I mean, it costs about $12.00-I assume they use fresh limes, good tequila, triple sec. In contrast, one made from a concentrate-is the bar-made one a whole lot better?
Depends on the bar/bartender, but in general yes they are much better.
Kind of like a pizza from a pizzeria v. a frozen pizza.
They are essentially two different drinks. IMO the one you describe as the “bar-made” one is quite a bit better.
Concentrate and/or mixes tend to made sweet, lightly-liquored drinks, good for serving frozen. You can drink a lot of these without getting drunk, since they tend to have less alcohol than the other version.
“Bar-made” is not the greatest description, as I know plenty of bars that make Margaritas from mix. But I assume you mean non-mix Margaritas. For us, that means freshly-squeezed lime juice, Cointreau and/or Grand Marnier, and a decently-good Tequila. Maybe some sugar if the limes are particularly sour. These make a more refined and stronger drink. Much tastier, IMO.
That said, I know more than a few people who prefer the sweeter drinks. A real homemade Marg is a bomb; strong, sour, BIG. If you’re not used to them, you might not like them.
(and of course, this whole discussion simplifies things. Some bars make mixes from fresh lime/lemon juice and a little sugar that are really good; some mix-made drinks use higher-quality tequila and more of it and are strong.)
Sour Mix? In a Margarita? What is this, Auschwitz?
Five ingredients. Tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, ice, kosher salt. Oh and sorry about the Auschwitz crack.
Sterling Archer
Some restaurants here have good frozen margaritas; they don’t use blenders but slurpee-type machines. I don’t know the exact ingredients, but they can be quite tasty. (Even the Pastry War, a mezcaleria downtown, has a frozen “machine”–and I’ll bet their ingredients are impeccable.)
For a non-frozen margarita–made at a bar or at home–there is no excuse for a mix. 100% agave tequila, lime juice, Cointreau or Grand Marnier. Play around with the citrus, depending on what’s in season. Sweeten a bit for balance? Agave nectar is popular. Personally, I’ll omit the salt.
A properly made margarita is quite strong. For a lighter tequila cocktail, play around with the Paloma.
We do use frozen limeade in ours rather than always starting from scratch with fresh limes.
My DH makes the best margaritas on this planet - seriously. He was a former bar manager at a Mexican restaurant though.
Funny story, I like the sweeter Strawberry ones, he likes the Lime. My daughter once licked the rim of his glass, thinking it was sugar. 
Nope.
I got on a margarita kick this past summer. Recipe I used- 3oz. El Mayor tequila, 2 oz. Fresh-squeezed lime juice, 1 oz. Cointreau, and 1/2 oz. Simple syrup. Mixed with a lot of crushed ice, served in a glass with kosher salt on the rim. Fantastic, and kept scurvy at bay.
For a bit of trivia, there used to be an entire class of drinks called “Daisies” back in the late 19th/early 20th century. Their general format is about 2 oz of spirits, 1.5 teaspoons of simple syrup, 1.5 teaspoons of orange liqueur and the juice of half a lemon.
Transport that to Mexico, and sub in lime juice for lemon, and use tequila in place of the gin, whiskey, rum or brandy of the American versions, and you have the Margarita, which is Spanish for “Daisy”.
The classic recipe is something close to this: 1.5 oz tequila, 1 oz triple sec, 3/4 oz lime juice, with the preferred triple sec being Cointreau (yes, it is a triple sec).
Anything else is a short cut of some sort, or bastardization. Sweetening the drink is by far the least of the sins- I personally think the classic recipe benefits from another 1/2-3/4 oz of simple syrup, like solost suggests. Using Key limes instead of persian limes is an interesting twist, and not a bastardization at all.
Margarita mix is generally a short-cut for a couple reasons- no need for fresh limes, no need for specific orange liqueur and no need to go around measuring and squeezing overly much. You just measure out your 2 oz of tequila, and add mix to taste. It’s a margarita of sorts… in much the same way that a Swanson salisbury steak is a steak of sorts.
