The World's Best Margarita

Margarita Sames, a retired Texan, says she whipped up the first margarita in Acapulco during the late Forties. Other claims to authorship include those made by Tommy's Bar in Juárez, Bertito's Bar in Taxco and the Rancho La Gloria in Tijuana. It hardly matters, except maybe to Sames. What you really need to know is where to find--and how to make--a great margarita, the kind that puckers your lips and gently erases the line between the left and right sides of your brain. And here's the answer. The best margaritas in the world are made at Rick Bayless' restaurants, the Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, on North Clark Street in Chicago. Bayless--often cited as one of America's top chefs--has conspired with tequila maven Carlos Alvarez to create four glorious concoctions that have thirsty patrons lined up out the door year-round.

Frontera's gold margarita, the house drink, was created before many of today's boutique tequilas became available north of the Rio Grande. It's just the thing to serve when you need drinks for a crowd and don't want to spend the evening shaking yourself into a frenzy.

Frontera Grill Gold Margarita

(Serves Eight)

Mix 1 2/3 cups Cuervo Especial gold tequila, 1/4 cup plus one teaspoon Gran Torres orange liqueur (or 1/4 cup Grand Marnier), 1/2 cup plus one tablespoon fresh lime juice (about two large limes), the finely grated zest of 1 1/2 limes (about one teaspoon) and five tablespoons of sugar. Combine the above with a cup of water in a glass pitcher, cover and refrigerate for two to 24 hours. Strain into another pitcher and serve straight up or on the rocks in margarita or martini glasses rimmed with lime and coarse salt.

"The secret," Bayless says, "is in the steeping, which melds the flavors into a rich, powerful blend." He recommends using key limes if you can find them. "Persian limes are what we're used to, but key limes are the real thing. When we're cutting them the smell fills the kitchen. You realize this is the aroma of Mexico."

Tequila distillers have hoped to duplicate the spectacular success of other premium spirits such as single-malt scotches and single-barrel and small-batch bourbons. Distillers in Jalisco, the Mexican state that's home to Guadalajara and its neighbor, Tequila, began exporting 100 percent blue agave tequilas a few years back.

They do with this native plant what Kentuckians learned to do with corn, and the result is a range of tequilas that can stand up against the best sipping whiskeys in the world. Which is one reason why today's more sophisticated tequila drinkers are no longer standing at the bar slamming shots with a little salt and lime. Licking salt off your hand and sucking on lime wedges is far from dead, of course, but it's hardly necessary to appreciate the spirit. A margarita is best served ice-cold. Presenting it in a chilled glass also adds a certain something to the experience.

To be properly labeled as such, tequila must be made in the state of Jalisco or designated areas of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit and Tamaulipas from the blue agave plant, a monster that takes eight to 12 years to mature and yields a pineapple-type heart--hence called the piña--that averages 40 to 70 pounds and has been known to weigh in at 150 pounds. The hearts are cooked in traditional brick ovens or modern autoclaves and then shredded or ground into a pulp--in some cases between stones (concluded on page 134) margarita(continued from page 102) like grain--and the juice distilled. Growing blue agave is time-consuming and harvesting it is tedious, but Mexican law requires that it make up 51 percent of anything labeled tequila. A great deal of ordinary tequila contains 51 percent blue agave and the rest is sugarcane. Some of this is quite good, in the way blended whiskeys can often be softer and sweeter than straight Kentucky bourbons. But like many blends they are much less complex than the pure thing. The best tequilas are 100 percent blue agave and vary with region, altitude and soil. These tequilas come in four distinct categories:

Gold used to be the only tequila you could find made from 100 percent blue agave. The gold color, however, is a marketing ploy. It derives not from aging but from caramel coloring--a nod to the American belief that an amber color indicates richer flavor. Sauza's marketing vice president, Cheryl Palmer, admits that "our gold and silver and José Cuervo's gold and silver are essentially the same product."

Blanco (also called white or silver) is clean and aged only a short period in stainless steel tanks. Blanco seems to pack a substantial punch because the agave taste dominates. (It isn't high alcohol content that powers it; almost all tequilas are 80 proof.) It's the choice of many tequila aficionados and Bayless' personal preference. "If you drink cognac before it has aged, it's not interesting. It's the aging and the wood that give it complexity. This isn't true of tequila. The best is just-distilled, when you can taste the agave flavors." Blanco makes a good before-dinner cocktail. Serve on the rocks with a slice of lime or lemon.

