Why the margarita is the most popular cocktail in America

This story is part of a partnership between City Lights WABE and Rough Draft Atlanta called The Beverage Beat with Beth McKibben As a regular City Lights contributor McKibben joins the undertaking monthly to highlight her majority of up-to-date Rough Draft story on Atlanta s cocktail wine coffee and nonalcoholic beverage scene Photo by Snappr on Pexels comWhether served on the rocks frozen or in glassware akin to a gold fish bowl the margarita can turn an otherwise blah Tuesday into a mini celebration without much effort It s just that kind of cocktail But as a classic drink with a riffable recipe two parts tequila one part orange liqueur one part lime juice the margarita has transformed from a singular cocktail into an entire category It s an easy beverage to consume because it is by nature a balanced cocktail It s not super booze forward but highlights the tequila or whatever agave spirit you choose El Ponce owner Rosa Thurnher declared It just appeals to a broader audience mainly because the flavor is appealing and similar to an adult lemonade The Poncey-Highland Mexican restaurant sells approximately margaritas a day That number can quadruple on Cinco de Mayo becoming a margarita marathon for El Ponce Thurnher took over as owner of El Ponce in changing the house margarita recipe which included triple sec and simple syrup to a fresher variation that now features agave syrup instead of orange liqueur as the sweetener Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels comA hazy historyNo one knows for certain who invented the margarita considered the largest part popular cocktail in America Chosen say the margarita was based on a Daisy a category of sour cocktails made with a base spirit citrus juice and orange liqueur topped with soda water Margarita is Spanish for daisy and if you remove the soda from the recipe it becomes the recipe for the margarita we know the present day Then there s Danny Negrete a hotel manager in Puebla Mexico who was commented to have invented the margarita in naming it for his girlfriend as a gift Tequila brand Jose Cuervo credits the margarita to a bartender who supposedly created the drink to honor Mexican showgirl Rita de la Rosa in More stories from Beverage Beat with Beth McKibben seriesAnother theory attributes the invention of the margarita to Francisco Pancho Morales in who proposes he created the drink at the bar Tommy s Place in Juarez Mexico The story goes that a woman entered the bar and requested for a Magnolia Morales couldn t remember the exact recipe so he whipped up a tequila cocktail with lime juice and Cointreau Still another theory credits its invention to a Dallas socialite of the same name who served the tequila concoction to guests during a Christmas party at her vacation home in Acapulco in Related story A dessert and cocktail bar will open behind El PonceThe right tequilaWhen mixing up a margarita Thurnher recommends reaching for blanco tequila rather than reposado a type of tequila aged and rested in barrels like bourbon and whiskey I have made several good margaritas with reposado but for me if you put a reposado in a margarita a lot of times you re killing that flavor profile of aging unless it s something you plan to enhance she explained Blanco or silver tequila is generally preferred for its crisp agave-forward taste Save that reposado for a riff on an old fashioned or completely for sipping on the rocks And make sure to opt for fresh-squeezed lime juice rather than artificial mixers or the bottled stuff that s been sitting in your fridge door for who knows how long Bottled juices lose intensity over time and typically include additives and preservatives that can alter the taste of the margarita The bright acidity of fresh lime juice cuts through the sweetness of the orange liqueur and the tequila s sweet bottom notes Lime juice is crucial for providing balance to the margarita It s as pivotal as the orange liqueur evidenced by the recipe s equal proportions for both ingredients If you re not using a good lime juice you can get a really bad taste in your mouth I think sour mixes have really given margaritas a bad rap because it s so readily available stated Thurnher If you taste bottled lime juice side by side with fresh lime juice you ll understand that flavor is fundamental But if you don t have fresh limes to squeeze or you re batching large quantities of margaritas Thurnher recommends Natalie s Juice Company s pure lime juice as an alternative They use this pre-made juice to batch the popular house margaritas at El Ponce Via El Ponce Facebook Salt or no salt Several say salt on the rim of the glass dials up the bright citrus notes of a margarita while toning down its sweetness Just make sure to use a coarse salt like kosher salt Thurnher also suggests rimming only half the glass to prevent too much salt from falling into the cocktail Salt is a flavor enhancer and not a necessary ingredient For locally produced salts consider Atlanta-based Beautiful Briny Sea Thurnher likes experimenting with the company s salts and sugars as cocktail rims If you re looking for a zesty kick of spice rim the glass with Tajin At El Ponce they offer a house-made chamoy as a cocktail adhesive option For a mellower mesquite rim try smoked salt an especially good choice for a mezcal margarita Long live the queenEl Ponce features several variations on the margarita from on the rocks frozen and versions zhuzhed with house-made syrups to Texas-style and margaritas made with mezcal But the majority of popular margarita by far at El Ponce is the skinny And before you start hating on the skinny margarita let s introduce you to the Tommy which is the version of the skinny you ll find at El Ponce Legendary bartender and tequila master Julio Bermejo created this modern classic in the early s at his family s San Francisco restaurant Tommy s Mexican The Tommy sees orange liqueur swapped out for percent agave nectar resulting in a less sweet and yes less caloric much cleaner additive- and refined sugar-free margarita This version lets the tequila do all the talking in the margarita with the agave nectar providing subtle sweetness that also amps up the vegetal notes in tequila an agave-based spirit Recipe for the EL Ponce skinny margaritaFrozen skinny margarita Provided by El Ponce Credit El PonceIce-cold margarita fact Did you know the first frozen margarita machine is now in the Smithsonian The Smithsonian s National Museum of American History acquired the machine from its inventor Mariano Martinez in Martinez was having trouble keeping up with demand for frozen margaritas at his Dallas restaurant mixing the drink in batches with a blender One day he walked into a -Eleven and spied the Slurpee machine doling out frozen drinks with the pull of a lever There was only one trouble alcohol doesn t freeze The Slurpee machine wouldn t work Instead Martinez came up with the idea to modify a soft-serve ice cream machine inventing the world s first frozen margarita machine All these centuries later Aesop had it right Necessity is the mother of invention Long live the margarita The post Why the margarita is the largest part popular cocktail in America appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta