Tequila Neat

There is something to be said about a country where a bottle of water costs 40 pesos, a bottle of beer costs 30 pesos and you can buy a litre of tequila for 40 pesos ($3 Canadian dollars). I am not sure what is says, but it means something.

The other day I was off in search of Cointreau or Triple Sec. You see, to make the perfect margarita, you need one of these orange liqueurs. Everywhere in Mexico you will see the legendary square green bottles…but they are not Cointreau…they are Controy…a Mexican knock off version that is just not the same. I get why all the bars and people use it, because it costs 140 pesos, whereas a bottle of real Cointreau, if you can find is, costs 540 pesos, but therein lies the difference between the perfect margarita and the mediocre.

Fresh squeezed lime juice and quality tequila are also a must. On that note, any tequila you can buy at Walmart for 40 pesos a litre is NOT the tequila you are after. Trust me on this.
Tequila to Mexicans is like wine to people who live in the Okanagan. We all know there is good wine, and there is bad wine. And there is wine that is red, wine that is white, blends, Brut…wine is not just wine; It is an art; an array of talent, terroir, and tenacity. No year is the same, no varietal likewise. You can buy $5 a bottle rot gut or you can spend $100 for something worth lying down in your cellar for a decade. So it is with tequila.

Mexicans are horrified by “gringos” who come down here and take “shots” of tequila with salt and lime. Imagine slugging back a $100 bottle of wine and chasing it with a beer...you get the point. By law, “tequila” must be grown in the state of Jalisco (and a few other small regions) and is made from 100% blue agave. And like grapes, agave grows differently depending on the terroir – or region where it is grown (typically in the cooler highlands) and the higher the altitude where agave is grown, the sweeter the tequila, which should be drunk neat, slowly, and in a snifter: certainly not in a blender with lime juice and Cointreau.

Unfortunately all this flies in the face of creating the perfect margarita. So, in true gringo style, I shall contribute to the ghastly gringo habit of adulterating tequila and give you the recipe for the perfect margarita:

3 parts average quality tequila (no point wasting the good stuff)
2 parts fresh squeezed lime juice
1.5 parts Contreau
.5 part homemade simple syrup

Pour all of that over a container of ice and stir (don't shake), then strain into a wide mouthed glass with salted rim