National Margarita Day, the made-up holiday celebrated Thursday, could be a good day to try your hand at making your own cocktail – or jazzing up a recipe you already use.
The popular drink gained prominence in the '40s and has become a go-to cocktail in bars and at home. Tequila sales rose 5.1% in 2023 – the highest spike among top spirits – and off-premise sales are up 9.6% so far this year, ahead of whiskey (3%) and vodka (1.5%), says Bump Williams, whose firm Bump Williams Consulting of Shelton, Connecticut, services the alcoholic beverage industry.
More imbibers are sipping tequila straight, but "I think the mixing component certainly plays into the growth of the category," Williams said.
In the super-hot ready-to-drink category – sales are up 36.6% so far this year – ready-to-drink margaritas are up 27.5%, compared to a year ago, the research firm says.
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A basic margarita is easy to make: typically you mix two ounces of tequila, one ounce lime juice, ½-ounce orange liqueur, such as triple sec, and ½ ounce of agave nectar or syrup, as suggested on Liquor.com.
This amateur mixologist has had good results with this combination: 5 parts sweet & sour mix, 3 parts blanco tequila, 1 part triple sec, ½ part lime juice, plus fresh juice from a squeezed lime quarter. You can add a small portion of mezcal or reposado tequila – or completely substitute the reposado tequila for the blanco – for a smokier flavored drink.
Here's some recipes to kickstart your experiments
This cocktail is a mashup of margaritas and guacamole, with avocado, jalapeño and cilantro among the ingredients.
Mash up avocado, cilantro and jalapeño in a mixing glass. Add the rest of the ingredients with ice, then shake and serve over the rocks.
This recipe from the book "Sammy Hagar's Cocktail Hits.", uses tequila from Santo Spirits, the liquor line Hagar launched in 2017 after selling the Cabo Wabo tequila brand for nearly $100 million.Add ingredients to shaker with ice and shake. Pour into a salt-rimmed glass and garnish with a fresh lime.
Shake well with ice. Garnish with lime wedge.
For this margarita you want to whip up some Golden Milk, made with turmeric, ahead of time.
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until the cocktail is thoroughly chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a dehydrated orange half and a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Golden Milk Recipe
Add ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Stir and let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent clumping.
Skinny margaritas, which cut the calories with ingredient swaps such as club soda, orange juice or monkfruit syrup, and spicy margaritas, which work jalapeño peppers into the cocktail, are hot cocktails now, according to a "National Margarita Day: America's favorite margarita" report from Casino.com, which used Google search activity.
Add tequila to your choice of glass with ice. Top with club soda and a squeeze of lime and float a fresh lime slice on top.
In a mixing tin or shaker, add jalapeños and then lightly muddle. Add remaining ingredients and ice, then shake and strain into iced, rocks glass rimmed with spicy chili and lime seasoning. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Pour all ingredients over ice in a glass and squeeze fresh lime to taste. Stir, garnish and enjoy.
For this spicy cocktail, you'll need a jalapeño and some Tajin seasoning.
Gently muddle the jalapeño slices in the cocktail shaker. Add tequila, lime juice, agave, and ice to shaker.
Shake and strain into a rocks glass rimmed with Tajin over fresh ice. Garnish with lime wheel and one more jalapeño slice.
In a small plate, mix the Himalayan salt with the Herdez Chipotle Salsa Cremosa. Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass, then dip it in the prepared salt mix. Combine tequila, orange liqueur and Herdez Avocado Hot Sauce in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 10 seconds or until chilled. Add some ice to prepared glass and strain cocktail mixture. Garnish with jalapenos and lime.
Add to shaker, shake and serve ice.
This recipe comes from the Ocean Prime restaurants and is served at all 17 locations across the U.S.
Add ingredients to a shaker or mixing tin with ice. Shake vigorously for five seconds. Strain and serve over ice with a lime wheel.
For this colorful cocktail, you make some Hibiscus syrup and Hibiscus salt ahead of time.
Shaken, served over ice. Lime garnish. Hibiscus salt on the rim.
Hibiscus Syrup
To make Hibiscus Syrup, add all ingredients, simmer and then steep overnight to develop flavor. Sweeten with cane sugar to taste. For Hibiscus Salt, grind dried flowers in a grinder or blender, then had some sea salt and sugar to taste and mix.
Prepare your glass with salt/sugar rim by running a sliced lime around the edge and dipping it into salt/sugar. Muddle tequila with a couple sprigs of mint and cucumber slices. Add mixture, lime juice, agave nectar and ice to shaker. Shake and pour margarita with ice into prepared glass, garnish with cucumber slice and a sprig of mint.
Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.
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