Texas is awash in margaritas, both frozen and on the rocks. Most are made with some sort of evil bar mix, shaken by hand or machine, and dished up in glass with a salted rim. As Dan Jenkins wrote about chicken-fried steak, “Pretty good. But not real good.”
Inspired by reading a recipe on the back of a liquor bottle, I’ve concocted a Better Margarita, for folks who want to go beyond the mediocre.
Ingredients (to make 2 doubles) In a large shaker half-filled with ice, add
- 4 shots of good (not excellent) white tequila
- 1 shot of triple sec or orange liqueur (I prefer Patron Citronge)
- 1 shot of lemoncello (the secret ingredient)
- fresh juice of 8 limes
- juice of one small orange (see prep below)
- one or two of the lime peels from the juicing
Preparation for serving
- for each drink glass, cut a thin slice from the center of a fresh orange, juice the rest
- use a piece of lime peel from the juicing to moisten the rim of each glass
- set each glass, inverted, into a shallow dish of margarita salt (kosher salt works OK)
- into each salted glass, place an orange slice
Do the deed
- Cap the shaker and shake until the shaker is covered in condensation
- Pour into the prepared glasses, filling almost to the rim
Caution: this recipe makes TWO DOUBLES. Do not plan on driving or operating machinery after drinking one of these. Do not plan on inciting a revolution in Mexico after drinking two of these.