Reposada means rested, which in this case means the tequila is aged, usually in white-oak barrels, for at least two months and no more than a year. The oak imparts a delicate, tawny color and softens the tequila. Reposadas have less edge than blancos, and many people prefer to drink these tequilas straight.

Añejo is a rich, dark spirit in a class by itself. While some are aged in new oak, most are stored for years in used, charred oak bourbon barrels from Kentucky. Sauza ages its product in smaller, used sherry casks. The tequila acquires a deep amber color and a mellow, sweet taste from the lingering bourbon or sherry in the barrels. Añejo can taste much like a brandy or a mellow bourbon, with the taste of the agave buried in other flavors. This is the tequila to sip from a snifter after dinner. A good añejo is worth the top dollar you'll pay for it.

Here are three more of Bayless' best-selling libations:

Top-of-the-Line Margarita

(Serves two)

Combine 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about one large lime) and 1/4 cup Porfidio silver, Tesoro silver or another 100 percent agave silver with 1/4 cup Cointreau. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds with 1/2 cup coarsely cracked ice and strain into margarita or martini glasses rimmed with lime and coarse salt.

Topolo Margarita

(Serves four)

Start by making a limeade base. Combine the finely grated zest of 1 1/2 limes (about one teaspoon), 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (two large limes), 1/4 cup plus one teaspoon sugar and ten tablespoons water in a glass pitcher. Cover and refrigerate for two to 24 hours. Strain into a second pitcher. Rub the rims of four margarita or martini glasses with a lime wedge and dip into coarse salt (refrigerate glasses if you like). In a shaker, combine the lime with 3/4 cup Sauza Conmemorativo and two tablespoons plus two teaspoons Gran Torres orange liqueur or Grand Marnier. Add a cup of coarsely broken ice cubes. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds and pour into glasses.

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Mescal (or mezcal) is similar to tequila in that it is distilled from agave (once, as opposed to twice for tequila), but it is unregulated and can be made from any species of the plant in any part of Mexico. Like grappa, it varies--a lot. Some mescals taste like distilled stems and seeds, and others are very good indeed. All mescals are powerful and take a little looking to find in this country. But many of the better Mexican restaurants in major cities have a bottle or two behind the bar.

Mescal Margarita

(Serves Nine)

Mix together two cups lime juice, one cup water and one cup plus two tablespoons sugar. Stir in nine ounces Encantado mescal along with one tablespoon and two teaspoons Peychaud bitters. Serve over ice.

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Of course, there are other ways to serve tequila. Substituting it for gin in a collins is tasty, and Sauza's Palmer says she enjoys white tequila in a long drink with Fresca or Squirt as a mixer. This is a bit more grapefruity than a margarita, but it honors the tequila with a strong citrus taste and makes a good cooler when you're not up to mixing margaritas. It's also a popular way to drink tequila in Mexico. A bloody mary made with tequila becomes a bloody maria, and (of course) tequila, OJ, lime juice and grenadine is a tequila sunrise.

Tequila

Tasting Notes

Here are some of the best.

Gold

Sauza Extra, Gold is sweet and warm with a strong agave taste, yet it's softer than the blancos. Cuervo Gold has a pleasing taste.

It's the tequila that made José Cuervo a friend to a lot of folks.

Blanco

Chinaco is from Villa Gonzalez in Tamaulipas, almost on the gulf. It's powerful, peppery and sharp. Tres Mujeres is a valley tequila--Valle de Amatitán--from Arenal. Produced in small quantities by the Melendez family, it is softer and sweeter than Chinaco. 1921 is deep and rich, with a slight flavor of lilacs. El Tesoro and Patrón, from the highlands, have a hint of herbs.

Reposada

El Viejito, a highland tequila, is complex with flavors that change and deepen.

Los Valientes, from the valley of Amatitán, is fiery and has a dry aroma, but it's very smooth. Corralejo, not yet exported to the U.S., is extremely soft and herbal, with a hint of vanilla.

Añejo

Gran Centenario Seleccion Suave is aged for three years, with an aroma reminiscent of corn and molasses. It's delicious. Herradura Seleccion Supremo, aged four years, has a good, strong flavor.

Don Julio has recently been introduced here. The taste is smooth, sweet and pleasing.

Sauza Tres Generaciones. It's sweet and perhaps the softest of the añejos, with a hint of butterscotch.

Paradiso Añejo, from the same people who brought you El Tesoro, is a French-inspired blend of añejos and silvers. It's aged for a second time in cognac barrels, and the result is a rich tequila that shows its age and the French oak but retains the powerful agave taste and aroma.