TEQUILA & SUNSHINE The Ultimate Summer Margarita Guide
Written by Jennifer Brian / Photos by Photo by Jennifer Brian nd Jessie Kriech Higdon Oh, the glorious growing season of summer! The farmers’ market season is my favorite time of summer. Just browsing the booths to see what's fresh every week brings so many ideas for yummy cocktails and dishes. Simplicity is what we are looking for, and the ingredients during the growing season are always the stars of the show. One of my quintessential summer cocktails is the margarita. The great thing about classic cocktails is that you can make so many variations with little effort. Margaritas are a crowd pleaser for a reason. The translation of Margarita in Spanish is “Daisy.” A daisy is comprised of a sour, a spirit, citrus, a sweetener, water (from ice dilution), and sometimes curacao. While bourbon is my first love, tequila runs a close second. Distilled from the Blue Weber agave plant, Tequila is a region-specific product of Mexico. According to the Normas Oficial Mexicana of Tequila (NOM), the regulations governing
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the production of tequila, 51% of the sugar used must come from the Blue Weber agave. Additionally, the agave must be grown on a registered plantation and processed, fermented, distilled, and aged by an authorized producer in one of 180 municipalities located in five states: Jalisco, Nayarit, Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas. In fact, bottling is the only activity permitted outside one of these approved areas. Tequila does not have to be 100% blue agave, but that is 100% what I recommend. You do not want any additives in your tequila. There are three main types of tequila. Blanco tequila (silver) is made by adding only has water to it to dilute it to the desired proof and then bottling it. Reposado (“rested”) has been aged in oak barrels for at least two months, and Añejo (“old”), which has been aged in oak barrels for at least one to three years. This trio of margarita variations can be made quickly and batch beautifully. Let me know which one is your favorite! sl