In some methods, the story of the fashionable Margarita is the story of tequila. In 2018, once we final blind-tasted the drink, we have been happy to seek out that the Margarita had lengthy since moved on from the mixto tequila that had plagued it within the previous a long time in favor of variations made with 100% agave. At our current tasting, not solely was each tequila constituted of 100% agave, eight out of 11 have been additive-free. The extra the business embraces the perfect tequila, the extra the Margarita improves. In the present day, the Margarita has by no means been higher.
When the Punch editorial crew convened on a current Wednesday at Manhattan’s Superbueno with proprietor Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez and Milady’s head bartender, Izzy Tulloch, we have been in quest of the perfect mixture of “booze, citrus and salt,” in line with Jimenez. “It’s all about the way you stability these three.” For the primary ingredient, we have been on the lookout for a tequila with that quintessential peppery chunk and inexperienced, vegetal tones. As for the lime, “it’s gotta have some zip,” in line with Tulloch, that means it needed to be recent and there needed to be sufficient of it to be borderline mouth-puckering. For the salt, and whether or not or not it belongs on the rim of the glass, all agreed with Punch editor-in-chief Talia Baiocchi: “You gotta have it.”
Although the non-public preferences of the judges every aligned with the extra austere construct of a Tommy’s Margarita, i.e., a Margarita that will get its sweetness from agave nectar within the absence of orange liqueur, solely two of the 11 submitted recipes adhered to that mannequin, and neither took the highest spot. As an alternative, two of our three favorites took a hybrid strategy—every referred to as on orange liqueur, albeit in a amount lower than that of the lime, a notable departure from the everyday even cut up between these components.
The unanimous winner was Christine Wiseman’s Margarita, which builds on two ounces of Cascahuín blanco tequila, an oz of lime juice, half an oz of Cointreau and half an oz of agave syrup (in a 1:1 ratio of agave nectar to water) served in a glass with a half salt rim and a lime wheel garnish. “It’s obtained zip,” confirmed Tulloch, but it surely additionally had the suitable quantity of physique with out being too candy. And regardless that it contained orange liqueur, which might generally lend an disagreeable confectionary observe to the drink, it was the tequila that shone by means of. “The tequila is so lovely,” mentioned Jimenez. “[This one] actually stands out from the remaining.”
Second place went to Natasha Bermudez, whose Margarita requires Tapatío blanco tequila, three-quarters of an oz of lime juice, and a half-ounce every of Cointreau and light-weight agave syrup. The judges discovered the tequila was current and “caught round,” in Tulloch’s phrases, sporting a traditional peppery high quality that we have been all on the lookout for, backed by the archetypal citrusy, salty notes of a traditional Marg. The judges’ solely qualm was with the Tajín rim, which counterintuitively made the drink style sweeter—nearly too candy. Sal de gusano, another garnish beneficial by Bermudez, may’ve been most popular.
Third place went to Yana Volfson’s Margarita, which makes use of Tapatío 110 as the bottom, paired with an oz of lime juice and a half-ounce every of Giffard and Combier triple sec. It drank on the leaner facet (it was the one one in our high three with out agave syrup), which was most popular by a number of judges, and had “actually good taste,” mentioned Tulloch.
On the entire, the entrants painted an image of a traditional cocktail reaching its best potential. An appreciation of high-quality, unadulterated tequila paired with a extra lime-forward development has constructed up the drink right into a fail-safe order. Now, in line with Tulloch, the Margarita “is like pizza: Even when it’s unhealthy, it’s nonetheless an excellent drink.”
