Santa Fe Margarita
On the rocks like God intended.
I hold this truth to be self-evident: Under no circumstances should a blender be allowed to touch a margarita. In fact, blenders are even against the law in the city of Santa Fe.
I kid.
They aren’t against the law…yet. But put tequila into one and they will throw your ass outside the city limits and leave you for the coyotes.
I grew up in Santa Fe, and I can tell you they take thier food and drink fucking seriously there. They were doing heirloom produce before heirloom was a thing. There is a cult revolving around green chile - its uses, merits of different roasting methods, subtle differences between varieties. At the fancy restaurants, in addition to a wine list there will be a tequila list.
If your only exposure to tequila was what you drank from a squirt gun while super-fucked-up on spring break, the existence of tequila lists will not compute. Allow me to drop some knowledge on you.
Knowledge drop #1:
All alcohol is produced by the fermentation - by yeast - of carbohydrate. In the case of tequila, the carbohydrate source is agave, a desert plant with “stay the fuck away from me” spikes but yummy sweet sap. The products of its fermentation are distilled and either bottled as is (with some dilution to the proper proof), or aged in oak casks. The time it spends in that oak will add aromas and flavors, and will soften the edges of the spirit. Much like whiskey, the longer the spirit spends in oak, the richer, more complex, and more expensive the final spirit will be. Like most spirits, there are very strict definitions around where tequila can be made and how it is labeled.
We could get into the regions that tequila is produced and the differences in character between them, and how and when the roots are harvested and baked and all that, but honestly, I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. Plus this post is already chock full of facts and pretty fucking light on the swears.
So let’s boil it down to the bare bones basics. There are four main categories of tequila: blanco, which spends no time in barrel, reposado, which spends between two months and one year in oak, añejo, which spends one to three years in oak, and extra añejo, which is anything that lives in barrel beyond three years. “Gold” and “silver” aren’t official terms but marketing terms, though “silver” usually means blanco.
Añejo and extra añejo are sipping tequilas. Drink them straight, with a touch of water, or a cube of ice. Then savor their complex, savings account-draining flavors. Blanco and reposado are the ones to use for mixed drinks. I prefer reposado for margaritas. The smoother edges and layers of flavor really do come through in the final product.
A reposado on the left, a blanco on the right.
Knowledge drop #2:
“Daisies” are alcoholic beverages containing spirit, liqueur, and citrus juice. For instance, sidecars, cosmopolitans, and margaritas. Daisies are shaken over ice, and then can be served “up” or on the rocks (or frozen, but then you are diluting the alcohol and it’s really hard to do it well and then there are the coyotes to consider so just forget I mentioned it, okay?)
There are some classic ratios quoted for daisies, but I like Eat Street Social’s recipe best:
1 1/2 oz spirit
3/4 oz citrus
1/2 oz liqueur
1/4 oz simple syrup
I also hit up my sister, who still lives in Santas Fe and makes a really fucking excellent margarita. Her recipe is simple: equal parts lime juice, Cointreau, and tequila. As a scientist, I felt rigorous research was required.
I made the simple syrup, which is simply equal volumes water and sugar, heated until the sugar dissolves, and then cooled. I used Dry Curaçao for the liqueur, and La Gritona resposado for the tequila. I started with the two recipes and altered from there. My sister’s recipe was the clear winner of the two starting drinks, though I felt the need to adjust the sweet/sour ratio and experiment with bitters. What follows is the final version.
But first, a note on ingredients:
For liqueur: Cointreau, Dry Curaçao (pictured), Royal Combier, Luxardo Triplum triple sec, and Combier Liqueur d’Orange are all good options, though the first two are my favorites. Grand Marinier is a bit more brandy forward and meant more as a sipper than a mixer, and is more expensive anyway.
For tequila: Feel free to experiment to see what you like amongst the blanco and reposado options out there, but some of my favorites are Don Julio, Herradura, Tequila Ocho, and my new favorite, La Gritona. La Gritona is a small, female owned distillery in Jalisco. The tequila is delicious, is bottled in recycled glass, and is a fucking steal at the price. Nothing not to love there.
Bitters: Bitters are for cocktails what salt and pepper are to food. They add dimension, lengthen or bend flavors, and make you look like a fucking cocktail genius. Experiment, but in a margarita stay away from anything purely orange (you already have that in the liqueur) and look for bright flavor profiles. I settled on Bittercube Jamaican #2, with notes of grapefruit, hibiscus, allspice and ginger.
Shaping up to be a pretty good evening.
Shit You Need
1 1/2 ounces tequila reposado
1 1/2 ounces Cointreau or Dry Curaçao
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
10 drops Bittercube Jamaican #2 bitters
Salt for the rim of your glass (I used fleur de sel, but kosher salt could work, as well as “margarita” salt)
You may note that this is a total of 3 ounces of 80 proof liquor. Treat it with respect or it will hammer your fine ass into the ground and leave you for the coyotes.
Keep Calm and justeffingmix
Prep your glass: Rub the rim of a double old-fashioned glass with a lime slice and invert onto a plate or bowl holding your salt. Add ice to the glass.
To a cocktail shaker, add the first four ingredients listed above, along with a generous handful or two of ice.
Shake for 30 seconds (it’s longer than you think).
Strain into the prepared glass.
Repeat as necessary.
By the end of my research, both my presentation and photographic skills had suffered greatly. Totally worth it.
