Rule one of making a good margarita. Don’t buy cheap tequila. Rule two of making a good margarita. DON’T BUT CHEAP TEQUILA!!! Of course, with that said, don’t by extremely expensive tequila either. Much like whiskey, rot gut is okay when mixed with Coke, but, it’s not something you’re going to sit around the campfire sipping. Nor would you waste Jim Beam Blue Label by covering it up with the taste of cola.
Also when purchasing tequila, make sure you get one hundred percent tequila. Some tequilas today are actually blends of other distillates and using blue agave for flavor. Freshness of ingredients is key also. If that bottle of mix has been sitting in the back of the refrigerator for six months, toss it and by a new one. For the ultimate in freshness you can make your own mix very easily. There are numerous mix recipes on the internet. Frequent ingredients are fresh lime juice, sweet and sour, orange liqueur (triple sec), and velvet falernum.
If you’d like to take the fresh approach all the way, and make a very, very good margarita, don’t use a mix at all. If takes very little effort to squeeze a couple of limes every time you make a margarita. Add the tequila and orange liqueur, and you have the drink. A quick mention on salt. Like the tequila, don’t go cheap. Straight from that shaker you snagged off the table at Hardees is not going to provide the same flavor as a good freshly ground sea salt.
