Thanks, I did a little research on line and put together a few tequilas to check out at my local liquor store.
For cocktails: Blue Head, Don Roberto Silver, Asombroso Silver
For sipping: Peidra Azul respado, Chamucos Azul, Don Roberto respado and 1921 respado.
My basic margarita recipe is 2oz tequila, 3/4 oz agave and 1oz fresh lime juice, but I’m interested to hear others.
For sipping tequila, do most of you take it neat, or on the rocks?
I don’t measure anything, but I use tequila, triple sec, and lime juice.
If it’s really good, we drink it neat from brandy snifters to catch the aromas. Truth be told though, any glass works fine in a pinch. 
I don’t want to come off as some kind of snob, it’s just after some experimentation it is what works for SWMBO and I. YMMV.
We’ve also used cointreau instead of triple sec and it works nicely.
madmonk28, if you can get some Don Julio 1941 I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Although it sounds like you have way better access to the good stuff than I do.
My margarita recipe is:
3 oz tequila
1 oz cointreau
2 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
The bartender at the last hotel I stayed at taught me how to make a Mexican Firing Squad but I forgot the proportions he used. It was tequila, *real *grenadine, lime juice and a dash of bitters, on the rocks.
Yep. That would be the requirements for a typical classic margarita. I go 2:1:1 these days in tequila:triple sec:lime. No sugar for me. If I want to mellow it for people who like it a little sweeter, I do one part of simple syrup. AllShookDown’s proportions are good, too. I used to do the 3:2:1 ratio with an optional 1 for simple syrup for quite awhile, too. I think I slightly favor 2:1:1, but, who knows, I may go back to 3:2:1. The way I was originally taught, though, was 1:1:1.
ETA: Whoops. AllShookDown’s is 3:2:1 in tequila, lime juice, triple sec. Mine is 3:2:1 in tequila, triple sec, lime. (Cointreau is a type of triple sec, in case anyone is confused. You can also substitute something like a Grand Marnier orange liqueur in for the triple sec, for something that is usually called a “cadillac margarita.” The key is that you want a sweet, orange liqueur in there, and its sweetness is pretty much the reason you don’t need additional simple syrup.)
Yay, ignorance fought! I didn’t know Cointreau was a triple sec. I’m also intrigued by the idea of using curacao, which would render the margarita blue! Who doesn’t love blue food?
I also really like palomas, especially if you don’t make them too sweet. I found using grapefruit italian soda works quite nicely if you don’t want to go from scratch.
One other recipe for tequila that I haven’t seen outside of Puero Vallarta is the Ciclon:
2 oz ea. silver tequila, gin, a splash of red wine. Top up with ice and fresh oj, and a splash of 7up and a dash of bitters.
That’s going off my rather foggy recollections and I may have forgotten something.
Curacao need not be blue. The original is clear, in fact. I call it “blue curacao” if the color is important. The important part of curacao liqueur is that it’s made from a citrus fruit called laraha or the Laraha orange, which is related to Seville oranges and other bitter oranges.
I’ve never seen a blue curacao that was worth drinking, I believe that’s all just low grade gimmicky stuff. If you’re going to go the trouble of getting a nice spirit, don’t ruin it with crap cocktail ingredients.
I’d like to know that too. I haven’t drunk a lot of tequila.
Personally, if it’s a good tequila, I drink it neat. Then again, I drink pretty much every straight alcohol that’s worth drinking neat, or slightly chilled.
Tres Generaciones Añejo in the shot glass. Ummyummy.
I’ve also mixed beer, frozen canned lime-ade, and tequila. Beer-ritas!
Myself? Neat, room temp. Like pulykamell, that’s how I prefer most liquor worth drinking. If the proof starts to get near 110, I usually add a few drops of water to keep it from tasting hot.
I’ve never tried it in a brandy snifter, will have to grab one at the liquor store this weekend and try it.