
How everyone’s favorite Mexican cocktail came to be invented is unclear, since several people have claimed that distinction. The most popular tale credits Tijuana restaurant owner, Carlos Herrera, with creating the classic drink, back in 1938. As the story goes, it was inspired by one of his customers, an aspiring actress, who was allergic to all hard liquor except tequila. Her name was Marjorie, one of several girls’ names that translates into Spanish as Margarita.
The basic recipe consists of just three ingredients: tequila, lime or lemon juice (usually with sugar called “sweet and sour”) and orange liqueur, but there are many variations. Using different tequilas (silver, reposado, or anejo), different orange liquer (Cointreau, Grand Marnier, etc.) and different flavors of sweet and sour.
Tomasita’s is famous for our frozen margaritas – the frozen, the FROGG, and the SWIRL.
The true frozen margarita hit the headlines in 1971, when Mariano Martinez, an enterprising young Dallas restaurant owner, invented the frozen margarita machine. Faced with bartenders who complained that the drink took too long to make and customers who complained that it melted too quickly, Martinez was inspired by seeing a slurpee machine in a local convenience store. Retrofitting an old soft-serve machine, he succeeded, after some experimentation, in getting it to produce the perfect frozen margarita every time. The drink’s popularity soared.
And, in recognition of the cultural significance of that invention, the National Museum of American History in Washington DC, acquired that same machine from Martinez in 2005. Viva la Fiesta!
According to a 2016 consumer survey, margarita now tops the list of America’s most popular cocktails.
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