Since it’s Cinco de Mayo and everything, I figured I’d post the margarita we use at the bar. I worked on my margarita recipe for a long time until I found that perfect balance between sweet, sour and strong. It’s been very good to us over the years.
I learned early on the famous 2:1:1 formula for all things sour. That’s two parts strong, one part sweet, one part sour. But it doesn’t always work when you’re using a liqueur as a sweetener (and nevermind the fact that if you simply deduce that as two ounces, one ounce, one ounce, the drink is positively huge)
So I found that rejiggering (pun intended) those proportions into 1½:¾:¾ and hitting it with a teaspoon of simple syrup (whether it’s sugar or agave or maple, etc) was the trick to a well-balanced cocktail. Try it sometime with your favorite “International Sour”, as Gary Regan calls them.
And if you’d like to make enough of these to fuel a party, then I strongly advise you check out my How to Make a Gallon of Margaritas post.

Margarita PRINT ME

  • 1½ oz tequila
  • ¾ oz Cointreau
  • ¾ oz fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp simple syrup
  1. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker
  2. Shake with ice until cold
  3. Strain into a chilled old fashioned glass filled with ice (salted rim optional)
  4. Garnish with a lime and enjoy!
Recipe printed courtesy of jeffreymorgenthaler.com