History of the Margarita

Many have claimed to know the origins of Margarita. However the truth still remains unclear today.

The most known of all the historical claims behind the Margarita cocktail originates in 1948. A fabolous hostess and Dallas socialite, Margarita Sames, hosted a pool side Christmas party at her vacation home in Acapulco, Mexico. The party game of choice for Margarita was to get behind the bar and see what concoctions she could develop and let her party guests test and rate the results. That evening she mixed tequila with cointreau and lime juice. The result was a success among her guests and quickly traveled through the elite groups in Texas and soon to Hollywood under the name of Margarita.

There is also a story of showgirl named Majorie King, who had an allergy to alcohol. For some reason she could only drink tequila. In 1938 while visiting the Rancho Del Gloria Bar in Rosarita Beach, Mexico, Majorie asked one of the bartenders to mix her a cocktail with tequila. The bartender, Danny Herrera, poured tequila over shaved ice then added lemon and triple sec. He translated Majorie's name to Spanish and thus the name, Margarita.

Next in line of Margarita history comes from Tommy's Place in Juarez, Mexico. Pancho Morales was working at the bar in 1942, when a lady came up to him and ordered a "Magnolia." Morales could not remember any of the ingredients to the drink except cointreau. After mixing tequila, he named the new concoction after the flower, daisy. Take a guess as to what the Spanish traslation of daisy is.

Margarita has developed into one of the most popular cocktails today and has been modified in many different ways over the century. Many mexican restaurants were established all over the world and Margarita was served there. At home consumers came to enjoy the easy-mixing Margaritas with the Margarita mixes.

Most Tequila is produced in Mexico with Blue Agave plant (century plant). According to the Mexican law, tequila must contain 51 percent of Blue Agave. Most Blue Agave plants that are used for tequila are produced in the State of Jalisco. Besides Jalisco, there are four other States in Mexico where they produce the plans for the purpose of producing tequila: Michoacan, Nayarit, Tamaulipas and Guanajuato. There are 100 percent Agave tequila sold in the United States, which must be inspected by the government before it's shipped. Distillers use sugar plants to blend tequila but it must not exceed more than 49 percent of the bottle. Blended tequilas do not have to be produced in Mexico. There are three major categories in tequila: Gold Tequila, Tequila Anejo and White Tequila. Both Gold Tequila and Tequila Anejo is usually aged in white oak casks.