Cookaholics Bulletin Board

It's a good idea, but I wouldn't want to risk it. I don't find liquor ingredient lists to be that reliable, or even available. I still can't figure out if angostura bitters will kill me, or certain brands of gin....the "secret formulation" and "natural botanicals" ingredient list is not helpful.

Carey,

Well, my first thought is just omit the Triple Sec, and add a bit of extra lemon juice and sugar. A "basic" margarita really is just tequila, lime juice, and sugar, over ice, so anything else you add is optional.

Alternately, follow Wino's recipe posted earlier, only replace the Triple Sec with a 2nd cup of Tequila, and double the amount of zest, and add 2 Tbs sugar.

OR ... add grenadine, Rose's lime syrup, or a similar tart flavored syrup to your margarita in place of the triple sec, with a little more tequila.

I do want you to try the lemoncello now, though. And report back.

Ok. I can experiment! I just need to get some tequila.

I've been trying different styles of Negroni lately, so far I've not made one that really suits me.
Last evening I made a Robert Hess Jasmine:
1-½ oz. Gin
1 oz. Cointreau
¼ oz. Campari
½ oz. fresh Lemon juice
This one was OK, still not going to be a regular.
Got any similar drink recipes that you'd recommend?

So I've been experimenting...limoncello is definitely not sweet enough for margueritas and you can taste the lemon pith (so there's a bitter edge). I also tried Pom liqueur (a substitution recommended by Serious Eats). It's actually pretty good, but I found that I needed quite a bit of extra sugar to have a balanced, but still somewhat tart, drink. Based on this, I'm guessing triple sec must be quite sweet?

I've also realized that my vitamix is too powerful for frozen margueritas. It pulverized the ice to nothing (even on pulse I went from too chunky to no texture left in seconds). So now I'm wondering what you all use for blended slush drinks?

Carey,

Yeah, triple sec is pretty sweet. I also sometimes add a little bit of sugar to my margaritas if the limes are too acid. Did you try the Rose's lime syrup? Or Torani, for that matter.

I have been drinking Ting (a grapefruit soda with real grapefruit juice) and Tequila this summer. One of my Jamaican friends introduced me to it a few years ago, but this seems to be the year I drink a lot of it! They go together quite well.

--Lisa

Ting sounds wonderful. I can't have grapefruit of grapefruit juice due to hypertension. This is probably a stupid question but do you think there's enough actual grapefruit juice in the soda to be harmful? (Sometimes it's just mostly flavoring.)

My current Marguerita is

60 ml tequila
22.5 ml lime juice
22.5 ml cointreau
7.5 ml simple syrup
5 drops saline solution

Though I use a pinch of salt instead of the saline. It makes a big diff. I drink mine stirred, not slushed.

Lunazul may be. It cost around $17 I think. The flavour has a hint of pepper and herbal notes, and the finish is mildly spicy. Though this isn't my favourite sipper of the bunch, it's great in cocktails. Try it in a Paloma, in the Mexican style, with a pinch of salt, some fresh lime juice (if you can afford it), and grapefruit soda.