Margarita cocktail

To achieve the perfect margarita, most bartenders lean toward a clean, bright tequila blanco, with an agave-forward profile that won’t be overwhelmed by citrus. Some pros play around with acid solutions, but for the rest of us, fresh lime is best. As for adding a salted rim, the choice is yours, but the recipe here incorporates salt into the drink itself – using saline (from a solution of 20g fine sea salt dissolved in 100ml warm water) in the shaker to season every sip evenly.

Overview

Prep time

5 mins

Serves

1

Ingredients

• 40ml El Rayo plata
• 20ml Cointreau
• 20ml freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tsp agave syrup
• ½ tsp saline (20g fine sea salt dissolved in 100ml warm water; you can bottle and keep this indefinitely)
• Ice cubes, for shaking
• 1 lime wedge, to garnish

Method

Step 1

Place a coupe in the freezer to chill while you prep, or fill with iced water and discard this before use.

Step 2

Add 40ml El Rayo plata, 20ml Cointreau, 20ml freshly squeezed lime juice, 1 tsp agave syrup and ½ tsp saline to a cocktail shaker. Load it with ice and put the lid on.

Step 3

Shake hard for at least 10 seconds – longer if you can stand it – until ice-cold and well diluted.

Step 4

Strain through a fine strainer into the chilled coupe. Garnish with 1 lime wedge on the rim.

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