The Margarita—a blend of fresh lime juice, tequila and orange liqueur with an optional sweetener—is a potent, well-built entry in the cocktail canon. Plenty claim credit for its invention: a restaurateur based south of Tijuana in the 1930s, a socialite in Acapulco in the 1940s. Others believe it evolved as a south-of-the-border twist on the then-popular Daisy (the Spanish word for “daisy” is margarita, after all), dreamed up during Prohibition when Americans would travel abroad to drink. This version of the Margarita was created in the early ’90s by Julio Bermejo of Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco. Bermejo omitted orange liqueur in favor of the natural honeyed flavor of agave nectar helping to create the West Coast style of bartending using fresh, seasonal ingredients. It’s no mistake that agave nectar finds a natural harmony with an agave-based spirit.
Tommy’s Margarita
Julio Bermejo | San Francisco
Ingredients
Serving: 1
- 2 ounces tequila, 100% agave
- 1 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce agave nectar
Garnish: salt for rimming (optional), and a lime wedge
Directions
- Prepare a rocks glass with a salted rim if desired.
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
- Add ice and shake.
- Strain over ice into prepared rocks glass.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
Editor's Note
Some of us like salt on a Margarita, some don’t. To make everyone happy, salt just one half of the glass. On the rocks, or up—it’s up to you.