In search of the perfect margarita

So I'm posting old news here, but is this topic ever not topical?  It just takes me a long time to get around to these bloggy things.

So, I've been working on my margarita recipe, trying to find that perfect blend that is not too sour on one hand, or too sweet on the other...that has a nice succulent flavor without knocking out the lightweights (read: too much tequila)... and that also has a personal touch.   It's a work in progress, but I've concocted a potion that I'm pretty content with for now.

Here's the proof of my experimentation (some of you may have seen this photo several weeks ago on fb):

For comparison, the conventional legitimate margarita recipe is something along the lines of:
1 part tequila
1 part lime juice (fresh squeezed ideally)
0.5 part orange liqueur (Cointreau, Gran Marnier, etc),
and sometimes a little sugar or simple syrup

This is a tasty bev but a bit too much on the acid/sour side.  Logical remedies would be to just increase the amount of one of the other ingredients, but this recipe is already pretty alcoholic (3 parts alcohol to 2 parts juice), so more tequila puts the drink a little over the top, while more Cointreau or sugar makes it too sweet.  I do believe increasing the ratio of tequila to lime + sweet is important, because this drink should ultimately taste like agave, not lime juice.  The quest was all about how to do this without making the drink just tasting like too much tequila (not that there would really be anything wrong with that).  My solution was to increase the ratio of tequila vs. sweet and sour and to balance with the addition of another succulent - cactus ingredients.  The result is not just tasty, but also distinct and with some great texture.

Here's the recipe:

1 part tequila (substitute some Mezcal for a smokier flavor!)
0.8 parts lime (fresh squeezed, but a bottle of pure lime juice works pretty well)
0.4 parts Cointreau (or similar orange liqueur like Gran Marnier, or I guess even Triple Sec)
0.4 part cactus blend (see below)
0.2 part agave syrup or simple syrup (1:1 sugar:water)

Or, for a pitcher quantity (and doing some rounding to simplify):

3c = 1 bottle tequila (750 mL)
2.5 c of lime juice
1.25 c ( most of a 375 mL bottle) of Cointreau
1.25 c of cactus blend
0.5 c of agave or simple syrup


The cactus blend consists of prickly pear (Opuntia) fruits and nopal leaf (the leaf of the prickly pear cactus).  The fruits and leaf taste somewhat similar, but the fruit is sweeter and has a brilliant color, while the leaf imparts a 'greener' flavor and a lot of texture owing to their somewhat slimy quality.  You obviously don't want too much slime, so I find a ratio of about 4:1 (fruit: leaf) by volume to be good for making the cactus blend.  Peel 4 fruits and about 1/4 cup or so of leaf, and put them in a blender.  You may have to add just a little water to get the blend going.  Then you have to strain the mix to get rid of the fruits' seeds and leaves' skin.  I find that pressing it through just a couple layers of cheese cloth works well.  You'll end up with a thick semi-frothy mix that, when added in small quantity to the whole drink gives the cocktail a texture like a 'nectar' beverage or thin smoothie (you know, like an Odwalla drink or something), not to mention a brilliant magenta color, and a little more cactus-y (rather than sweet and sour) taste.  Frankly, I think it might be even better to substitute out more of the lime and sweet stuff and add more of the cactus ingredients.

It sounds like a lot of work, and obviously compared to an easier method, it is.  But if you've got time to prepare for the happy hour you're hosting, you can whip up a pitcher or two in < 30 min.  One time saver is to buy your prickly pears from the grocer, already de-spined.  They are only 4 for $1.00 at the Windmill Farms market in my neighborhood!  You can peel them and throw them in your blender in just a couple mins.  The same market sells bags of nopales, already chopped (see photo above), so this also saves big on time.

Here's the result.  It tastes and feels as good as it looks.  Salud!