Applebee's Perfect Margarita

Home reconstruction

A margarita is three ingredients and there is nowhere to hide, so the sweetener matters more than it would anywhere else.

Use agave nectar rather than simple syrup. Agave is what tequila is made from, and it carries the same vegetal, slightly earthy character. Sugar syrup is neutral — it makes the drink sweeter without making it taste of anything, and it sits as a distinct layer of sweetness on top of the tequila rather than joining it.

Thin the agave first

Neat agave nectar is thick and does not disperse properly in a cold shaker. It sinks, and you get a drink that is sharp at the top and syrupy at the bottom.

Mix it 2:1 with warm water and keep it as a bottle of agave syrup. It behaves like simple syrup then, and it stores for a month in the fridge.

Fresh lime, and it is not close

This is the other place these go wrong. Bottled lime juice is pasteurised and preserved, and what survives is the sourness without any of the aroma. In a drink this simple it tastes flat and slightly bitter.

One lime yields about 30 ml, so a drink each.

The salt goes on half the rim

Rub a lime wedge round the outside of half the glass and roll that half in salt. Two reasons to do half rather than all:

Whoever is drinking it can choose. And salting only the outside means none falls into the drink, which would keep making it saltier as it sits.

Coarse salt, not table salt. Fine salt makes a solid crust that comes off in sheets.

What you need

• 60 ml blanco tequila
• 30 ml triple sec or Cointreau
• 30 ml fresh lime juice
• 15 ml agave syrup (2 parts agave to 1 part warm water)
• coarse salt, for the rim
• a lime wheel
• ice

Method

1. 1. Rub a lime wedge round the outside of half the rim and roll it in coarse salt.
2. 2. Fill the glass with fresh ice.
3. 3. Put the tequila, triple sec, lime juice and agave syrup into a shaker with ice.
4. 4. Shake hard for 12–15 seconds.
5. 5. Strain over the fresh ice.
6. 6. Lime wheel on the rim.

Fresh ice in the glass

Do not tip the shaker ice into the glass. It has already partly melted and has a chipped, rough surface, so it will keep diluting the drink fast.

Fresh, whole cubes melt slowly. It is a small thing that decides whether the last mouthful is as good as the first.

Blanco, not reposado

Blanco tequila is unaged and tastes of agave. Reposado has been in oak and brings vanilla and caramel, which makes a good drink but a different one — closer to a whisky sour in character.

For this, blanco.

Adjusting

The 2:1:1 ratio here — tequila to triple sec to lime — is the classic and it is balanced. If it tastes harsh, add agave 5 ml at a time. If it tastes flabby, add lime.

Resist adding more tequila. It makes a stronger drink, not a better one, and it unbalances the other two.

Storing

Shaken to order. You can batch the tequila, triple sec, lime and agave and keep it refrigerated for two days — shake each serving with fresh ice.