Reasons to Try a Margarita Without Orange Liqueur
- Margaritas should be simple. A good margarita is a very simple cocktail. It should balance carefully between sweet and tart, with the tequila the dominant flavor. Cointreau and other orange liqueurs don't contribute much to this balance, in my opinion; they just muddy it up and cover the tequila. Which is fine if you are using a mediocre tequila, but if you're not...
- It's all about the tequila, so don't cover it up. A good margarita starts with a good tequila. I prefer blanco, or silver, tequila in my margarita, and I balance the drink so the tequila comes through. It's not just alcohol; Casa Noble, my favorite tequila, has notes of green mango, pepper, and papaya. Delicious, and I want to taste it all.
- Cointreau is expensive, so skip it! Many orange liqueurs, like Cointreau and Grand Marnier, are expensive. If you're making a big batch of margaritas, a side benefit of leaving the orange liqueur out is cost savings.
- Limes are pricey too; let them shine! Limes, however, are non-negotiable in a margarita, and since they are way too expensive right now, why dilute or muddy them with an extra liqueur? Let them be the star!
- It's just so good. The final reason for leaving the orange out of your tequila is that a pure margarita is just so good. This is subjective, I know — but drinking a pure margarita really changed my mind about both tequila and margaritas.
31 comments:
Well, a sweetener of some sort is needed to get a balance of sweet and sour. The author of the linked article suggests agave nectar.
Anything but a silver tequila is a waste in a marg because the other ingredients will dominate any barrel flavor found in repose do or anejo tequila.
I'm not really a fan of tequila, even though it's the fasting growing spirit in the US. I prefer the simpler, three-letter spirits like rum and gin.
My Oceanside lime tree did well this year. I will harvest it next week when I go down to do some maintance. I "inherited" a Meyer lemon tree here in Irvine which I hand watered all summer after I saw all the buds last spring. I plan to plant a lime tree in the spring. There is something decadent about grabbing fresh fruit for your cocktails.
Oh, and a long time ago, we did a blind taste test of citrus liqueurs including Cointreau, Gran Marnier against the triple secs. Cointreau won hands down. It really is the essence of orange in a bottle. Made the others taste plastic. The problem with the cheap triple secs is that they're made using corn syrup.
Here's a thought -- if corn syrup is so damn good, how come there isn't a liqueur based on it? creme de Maise or some such?
Great info, good question. Lucky you with the citrus trees. Not a tequila fan either. Scotch, bourbon on the rocks for me, dry white wine, or a lager. Vodka for mixed drinks.
Tequila does me in.
And I wanted it to be my favorite alcohol. But that didn't work out. A box of very nice tequila in a pyramid-like bottle was the only gift Jeff Dell ever gave me. (The deaf dude who elevated my sign to a new level). The box was where I leaned the word, "hyperbole." As in, this is the best tequila and that is no idle hyperbole.
But over time I realized it wildly exaggerated my emotions. Then one day a dude came up to me and in a friendly manner said, I saw you last week, and you were so obnoxious I told myself if you poke me in the chest with your finger one more time I would break your finger. And I'm all, hey, that's not me at all. And he insisted I really was that obnoxious. I asked, what did I do? Show me. He goes, poke, poke, poke, right in my chest, rather hard, and could see instantly how that would really piss somebody off. So I said, thanks for the feedback and that does it. No more tequila for me. I'm out.
Yeah, that was a close call. Tequila just hits me wrong. Kind of like tarragon. A slight nausea, maybe, right away.
Chikl you are right. The best margs are made with silver tequila, fresh lime juice, a small amount of simple syrup to taste, and a salted rim.
I cannot drink cheap margs. The higher the quality of tequila, the better. I usually do not order a marg if I have a choice in cocktails. Though - I do appreciate one that is made well.
Fresh limes - envy. No way to grow a lime tree here in the high cold desert.
A cheap marg is like a headache in a glass.
I meant to say - you are both right - Chickl and Deborah. No need for any liqueurs - they take over. Sweet and sour mixes are also a no-no.
Tho - there is a restaurant nearby & they make a huge batch of tasty marg as their house marg and use some type of lemon-lime sour mix. Super tasty - but they make me sick. ;-(
Liquid drink mixes at the supermarket always weirded me out.
Now I wanna try some Casa Noble.
I def want to try Cointreau. Sounds divine.
Tequila wakes me up like an unpleasant one night mistake, but there is something about that taste that instantly makes me festive. It reminds me of a Friday night after a hard, but successful week. It tastes like a celebration.
