Sideband #22: Perfect Margarita

Now that Sidebands have turned 21 they can have alcohol, so…

Seems that just about everyone has a “perfect” margarita recipe. Not wanting to be left out of the crowd, I’ve decided to give you mine, a recipe based on the incredibly inexpensive, wondrously potent, double margaritas my friend, Nancy, and I used to drink at El Coyote in Hollywood long, long ago. Even back then, it was hard to believe that much punch came in a glass for only $1.95 USD.

It took me years of experimenting, and several false trails, to find a similar taste and potency, but finally I stumbled on the “secret” … pineapple juice!

I won’t say that it’s the ultimate margarita. I won’t say that it’s the world’s greatest margarita (although I kinda think so).

I’ll let you decide for yourself. I could provide references, but you should try one on your own…

So without further ado, here’s my “perfect” margarita recipe:

As you can see, it’s a very easy-to-remember recipe. Just throw in equal parts of all the ingredients!

In fact, the proportions are not critical. You can measure them or use the “glug, glug, glug” technique: just pour in an equal number of “glugs.”

A note about the ingredients: There is some debate as to whether using prime tequila and liqueur really makes any difference.

One belief is that, once you add the lime and pineapple juice and blend with ice, any advantage of prime tequila is lost. Certainly you don’t want to use rot-gut, but it’s probably a waste to use your very best. Save that for shooters!

While I normally like my margaritas on the rocks (no salt, please), these seem to work best as “frozen.”

That is, toss the mixture and some ice in a blender and make a slushy

(Frozen margaritas should never be served with salt, by the way. This is doubly-so for strawberry (and similar) margaritas, which should always be served frozen style.)

Be warned: the pineapple juice makes them taste like they’re not that strong, but they are!

Of course, drink responsibly and for God’s sake don’t drive, operate farm machinery, fly planes or attempt complicated math problems.

Stay thirsty, my friends!