The Classic Margarita to Celebrate International Tequila Day

All you need are 3 ingredients to make this classic, refreshing summer cocktail that's a favourite around the world, and why not? The tart, sweet blend of tequila, Triple Sec, and lime juice is very refreshing.

Where Does the Margarita Come From?

The origin of the margarita is a bit of a mystery, shrouded in myth, and a multitude of conflicting origin stories. As with many of these older cocktail recipes that have been around for decades, there are numerous claims about who was the first to create the cocktail. You can find many margarita origin stories on Wikipedia's margarita page.

Margarita means 'daisy' in Spanish, and there is a family of cocktails called Daisies that are made of a base spirit, a liqueur, and citrus. Tequila being native to Mexico, it would only be natural that a 'Daisy' cocktail would emerge made from tequila, liqueur and lime.

Margarita Variations

This recipe is for the classic margarita recipe, recognized as a Contemporary Classic by the International Bartender Association (IBA).

As with many recipes, take it as a guideline only, and customize it to your taste. The original recipe considers salt on the rim optional, but any margarita I've seen has salt on the rim.

There's no sugar or syrup in the recipe, but many people prefer a slightly sweeter cocktail. If that's you, then add some agave syrup, simple syrup, or sugar.

As with the classic daiquiri recipe, there's no fruit garnish in the IBA recipe. Every cocktail looks better with a fruit on the rim, so go ahead and add a slice of lime.

If you're looking for a variation on the classic margarita, you can check out our Frozen Strawberry Margarita. It's not too sweet, and adds a great strawberry flavour that goes very well with the orange liqueur and lime. It's a little more work, but so worth it!

If you're looking for dessert margarita, check out our Strawberry Margarita Ice Cream recipe to celebrate National Ice Cream Day.

The Classic Margarita Ingredients

There are many variations of the margarita. This classic recipe has just 3 ingredients, and is a great option for anyone looking for a simple, refreshing, classic cocktail. It's refreshing, not too sweet, and goes down much too quickly.

Tequila: Choose a good quality silver tequila. The classic recipe specifies 100% agave tequila. The standards for producing tequila specify that tequila only needs to be distilled from 51% blue weber agave, with the remainder made up of any type of sugars. You can read more about the history of tequila and other things every tequila lover should know.

Triple Sec: I use Triple Sec from Manns, our local distillery, but you can substitute Cointreau, or Grand Marnier, but these have a stronger flavour than Triple Sec so you may want to adjust the amount.

The Triple Sec from Manns is made with real oranges and orange blossom which gives it a very bright orange colour. This makes our version of the margarita a little more orange than what you usually see, but it tastes great.

Lime Juice: Only fresh squeezed. Please do not use bottled lime juice, or the lime juice you find in those little lime shaped squeeze bottles. Fresh squeezed lime juice adds a brightness to any cocktail that can't be replicated with bottled juice. You will taste the difference!

Course salt to rim glass: This is optional, according to the official recipe, but I think the crunchy salt adds a lot to this cocktail, so don't skip it. It's quite easy to wet the rim of the glass with lime juice and then dip the glass in the salt.