Margaritas With Real Limes
For the last few weeks I’ve been experimenting with my margarita recipe which is fairly basic, a shot of 100% Agave Tequila, two shots Roses’s Lime Juice and a half shot of Grand Marnier in a shaker with ice. The issue I’ve had is that Rose’s Lime Juice is full of high fructose corn syrup, not exactly the most healthy of choices.
Like many chemically designed sugar substitutes, most are known not to be a very healthy alternative to real sugar. However, real sugars don’t dissolve so well in a cold drink and a few syrups (such as Orgeat Syrup) work but don’t give the Margarita the right taste. The true answer may be Agave Syrup, which I have on order and I’m awaiting to arrive but I need to, first, remove the high fructose corn syrup from the receipt which means eliminated Roses Lime Juice unfortunately.
The answer: real limes. Who knew? Plenty of people, but I’m slow, forgive me.
I’ve tried “juicing” the Limes in a juicer, first trying the entire fruit – peel and all, to see how it would taste. Well, as expect the peel has a lot of ‘flavor’ which overwhelms the margarita to the point of almost gagging. So that’s not the right solution. I then figured I’d peel them and juice them but realized cleaning a juicer is a long and tedious process for one or two shakers of margarita. At a party this might be a great solution to mass producing real lime juice but I’ve not had this occur just yet.
So, I went out and purchased a cheapy citrus squeezer. Roll the lime on the table after letting it sit out on the counter for the day so it warms up a bit and you’ll get the most juice out of the lime. Then, cut it in half, put half in the citrus squeeze and …squeeze. It creates roughly one shot of lime juice so squeezing both sections of the lime creates my required “two shots of lime juice.”
Now I’ve removed the need for the Rose’s Lime Juice and eliminated the high fructose corn syrup for natural flavors and sugars. The margarita will be a bit more bitter but not too bad (since the peels are not part of the equation). Now, a syrup sugar like Agave Syrup or something may work to build more of a natural sweetness, more on that when it arrives.
Hopefully this helps anyone looking to build a more natural margarita with real limes.
Derrick,
Well, my “Organic Blue Agave” syrup finally arrived. But now I can’t find your recipe/video on making the margarita with it. I remember “good tequila, fresh lime juice, grand marnier, and agave syrup. Just not sure of the proportions.
I’m looking on your site and might find it before you reply. Also, I purchased some “Mrs. Biddle’s Key Lime Juice, to use in my Gin and Tonics. Might try it in place of the fresh limes, when they are in limited supply.
Thanks,
Rick
Here’s my recipe. Still doing a little perfecting since I switched from Triple Sec to Agave Nectar.
3oz good tequila
half a lime (squeezed)
1.5 – 2tbs Agave Nectar (I found that the Amber works better than light)
Just a splash of Blue Curacao (mostly to make it look cool)
Be sure to shake before you put the ice in. Otherwise the agave nectar will coagulate. After everything is mixed well, add ice and shake again.
Enjoy!
Mark
I love the amber, the light is really light, it’s almost useless when you compare both drinks side-by-side, which I did
And 3oz. of tequila, that is hard core 
Does the Curacao sweeten it up a bit more and give it some tropical tastes?
This may be good with Tanteo’s Tropical infused tequila. Right now, however, you have to get it in New York, maybe they ship it out…
Hi Derrick,
Tried your recipe out on some friends last night, and they liked the margaritas so much that they actually called me back this morning for the recipe. Said they were the best margaritas that they had ever drank. And the crowd I run with are hard core tequila drinkers!
I still prefer the recipe with the Good Tequila, Grand Marnier, Blue Agave, and fresh limes. I also keep plenty of the Key Lime Juice for when we get poor quality limes or no limes are available. I mix it with bottled water and keep it chilled for the party.
Thanks again for your site! What a job you have!
Rick
Excellent to hear! I think people are so used to those premixes and the fake restaurant sour margarita’s that they’re not prepared for a real recipe.
Got bad news for you health nuts…I, too, fell for the agave nectar BS…it’s actually worse than high fructose corn syrup…the only “agave nectar” that is any good occurs naturally and is drained from the plant and is VERY expensive, and not the stuff you’re buying, even from the health food stores…it’s all procesed and is not a good alternative…I’ve read a couple of things about it, I think the best was on Dr. Mercola’s site – Mercola.com
Well, I don’t know where you are getting your information about the Agave nectar, but it is not BS! Organic agave nectar is a low glycemic sweetner that can be used for many things besides margaritas.
I will defer to my wife’s knowledge on this as she has 35 years experience in the “health nut” business.
Rick
PS – Did you even notice that when you Google Dr. Mercola’s name, you get more sites calling him a fraud, than anything else? Just something I noticed.