Hey all,
I’m mixing it up a bit this month, and leading off with a mostly drink-focused email. On a Wednesday too! As Elton John said, I hope you don’t mind…
I was thinking about what I wanted to write for today, and I knew that Cinco de Mayo was coming up. I knew I wanted to talk about Margaritas. I also knew that I knew very little about Cinco de Mayo. I think (I hope) I’m not alone in admitting this as well: when I was in my twenties and discovering my limits with alcohol, I considered Cinco de Mayo just one more excuse to get drunk and make questionable decisions. I have a vivid memory of the owner of the first great restaurant I ever worked at—Kool Beanz Café in Tallahassee, Florida!—giving me a stern look on May 6, 2004, after I showed up an hour late for my shift, reeking of tequila and another controlled substance (that rhymes with sauna). He shook his head—he’d had to call me and wake me up—and said, “Looks like you went sink-o on el cinco.” He chuckled at his goofy joke, I told him it would never happen again, and luckily, I didn’t lose my job.
But I did lose my taste for tequila for a good while after that. I never did regain my taste for shots. (Do people over 25 still do those? I know of one good friend who was trying to “bring shots back” during the pandemic, by taking down one or two slugs of tequila on a Thursday, just because. It’s not my thing, but she spoke pretty eloquently about the beauty of the buzz that comes from flooding one’s bloodstream with such a high-proof dose of alcohol so fast.) I did however grow to appreciate good tequila. (You have to sip it. Who knew?) I also learned that when it comes to a Margarita, bigger is almost never better. More on that in a minute.
First, Cinco de Mayo. It is not, like young ignorant me once thought, Mexican Independence Day. That’s celebrated on September 16. Cinco de Mayo was created to remember the Mexican victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It was a David/Goliath situation. A small Mexican army, commanded by Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated a massive number of French troops. The victory was a shot in the arm for Mexico, and helped turned the tide toward an eventual Mexican vanquishing of the French in 1867.
Today, in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are mostly ceremonial: military parades, way more guns than I’m comfortable with, etc. Cinco de Mayo didn’t become popular in the US until the 1960s, when Mexican American activists began promoting the holiday to show pride for their communities. But then the marketers and corporations got hold of the holiday, and basically turned it into a booze-fest. Jerks. I hope they’re happy with their Bud Lite Lime-A-Ritas. Because I’m not.
What I am happy with is a proper Margarita. Here’s a recipe for you, with a little more history and storytelling to follow.
A Proper Margarita
Ingredients
1 ½ oz. tequila
¾ oz. Cointreau or Dry Curacao
¾ oz. fresh lime juice
scant ¼ oz. agave nectar or simple syrup
lime wheel garnish
Directions
Combine all liquid ingredients in the small side of a shaker tin.
Fill 2/3 of the way with ice and shake for about 12 seconds.
Strain over a double rocks glass filled to the brim with ice.
Tuck the lime wheel in next to the ice real nice-like.
Notes
Which tequila should you use? I suppose it all depends on who you’re trying to impress. Or maybe how you feel about yourself. As you may know, tequila can be either blanco, reposado, añejo, or extra añejo. Blanco (“white”) tequila is unaged. Reposado means “rested” and it has been aged from two to twelve months in oak containers of all sizes. Añejo translates to “old” and refers to tequila that has been aged for a minimum of one year in oak barrels no larger than 600 liters. Extra añejo was established in 2006 and requires the youngest tequilia in a blend to be aged a minimum of three years in barrels no larger than 600 liters. So when we get back to the question of which tequila, I guess it really depends on how much you think you can taste the nuance of an aged tequila when it’s mixed up with orange liqueur, lime juice, and a bit of sugar. Sure, a good reposado or añejo will shine through, but 9 times out of 10, a solid blanco will suit you just fine.
All liqueurs are sweet, but Cointreau is even sweeter than most. I like Dry Curacao because it’s not only a bit more balanced of an orange liqueur than Cointreau, but it’s also more affordable. (As I told a friend the other day, when he asked why I only just now bought my first ever bottle of Chartreuse, which isn’t cheap, “I’m frugal as hell!”)
As the mixology guru Jim Meehan offers, if you eliminate the orange liqueur altogether and substitute a full ounce of agave nectar, then you have what is technically referred to as a “Tommy’s Margarita,” which was created by Julio Bermejo, the second-generation owner of Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco.
To salt or not to salt? That’s another damn good question, and again, it depends on your guest. Some purists would say that the salt is always going to end up in the drink and throw off the balance. But that’s less likely to happen if you know how to rim a glass, which I talked about a bit in this subscriber post. You might consider just rimming half the glass; that way, the drinker can decide if and when to take salty sips. Ah, The Salty Sips. I’m pretty sure that’s the name of a band that opened up for my old band when I was of the age when I played in bands.
Whatever you do, just don’t use Rose’s Lime Juice. That’s the Devil’s urine. Also, don’t go to a bar that serves you a Margarita in a pint glass. That’s the Devil’s vomit, but with added sweetener.
Okay! Now that I’ve left you with such wonderful images, I’ll end by saying what I almost always say, or at least, what I almost always think: that there is so much more to be said. I’m only scratching the surface on this drink, which not only has infinite flavor variations—jalepeño-infused tequila? Yes, please—it also has a multitude of possible origin stories, ranging from the fact that “Margarita” is Spanish for “daisy,” and a daisy is a sour sweetened with curacao or grenadine, to tales about a bartender named Danny Negrete making the drink for his sister-in-law Margarita but really it might have been inspired by the actress Rita Hayworth... Who knows. I know I like learning and sharing about this stuff, and yet if you really want to dig into the details, particularly about tequila, I recommend checking out Tequila! Distilling the Spirit of Mexico by Marie Sarita Gaytan or Spirits of Latin America by Ivy Mix.
Thanks for reading, everyone! I’d love for you to forward this email to anyone who might be interested in what I’m putting together here. And if you’re not a subscriber and are interested in getting a bit more content (four newsletters a month instead of two), and “tipping” your virtual bartender, you can subscribe below. Also please know that in May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, 20% of the profits from these subscriptions will be going to Hope For The Day, an organization dedicated to raising the visibility of mental health resources, breaking the silence of stigma, and spreading proactive suicide prevention around the world.
I’ll be talking more about my own mental health in the next free post, which, honestly, is something I have to work up to. Until then, feel free to fire off any questions or ideas in the comments, and big thanks for being here.
Cheers!
J.
Wait...so the best margaritas don't come from a sugary, pre-mixed, neon green liquid in a plastic bottle? 😂 Thank you for all you are doing to continue to educate us, J!