How To Make Margaritas at Home

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Do you want to learn how to make margaritas at home? There are many ways to make margaritas ranging from the classic cocktail to variations of the mixed drink. Let’s explore how to make a margarita and how you can put a personal touch on your cocktail. 

What You’ll Need 

For the margaritas you’re learning how to make at home, you’ll need the key ingredients — tequila, triple sec, lime juice and some sweet and sour mix. You’ll also need something to mix and make it frothy like a cocktail shaker. A juice squeezer is optional to squeeze extra fresh juice out of the limes. 

Making Margaritas

Fill your margarita glass with ice and soda water and set it aside to chill while you make the margarita. Take your cocktail shaker, fill it with ice and pour in four counts of tequila, a half ounce of triple sec and lime juice and four counts or two ounces of sweet and sour. 

Dump the soda mix with ice out of your margarita glass and dip the glass rim in coarse kosher salt. Run a lime wedge over the glass rim to ensure the salt sticks. Shake your cocktail shaker, pour the mixture into the margarita glass, and garnish with a lime. Margaritas are perfect for friend gatherings or lazy afternoons by the pool. 

Ways To Mix It Up 

Margaritas are a classic cocktail with few ingredients, so why do they taste different depending on your choice of restaurant or even bartender? Let’s explore how you can add some flair to your mixed drink after you’ve mastered how to make classic margaritas at home. 

Quality Ingredients

The simplicity of this cocktail is what makes it extravagant, but the quality of the ingredients makes a significant difference in the beverage’s taste. Even with the same ingredients, a slight change in measurements can change the flavor profile of this cocktail. 

Using quality silver tequila like Patron or Don Julio can make your margarita taste even better. An excellent alternative to standard triple sec is Cointreau or Grand Marnier, which can add a more distinct orange flavor to your cocktail and make it a little sweeter. 

Make Your Own Mix

Making a fresh sweet and sour mix can take your margarita to the next level. Storebought sweet and sour mix can’t compare to the mixture you make at home. First, you’ll make some simple syrup, which you can use for other cocktails like a Manhattan or old-fashioned. 

Heat two cups of water and one cup of sugar on the stove until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a jar and let it cool to room temperature before you add the other ingredients. Add half a cup of lime juice and half a cup of lemon juice and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for a month for optimal freshness. 

Creative Cocktail Spins

Put a few spins on the classic cocktail to spice it up a bit, like adding flavoring to any essential margarita and shaking it in your cocktail shaker to blend. You can also add a splash of soda water to make your drink less sour. 

You can add flavors to match the season, like watermelon during the summer and strawberry in the spring. Pop the mixture into a blender for a frozen alcoholic treat. If you aren’t a tequila fan, you can opt for a lighter liquor in your margarita, like Malibu rum in a tropical margarita. 

For a tropical margarita, you’ll use the exact measurements as a standard margarita but replace a few ingredients–Malibu instead of tequila, peach schnapps instead of triple sec, lemonade instead of sweet and sour and some blue curacao in place of lime juice. Pour the blue curacao over the drink mixture after you’ve shaken it into your glass for a pretty layer on top of your drink. 

How To Make Margaritas at Home 

You can tweak the ingredients to fit your taste when making margaritas at home. You can opt for less tequila and more lime juice for a sweeter and less potent cocktail. There’s nothing like a refreshing margarita on a warm sunny day. Whip up a batch of margaritas in a pitcher for friends or make your own with these delicious recipes.