Margarita is a famous cocktail with the following ingredients: tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, and salt. The name margarita came from a flower, not a girl’s name. The flower Daisy in Spanish is known as Margarita.
It is perfect as a summer drink and can be relished at your home or a restaurant. So, it makes you curious to know its taste, correct?
To your surprise, margarita caters to all five basic human tastes, so it means it is perfect for whatever occasion or meal you want it to go with.
So, what does a margarita taste like?
This cocktail is a sour-sweet drink and tastes similar to agave (as tequila is the main ingredient) with a citric hint because of lime juice and a salty touch to finish it. But that is not all; margaritas can have different taste profiles depending on the ingredients involved.
Continue reading to know what a run-of-the-mill margarita tastes like, how different preparations affect the taste, and how to select the best ingredients for your margarita.
Regular Margarita and Its Taste
Your run-of-the-mill margarita tastes reinvigorating, with citric, sweet, and salty touch. A blend of all these tastes keeps you captivated and wanting more.
What Are the Ingredients?
This classic cocktail is made using sugar syrup, lime juice, tequila (quality based on your budget), ice, salt around the glass edges, and last but not least, Cointreau or Triple Sec for a fruity/floral flavor. Check out the difference between Cointreau and Triple Sec here.
With such a long list of ingredients, balancing them out should be your worry, correct? But you do not have to worry as it all compliments each other. From a simple point of view, it gives a similar taste to limeade with a tequila twist.
The taste factor of these ingredients goes as follows: the sweetness of sugar syrup is balanced out by the citric flavor from Cointreau or Triple Sec along with lime juice and the bitterness of tequila (sweet+spicy) is balanced by salt. So, giving you a savory drink.
Check out the budget options for tequila here.
Preparation
- To prepare a cup of margarita, take a lime wedge and a glass for your margarita. Moist the rim of the glass with the lime wedge and dip it in salt.
- Now take ½ cup tequila,¼ cup Cointreau or Triple Sec, ⅛ cup sugar syrup, and ⅛ cup lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake well to make it stone cold.
- Add ice cubes to your margarita glass with the salt rim, and transfer your shaker mixture to it using a sieve.
- Garnish with your desired material, i.e., lime slices, mint leaves, lime wedges, orange slices, etc., and Enjoy!
Most Common Classic Margarita
Arguably the most common and popular classic margarita is the mint margarita. The only difference from a regular margarita is to add mint leaves to the shaker with the rest of the ingredients.
It adds a fresh and reinvigorating flavor to your margarita, and mint has the benefit of keeping your stomach healthy. Check out the full health benefits of mint.
Taste of Margarita Based on Preparation
Based on how you add ingredients or cut on one or another, the margarita has different versions, each providing a taste suitable for a specific occasion. However, you can always tune it to fit your needs.
1. Skinny Margarita
These margaritas are the diet version of your regular ones. How so? Because instead of using Cointreau or Triple Sec, they contain fresh orange juice.
It adds a more citric touch to the drink, so you can add syrup (usually agave) to balance it. But to make it low on calories, make it without that. Check out why agave syrup may be worse than sugar.
The benefit skinny margarita has over a traditional one is the low alcoholic content. It has more of a citric flavor; rather than your classic one, and sweetness is only from syrup if you add it. So, the best choice for people who love a slightly extra sour touch in their drinks.
2. Blended Margarita
A blended margarita is your go-to option if you find that a regular and skinny margarita is too much for you and want something to refresh you on a hot day. It is a toned-down version of your traditional margarita and is similar to a slush drink.
Every ingredient is the same as your traditional drink. The only difference is that you have to blend the ice in your margarita. It will weaken the taste of the original contents, but if you want it the same as the original, you can always spike it with more ingredients.
3. On the Rocks
This margarita highlights the tequila flavor of the type used. So, the best option for tequila lovers. That is why; no sugar syrup or artificial/natural sweetener is added. To make it more enjoyable, add high-quality tequila (preferably 100% agave) to it.
The lime juice and Cointreau or Triple Sec provide the citric and fruity essence to the drink and complement tequila’s sweet yet spicy flavor. The preparation method is the same as the traditional one, but without sugar syrup addition.
How To Select Ingredients for Your Margarita
The general ratio for the ingredients to make a margarita is 2-1-1 if you omit the sugar syrup, but if you add that, use 2-1-½-½.
But before going into making, how to select the right ingredients for your margarita?
While fresh lime, salt, and ice don’t require any rocket science for selection, that is not the case for others.
Sugar Syrup
You can use simple sugar syrup or agave syrup both work fine in the case of margaritas. Check out how to prepare simple sugar syrup at home here.
The only thing you need to watch out for is whether you want it to dissolve quickly or not; if you want the former, then sugar syrup is your ingredient of choice. Also, you can experiment using honey, maple syrup, or corn syrup to see what suits your taste buds.
Cointreau or Triple Sec
You can use either one Triple Sec or Cointreau for your margarita. The choice depends on your budget and what kind of taste you want your drink to have. These orange liqueurs differ by taste, alcoholic content, and price.
Cointreau is more expensive, slightly more bitter, and contains 40% alcohol content is the best option to go for if you want a premium flavor. On the other hand, Triple Sec has 15-25% alcoholic content and is more fruity.
Tequila
The last but the main ingredient for our margarita is tequila. Ensure that you get 100% agave tequila; other factors are secondary. Also the second factor is based on aging. Use either Blanco (unaged) or Reposado (2 months to a year) for your margarita.
Check out the tequila classes based on their aging process here.
Your regular margarita is usually about 5 oz., and nearly half of it is alcohol (about 2-2.25 oz. out of your 5 oz. drink). So, keep an eye out even if they go down swiftly unless you want them to take you by surprise.
Summary
Now you know what a margarita tastes like. While these are some of the most popular choices and most cocktails and blends use these as a base, always keep in mind there may be more flavors based on regional specialties.
So, to wrap it all up, these cocktails provide a perfect balance between sweet, spicy, sour, and salty flavors, giving you a refreshing taste that keeps you wanting more.
