Margarita Time! Who was Margarita? A Celebrity, Showgirl or Socialite?
By TVT Staff

There are at least 10 stories purporting to be the true origin of this sweet, sour, salty party in a glass. Not surprisingly, many center around a mysterious, seductive woman as the inspiration. The 1992 obituary of Carlos Herrara (San Diego) named him "the man who topped the tequila concoction with salt and called it a Margarita." Herrara's relatives say he invented the cocktail in 1938 or '39 when he decided to combine tequila with lemon juice, shaved ice and triple sec -- topping the blend off with a layer of salt on the rim of the glass. His idea for the name came from a showgirl who called herself Marjorie King who apparently was allergic to all hard alcohol except for tequila. It was in her honor that he called his drink a "Margarita."

Another legend places the birth of this cocktail in 1940s Hollywood by Enrique Bastante Gutierez, a former cocktail champion who mixed drinks for some of the world's most famous film stars. Apparently actress Rita Hayworth was one of his loyal customers and he invented the drink especially for her, whose real name was Margarita.

Yet one more story surrounds American socialite Margarita Sames who was notorious for her house parties in Acapulco during the late '40s. Always wanting to impress her glamorous society guests she came up with the idea to mix up a new drink to chase away the hot Mexican sun. According to legend the "Margarita" was a hit and "kept the party going for two weeks."

Regardless of which story you believe here are some great Magarita recipes and some alternatives that are sure to please and keep the party going! Be sure to check out our Cinco de Mayo food recipes too.

Classic Margaritas

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When making margaritas, you can use long stemmed glasses. This will help keep the drink chilled and away from warm hands. To chill glasses, rinse them and place them stem-side up in a freezer for about 15 minutes. Remember to never place fine crystal in a freezer. The key to a great margarita is not to over salt the rim of the glass. Start by running a quartered lime around the rim of the glass. Pour some coarse or kosher salt onto a napkin, and then lightly touch the glass rim to the salt. Shake off any excess so that only a small crust remains.

When using fresh limes, roll the whole lime back and forth on a table before cutting it. This releases more flavor from it. Make sure you don’t use too much ice when blending your frozen margaritas. It only needs to be enough to barely float in the liquid (usually a large handful will do). Blend for only about one minute, or until you no longer hear the ice churning. The mixture should appear to be thick and slushy. To make thicker textured frozen margaritas, place the filled blender canister in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes before serving.

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)
a splash of fresh orange juice (from half an orange)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups tequila
3/4 cup triple sec
3 3/4 cups water and some ice.

In a pitcher (or blender), combine the sugar and water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon and lime juices, as well as the splash of orange juice. Mix in the tequila and the triple sec, stirring well. Keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.

GranGala® Ultimate Margarita

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½ oz. Imported GranGala® Triple Orange Liqueur
16 oz. Cocktail Glass - filled with ice
1 ½ oz. Gold Tequila
4 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix
¼ oz. Lime Juice

Rub rim of glass with lime and spin in salt. Shake Imported GranGala® Triple Orange Liqueur, Gold Tequila, Sweet and Sour Mix, and Lime Juice together with ice, and strain into glass.

Bastarita

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½ oz. lime juice
1 oz. Cointreau
1½ oz. Mezcal

Shake lime juice, Cointreau and Mezcal with ice.
Stain into a salt-rimmed cocktail glass or in a fancy glass full of ice.

Midori Margarita

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1 oz Midori Melon Liqueur
1 oz Sauza Tequila
2 oz sweet-and-sour mix
Blend with crushed ice or serve on the rocks

Mango Frozen Margarita

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1-1/2 cups diced peeled ripe mango
3 oz (about 1/3 cup) white tequila
1 oz (2 tbsps) Cointreau or other orange liqueur
2 oz (1/4 cup) fresh lime juice
3 tbsps superfine granulated sugar
2 cups ice cubes

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Serves 2

The Perfect Sauza Margarita

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1 part Sauza Tres Generaciones Plata
1 part Hiram Walker Triple Sec
2 parts freshly squeezed lime juice
Shake with ice and pour into a margarita glass. Garnish with a lime wedge. Salted rim optional.

