How the Margarita Was Born

Thanks to her, we get a spirit that’s more prized by the day, called Mezcal. Then there’s a region of Mexico, around Jalisco, where a single type of agave is cultivated, giving rise to a specific spirit known as Tequila.

Tequila is that friend who got held back a year in middle school and turned up at afternoon parties with alcopops and cigarettes. It’s the high-school deskmate who asks to copy your homework and, in return, soups up your moped’s exhaust. It is — to borrow the words of my friend Paolo Miano — a black cat that crosses your path and then waits for you on the couch at home, laughing at you.

In short, it’s a spirit that’s hard to tame, but it can be a great partner in mischief.

Say “tequila” and the mind jumps straight to that salt-rimmed drink which — if a woman orders it on a first date — instantly conjures visions of a wild life together. And it was thinking of a woman that, in 1938, Carlos “Danny” Herrera, owner of a restaurant in Tijuana, created this classic cocktail. The lady in question was named Marjorie King, a captivating dancer with whom Danny evidently hoped to get better acquainted.

As one does, he started by offering her a drink. She, however, claimed to be allergic to every spirit except tequila (from which we also learn that faking an allergy isn’t a modern fad — it was “cool” back in the ’30s, too). So he made a very simple mental leap, starting from the traditional way he served tequila — with salt and lime. He mixed the spirit with fresh lime juice and Cointreau, an orange liqueur that’s strong but sweet. The salt he put on the rim of the glass. Voilà — the young lady was served, and even if we don’t know how the story ended, the Margarita is a nicely robust, thirst-quenching cocktail that can help you seduce any dancer you meet on a sweaty summer dancefloor, where you’ll find yourself swinging your hips to the sound of “suavecito.”

Tell Danny’s story and you might even come off as someone who “drinks well.” But if you then order it frozen and strawberry-flavored… forget everything you’ve read so far. In fact, forget you ever met me.

Original recipe: 50ml Tequila Blanco, 20ml Cointreau, 30ml lime juice. Salt rim.
Pour all the ingredients into a shaker and shake vigorously.
For the rim: moisten half the edge of the glass by running a lime around it, then press it into a saucer of salt. Coat only half the glass (not everyone likes salt).

My recipe (Margarita Goes to Hollywood):
50ml Tequila Blanco, 20ml cola syrup, 30ml lime juice. Popcorn rim.

Julian Biondi