Many drinks have their own ‘national day’ – after all, if drinks are used to toast occasions, why not toast the toasters, as it were – and with it recently being crowned the most popular cocktail globally, little wonder the margarita has its own dedicated day of appreciation, with National Margarita Day this weekend.
The origins of this classic cocktail are as numerous as its spin-offs. The earliest stories go back to the 1930s; there’s an account from Iowa newspaper editor James Graham, who encountered one in Tijuana, and the Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, published in the UK in 1937, contains a recipe for a Picador using the same concentrations of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice as a margarita.
It’s been attributed to various dedications, too; a restaurant owner in Baja California created one for a Ziegfeld Follies’ dancer, Marjorie King, because she was allergic to all spirits except tequila; the eponymous Jose Cuervo (who knew a thing or two about tequila) maintained the dedication was for Mexican showgirl Rita de la Rosa, and as late as 1948 there’s a story it was concocted for Peggy Lee at the legendary Balinese Room in Galveston, Texas.
Whatever the story, what we do know is that it sits in the Daisy family of cocktails (‘margarita’ is Spanish for ‘daisy’), being made with a base spirit, liquer and citrus, and over time that trinity has generated a multitude of offspring, with mixologists the world over adding their own spin on the classic. Here, in celebration of National Margarita Day, we have three recipes, courtesy of El Mayor tequila. After all, if you’re going to do it properly, make it with a quality tipple. El Mayor is made in the traditional way with 100% mature agave.
El Mayor Top Shelf Margarita
Let’s start with the definitive. For margarita purists, you can’t go wrong with this classic recipe using just three core ingredients, and this recipe features barrel-aged anejo tequila, for its subtle smoky notes. Pour this from the shaker into a salt-rimmed glass and you’ll be celebrating the Mexican way in seconds.
Ingredients (serves 1)
50ml El Mayor Añejo Tequila
25ml lime juice
15ml agave nectar
Lime twist for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lime twist.
El Mayor Carrot Margarita
No wonder allotment waiting lists are so long, vegetables in cocktails are a big trend this year, with carrots bringing a welcome earthiness to this recipe from the ‘Margarita Queen’ @join_jules. Carrots in a margarita, you ask? Well, indeed, hence the marriage with its complementary oranges to add to the citrus, and it just goes to show the versatility of the cocktail – and the spirit – made with El Mayor’s unaged ‘blanco’.
Ingredients (serves 1)
50ml El Mayor Blanco Tequila
50ml carrot juice
20ml lime juice
20ml orange liqueur
15ml agave
Garnish with Tajin (Mexican seasoning), salt, lime wheel and edible flowers.
Shake all ingredients, aside from garnish, with ice. Rim glass with lime juice and dip into a mix of tajin and salt. Strain shaker ingredients into glass and garnish with the lime wheel and edible flowers.
El Mayor Fig and Ginger Margarita
Continuing the fruity theme, is this warming Fig and Ginger Margarita, a yin yang of sweet fig and spicy ginger, and perfectly suited to El Mayor’s lightly aged ‘reposado’. Swapping the ginger out for the Triple Sec adds that slightly fiery note, giving a more complex and palatable alternative to the often chili-fired margaritas out there
Ingredients (serves 1)
40ml El Mayor Reposado Tequila
15ml ginger liqueur
15ml lime juice
15ml sugar syrup
1 tsp fig jam
Orange wheel and cinnamon dust to garnish
Shake all ingredients, aside from garnish, with ice and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with the orange wheel and cinnamon dust.
So, however you wish to celebrate National Margarita Day, there’s a choice of cocktail – and an El Mayor – for all tastes. Salud!
El Mayor Tequila (40% ABV) is available now at Master of Malt, from around £45. For more information, and many more recipes, please visit www.elmayor.com. Keep an eye on @elmayortequila for more recipes and ways to celebrate.