Pineapple-Orange Margarita

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2 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 1/4 cups white tequila
1 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1 cup orange juice
3/4 fresh lime juice
1/2 cup simple syrup

Combine pineapple juice, tequila, Cointreau, orange juice,
lime juice, and simple syrup in large pitcher. (Can be prepared
6 hours ahead. Refrigerate.) Add 3 cups ice cubes to pitcher and
stir to blend well. Pour margarita into cocktail glasses.
Garnish with pineapple spears and maraschino cherries,
if desired, and serve.

Serves 8

Blue Margaritas

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4 Lime Wedges
Coarse Salt
Ice Cubes
8 ounces Tequila
8 ounces Freshly Squeezed
Lime Juice
12 ounces Cointreau
5 ounces Blue Curaçao
½ cup Sugar

Rub rims of 6 glasses with a lime wedge, and dip in salt.
Fill large pitcher with ice.
Add remaining ingredients, and stir well to combine.
Divide among glasses.

Gran Centenario Añejo & Grand Marnier 150 Double Secret Probation Margarita

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2 oz Gran Centenario Añejo Tequila
1 oz Grand Marnier Cuvee du Cent Cinquantenaire (150th anniversary)
1 1/2 oz Fresh squeezed lime juice

Pour all ingredients over ice in a mixing glass. Shake vigorously. Strain into a pre-chilled martini glass. Garnish with half an orange wheel.

Zaragoza Martini Courtesy of Peninsula Chicago

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1.5 oz Cuervo Gold Tequila
2.0 oz Pineapple Juice
1.0 oz Lemonade
0.5 oz Grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice.
Shake and Strain into a Martini Glass.
Garnish with a wedge of Lime.

Charro Negro

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1 ½ oz. El Charro Tequila Reposado
3 oz. cola
Juice of ½ lemon
Margarita Salt

Rub rim of chilled highball glass with lemon and dip into margarita salt. Fill glass with ice and add tequila, lemon juice and cola. Stir.

Sauza Sunrise

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1 ½ oz. Sauza Conmemorativo
2 oz. orange juice
2 dashes grenadine

Pour tequila and orange juice in highball glass over ice. Stir and add grenadine. Garnish with orange slice and cherry.

Cuervopolitan

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1 ¼ oz. Cuervo Anejo Tequila
¼ oz. orange liqueur
½ oz. cranberry juice
juice of ½ lime

Pour all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and stir vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Gran Centenario Reposado Gran Margatini

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2 oz Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila
3/4 oz Grand Marnier
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice (splash)

Pour all ingredients over ice in a mixing glass. Shake vigorously. Strain into a pre-chilled martini glass. Garnish with half an orange wheel.

Tequila Manhattan

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1 ¼ oz Chinaco Silver Tequila
¼ oz sweet vermouth
cherry

Pour ingredients in shaker filled with ice. Stir vigorously and pour into chilled martini glass. Add cherry.

Paloma

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1 ½ oz Montezuma tequila
3 oz grapefruit soda
lemon slice

Mix ingredients in cocktail glass, garnish with lemon.

Tequilito

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1 ½ oz. El Toro Blanco Tequila
8 mint leaves
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 ½ tbsp. sugar
2 oz. sparkling water

Crush mint, with sugar and lime juice in a rocks glass. Fill with ice and add tequila and sparkling water. Stir thoroughly.

Mexican Coffee

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¾ oz Cazadores Tequila
¾ oz coffee liqueur
coffee
whipped cream

Pour tequila and coffee liquer into Irish Coffee glass. Add coffee, top with whipped cream

Tequini

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1 ½oz Don Eduardo Anejo Tequila
dash dry vermouth
dash Angostura bitters
lemon twist

Mix all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass and garnish with twist

Sante Fe Maggie

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1 ¼ oz Viuda de Romero Reposado Tequila
½ oz orange liqueur
2 oz Sweet & Sour mix
2 oz cranberry juice

Blend ingredients in shaker and pour into margarita glass. Squeeze lime wedge and drop into glass.

Cinco De Mayo Food Recipes