I have absolutley no snobbery about alcohol, because, as with many things, I have no taste. I'm just pure pragmatism further tethered (or set free) by the frugality of a homeless puritan. I don't care much for expensive liquors, because I can't tell the difference, except for the really cheap stuff. My favorite drink is Seagrams Sweet Tea Vodka with water and a squirt of Stevia sweetener. No calories beyond the vodka, and it never gives me a hangover or headache, and I just love sweet tea. Under $10 a fifth, low brow, but still hard to find. I can't stomach most of the colored spirits (whisky, rye, bourbon. etc). Wish I could, but the first taste just turns me peakid, which is unfortunate, since there is so much variety and depth there, not that I could appreciate it anyway.
Having no taste must surely be a loss on my part, but it has saved me a fortune.
Sweet tea vodka. Sour apple Crown Royal. What has the world come to! We're circling the drain, I tells ya.
There is a whole world of culture and pleasures down here in the drain. We never tire of winning down here.
lol
Speaking of Las Vegas wonders, if I ever make it to an August Trek convention, can I take you and Phil out for a drink? I'll be the one in the Ensign Ro outfit.
chick, Meyer lemons are magnificent. Congrats on the inheritance.
I quit drinking almost 3 years ago to help in controlling my diabetes. I'm fortunate. I quit drinking for a decade for the same reason, but started again because of the reading I did on stroke prevention. Both my old man and grandfather died of strokes. I am very grateful I can quit drinking w/o any problem, and have empathy for those who can't.
Over the years, I had tried margaritas and tequila but was not a fan. Then we started spending winter in San Diego. A great bartender in a bar that must have 100 varieties of tequila made me one on the house w/ very good tequila. It was simple and delicious. Now, I'm a guy who can drink. I can have 5-6 martinis and no one could even tell. But, tequila is different. It must react differently w/ my body chemistry because 3-4 margaritas and I'm feeling it, and it's a different buzz. Chip seems to have the same reaction as me.
Are Meyer lemons those large, fragrant ones? If so, they are the best. They grew in my neighbor's yard in SC. Awesome tree, great lemons. Life can give some of those any day.
You know how to make a margarita look good, deborah, even though I can't remember ever having one. A single shot of tequila, actually not a full shot, followed by a tiny slice of lemon is my go to medicine to get me outside on a cold day when nothing else works. Of course that's a stay at home remedy, nothing I'd ever do to get to work.
" can I take you and Phil out for a drink?"
Absolutely.
"Now, I'm a guy who can drink. I can have 5-6 martinis and no one could even tell. But, tequila is different. It must react differently w/ my body chemistry because 3-4 margaritas and I'm feeling it, and it's a different buzz. Chip seems to have the same reaction as me."
Interesting. I can see that, must investigate the chemistry. Then there's the difference between a liquor, wine, or beer buzz and any resultant hangover.
Dad Bones, make mine a double in this cold ;)
Cool, Bago...the way I procrastinate it will be in 3 to 10 years!
My friend Paulie from Southie drank the expensive Agent Orange, er, Gran Marnier. He would buy the 20 year old stuff and drink it like it was nothing. Then it killed him. So it goes.
A friend of a friend drank Gran Marnier, then he didn't, then he started up again, and then he hung himself.
So yeah, I'll skip the Gran Marnier, thank you very much.
But this Christmas I was given two bottles of whiskey - one is 12 year old The Glenlivet, the other is Glenmorangie. Those should last me all year, maybe longer, if my brother doesn't visit.
Gran Marnier is just Cointreau gussied up with cognac.
Wow, Sixty, two friends dying from Gran Marnier? That's what I call empirical evidence.
Nice Chrismas gifts.
My gosh, chick, the things you know. Now wait, just recently I looked up what brandy is...distilled wine? Who would have thought of Distilling Wine!? No wonder we're digitizing ourselves out of existence.
Sixty, Meyer lemons are smaller than regular lemons and much sweeter and juicier.
Hmm, then what are the gigundo lemons called? They made an indelible impression on me. But somehow I missed their name.
And yeah, debs, that was all I needed to know about that stuff, well, that and how bad it tasted.
I'm out
Appreciating the ins and outs stirred by this fresh drink to include buzzes from and about tequila and other note worthy spirits, zest over oranges, lemons, limes, and the future anticipation of a procrastinating Ensign Ro dropping in out of time to enjoy 5 o'clock somewhere. I have nothing to add but enjoyment of what is between sips.
Now wait, just recently I looked up what brandy is...distilled wine?
Wanna know something else shocking? All brandy starts out colorless. It gets its brown color either from aging in charred barrels or else...from food coloring. Wouldn't it be cool if we knew which ones were colored with dye? Same thing goes for rum, whiskies, and tequilas.
On the other hand, let's not tell people which ones because then the prices of aged spirits would really skyrocket.
Good point! Not that I know from aged. Some day I'll do a Scotch taste test to see what this 12 year old thing is about.
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