This article was published on June 10th, 2016

Did you know the famous song, “Margaritaville,” sung by Jimmy Buffett actually started in Austin, Texas and not Key West? Lore has it that a TexMex restaurant in Austin inspired this perfectly lazy summer song. Sure, the song was finished in Key West — mostly a tip of the hat to Florida tourists — but the song is rooted in the Lone Star State.

The history of the margarita

Chances are good the drink wasn’t invented in Texas though.

Lots of people vy for being the first to create the sour, sweet, and salty drink, but most likely Danny Herrera created this drink. In 1938, he’s thought to have whipped up this cocktail up for a budding actress at his restaurant in Mexico.

According to the Complete Book of Spirits by Anthony Dias Blue, around 1945 Jose Cuervo began advertising in with — Margarita: it’s more than a girl’s name.

Since then this concoction has been the drink of choice, especially in summertime.

Questions about a perfect margarita

You may have a few questions about creating the perfect margarita:

• Triple Sec or Cointreau? Cointreau. If you want to try something different, go with Grand Marnier. The orange-y taste adds a little sweetness and is worth the extra money.
• Which tequila? Don’t waste your best sipping tequila in a margarita. Herradura is a nice one and isn’t too expensive. You’ll enjoy the pepper notes to it.
• Salt or sugar on the rim? These days so many people sugar the rim, but what makes the margarita so delicious is the mixture of salt, sour, and sweet together.

Recipe

• 2 limes
• 4 tablespoons of salt
• 1 ounce Herradura tequila
• ½ ounce Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Take a ripe lime and cut it open. Use the flesh to swipe it around the rim of your glass to wet it. (This makes it easier for the salt to stick.) Add about four tablespoons of salt and spread it out on a plate. Turn your glass upside down, where the lime wet it, and salt the rim.

Take the lime and squeeze to be strained. Take the juice and add it to a shaker. Add the tequila and the Cointreau or orange liqueur. Add some ice and shake it like a Polaroid picture. Strain the mixture into your glass. Add a lime wedge or slice as a garnish and drink.  

Drink while listening to Jimmy Buffet and be perfectly lazy.