Taking a long drink from his margarita, David Alan, founder of the Tipsy Texan consultancy, cooed, “Tastes like childhood.” In one of the most spirited sessions of the 2015 Austin Food & Wine Festival, Alan described the history, ways to mess up and proper ways to make a margarita in “Rescue the Rita.”
A proper margarita has only three ingredients: tequila, orange liqueur such as Cointreau and lime juice. Oh, and perhaps a touch of sugar. According to Alan, there are “five ways to fuck up a margarita:”
- Bad tequila. Avoid anything that says “gold” or is does not say 100 percent agave on the label.
- Sweeten it. The trend of “skinny” margaritas takes out the sweetness of the classic by adding lots of water. Skip it.
- Margarita mix. The premade mixes are loaded with all kinds of unpronounceable ingredients, but absolutely no lime juice. Yuck.
- Not cold or diluted enough. Put it on ice and shake it like you mean it. Make sure that shaker makes noise.
- Crappy lime garnish. There is nothing worse than a hard lime that is brown around the edges. Throw it out.
The crowd was provided with a shaker, a juicer and all the ingredients to make their own classic rita. While they were shaking things up, a spirited mariachi band marched onto stage to end the festivities in style.
Related 2015 Austin Food & Wine Festival Articles:
- Crazy good times at the 2015 Austin Food & Wine Festival
- Spicing things up with Mark Oldman
- The ever effervescent Vilma Mazaite
- Rippin through the rosé with Devon Broglie
- Texas wine takes on the world
- Ray Isle teaches to taste wine like a pro
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