For a neat frozen margarita trick, try this (makes 4):
Add the following to a ziploc bag (all measurements in oz):
Tequila 6 oz
Triple Sec 4 oz
Simple syrup 3 oz
Add 8.75 ounces of water to the bag as well. Freeze in a very cold freezer overnight.
When ready to serve, add 4 oz of freshly squeezed lime juice to a blender, and the frozen contents of the ziploc bag. Pulse until well combined and slushy. Serve however you’d serve a frozen margarita.
You get that restaurant-style frozen margarita texture without the actual trouble of needing a machine, and none of that trouble or tiny ice chunks of blending the crap out of ice cubes.
Sources: Dave Arnold’s “Liquid Intelligence” (the frozen margarita bit), Dale DeGroff’s “Craft of the Cocktail” (the standard recipe), and David Wondrich’s “Imbibe!” (the history of the Daisy/Margarita).
Sometimes really good limes are not in the stores. Or not in your house.
Better than a “mix”! (Be sure to use plenty of good tequila.)
“Grande margarita, rocks, no salt.”
One of my favorite phrases.
Ugh, not to me. Really, if I didn’t have fresh limes in the house, I’d just skip the margs. There’s really no shortcut for fresh lime (except, perhaps, fresh lemon).
They are different drinks, but both tasty.
The real original margarita, as in Hussongs (who invented the drink is disputed, but certainly the Hussongs version is early and “original”) is a strong drink, rather sour. Drink it to get drunk.
The “frozen margarita” with mix is much sweeter, and gets a lot more ice and coldness for the booze content. Drink it to cool off.
I’m a fan of Wondrich’s theory as to the naming… it does make a lot of sense to me that a drink called the “daisy” that is basically a proto-Margarita, but made with gin, whiskey, etc… and lemon juice became the “Margarita” when made with tequila and lime juice. (and “margarita” is the Spanish word for Daisy).
But regardless, you’re absolutely right in that the original recipe is sour as hell; an ounce of triple sec or orange curacao doesn’t do much to offset 3/4 oz of lime juice.
The first time I was served a Margie, it was slightly sour, limey, boozy, shaken and poured over the rocks. I have no idea if that is remotely authentic in any way, but it sure is good. I still make my own that way, rather than the frozen-with-crushed-ice-super-sweet kind you get in most bars. I actually like the taste of good tequila, and when I make my shaken version, the tequila flavor comes through wonderfully.
There are variations in both. I call the mix kind “Otter Pop” margaritas, but in jest. I like those with chips and salsa.
I make my regular margarita like this:
1 shot white tequila (I use Puerto Vallarta brand…it has a slight creamy flavor)
1 shot Cointreau
1 shot lime juice
1 T simple syurp
Shake it up then strain into a cocktail glass.
If you live in Portland, Oregon, and wonder what Por Que No?'s recipe is, they give it out. It’s not only freaking delicious, it’s great when you want to serve a lot of margaritas but don’t have the time to shake them up one at a time.
(I recommend doubling the recipe!)
Ingredients
• 12 ounces silver tequila (about half of a 750-milliliter bottle)
• 5 ounces triple sec liqueur (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
• 4 ounces fresh lime juice (1/2 cup)
• 4 ounces fresh lemon juice (1/2 cup)
• 7 ounces simple syrup (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons; see note)
• 1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
• Kosher salt
Just mix it all up and serve in pint glasses filled with ice–it needs to dilute. I don’t usually bother with salt, but I like it with salt, too.
I really like Sangria Margaritas. Mmmmmmm
Lime juice is unstable. Even frozen. I recommend testing this yourself. You can stabilize it by cooking it with sugar, but the cordial taste you end up with gives you a different drink.
Mixed drinks made from limes that weren’t whole when you ordered the drink are garbage. But most bars are garbage.
Yeah, not even the same drink. I make them at home, sometimes I play with the recipe (a couple of dashes of peach bitters can be nice), but the key ingredients are fresh squeezed limes and a quality tequila.
ETA: It’s not a hard drink to make at home if you want to find out.