll also be giving you instructions for one or a margarita pitcher (and a few different sizes as I mathed this out and now you don’t have to)
Sweet and Sour Mix
Ingredients
2 Cups Water
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Lime Juice
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
Tools
Small saucepan
Jar or small container
Stirring Spoon
Instructions
Simmer water and sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves (stir continuously)
Pour into a jar or heat proof container and let cool to room temperature
Add in lemon and lime juice
Refrigerate until use (can keep up to a week)
Margarita
Ingredients
One Margarita
1 1/2 oz Tequila
3/4 oz Cointreau or Triple Sec
1 1/2 oz Sour Mix
1 Lime
Margarita Salt (or Kosher salt)
Small Pitcher
1 1/4 Cup Tequila
1 1/4 Cup Sour Mix
3/4 Cup Cointreau
Large Pitcher
3 Cups Tequila
3 Cups Sour Mix
1 1/2 Cup Cointreau
Tools
Rocks glasses or margarita glasses
Pitcher (for batch margaritas)
Small plate or flat bowl for the salt
Instructions
Salt the Rim
Use a lime wedge and run it on the rim of your class (if you don’t have a lime you can soak a piece of paper towel in lime juice and use that to wet the rim)
Dip the rim in the salt
One Margarita
Add ice to glass
Put tequila, cointreau, and sour mix into glass and stir
Pitcher
Mix all ingredients into the pitcher and set in fridge
You can serve immediately if desired but it’s nice to let the ingredients have some time to mix in the fridge
Rim the glasses with salt and add ice
Pour mixture into glasses
Tips & Tricks
Cointreau: Cointreau is a specific brand of orange liqueur that is considered ‘higher end’ and is often the preferred orange liqueur for margaritas (though Grand Marnier - another specific brand - is in close contest). I personally, like the taste of cointreau better than most triple secs I’ve tried which is why I had it on hand and used it for this drink. As I said for the whiskey, this becomes more of an individual preference. If you have a triple sec on hand then try that! If you don’t like it, adjust the amount added or try it without! You could also add some fresh squeezed orange to the drink and see how if you prefer that. If you want to read more about the differences between orange liqueurs, here is an article that goes more in depth.
Tequila: Don’t get too stressed when picking a tequila. If you already have one you like for mixing then great, use that one! If you are at a loss and the entire wall of options at the liquor store is overwhelming then there are two things I recommend.
Find the first tequila that is a mid price range (between 20-30) and get that one.
OR ask someone at the store to recommend a good mixing tequila.
Make it Spicy: Love spicy margaritas? All you need to do is add a few slices of jalapeno to the bottom of the glass (before adding ice), muddle them very slightly, and add in the rest of the ingredients.
Mix up the Rim: Another way to add a little bit of spice is to add cayenne pepper to your salt rim before dipping the rim in it. If you are making a fruit margarita then you can use sugar on the rim instead of salt.
Make it Fruity: You can either add flavoring to the margarita and stir or if you want a flavored frozen one then get frozen berries, add all the ingredients to the blender and mix it up!
The Story
This all started because I didn’t like margaritas. But, my husband and best friend did and when the friend started living with us right before COVID shut down the world, I decided I needed to find a margarita I liked. I found the Simply Joy recipe while searching for Applebee’s Perfect Margarita knock offs, gave it a try, and haven’t looked back since. It’s hands down one of the best margaritas I’ve had and though I’ll occasionally make some tweaks (like all more lime juice because YUM), I’ve kept using the same one over and over to many accolades from friends.
I hope you enjoy it as well!
