Who did create the Margarita?
By a bartender In England
in 1936? By bartender Santos Cruz in Galveston, Texas
in 1948? In Acapulco in 1948 by Mrs. Margarita Sames?...
The first printed recipe for a margarita was in the December
issue of Esquire magazine in
1953. The recipe follows the ingredients
and amounts given by Texas socialite Margarita
Sames for the drink she created at her house in Acapulco in 1948.
Although Mrs. Sames is confident that her recipe was the
first margarita, named after herself of course, Eric Felten of the Wall Street Journal cites a recipe
called the Picador. The Picador was
found in the Café Royal Cocktail Book
published in London
in 1937. It is made with tequila,
Cointreau, and lime juice, no salt, served “up” similar to a martini.
There is no solid proof of the exact origins of the
margarita but cocktail historians (yes, there is such a thing) seem to be in
agreement that it took hold in the United States as a variation of the
Daisy. The Daisy was popular during
World War II and is traditionally made with whiskey. Due to the shortage of whiskey during the
war, many bartenders looked south of the border to Mexico where tequila was
plentiful. Substituting tequila for the
whiskey, the name was changed to the Tequila Daisy. From there, the name quickly morphed into the
Margarita, which is Spanish for daisy.
(Lifestyle Direct, Cocktail History 2005)
The many different claims for the creation of the Margarita
span many different places by many different people from Rosarito
Beach on the Baja to Juarez and Acapulco, Los Angeles, and Texas. The truth is, no one really knows the origin
of the Margarita…personally I have to go with that simply the people of Mexico
have been drinking tequila with a squeeze of citrus (lime and orange) way
before it became glamorous and served over ice, it just wasn’t called a
Margarita! Ironically, the most popular
drink in Mexico
is the Paloma…tequila mixed with grapefruit soda served over the rocks with a
lime wedge. (Washington Post, August 20, 2008)
Here is Mrs. Margarita Sames recipe:
“Drink of the Month” Esquire
magazine, December 1953
1 ounce tequila
Dash of Triple Sec
Juice of ½ lime or lemon
Pour over crushed ice, stir.
Rub the rim of a stem glass with rind of lemon or lime, spin in salt –
pore, and sip.