The Classic Margarita (with some heat)

Like most of you I love a good margarita. Gernerally, Im good for a solid two. Anything thereafter is a toss up of either being surprisingly fine the next day or its a battle of trying to stay in enough form to avoid laziness for productivity.

Well as many of you know from last week, we had a flood in our home. What a nightmare 4 days of of loud fans, heaters cranked up to 120 degrees and a 1-year-old whose sleep schedule was switched all around for the workmen. Give me one, maybe two, but all three of those things, at oncepass me a drink or two.

All that chaos was as good as any excuse to work on my margarita making skillssomething Im always trying to fine tune, as evident by these margarita posts: Classic Margarita {Re-mixed}, Pineapple Serrano Margarita and Gilled Sweet and Spicy Margarita.

This time Im going for the classic margarita recipe with a little heat. No fancy add-ins. No cool tricks. No special ice. No frills. Something that I almost feel guilty for posting, because like it or not, sometimes I feel that unless it has a twist you wont be interested. But lets agree sometimes simple is best.

That said here are a few tips for how to make the best classic style margarita (at least according to my taste):

• This almost goes without saying, but just in case you need a little nudge to go ahead and buy the 100% high quality agave tequilado ityes, it makes a difference!
• Forget triple sec, but dont forget the Cointreau (like I did in the photos).
• Fresh limes only! Nothing out of that plastic lime-shaped bottle (you know what Im talking about) or any other pre-squeezed variation.
• Shake it all up in cocktail shaker until your hands get really, really cold. No blender blasting unless you are making margarita popsicles.
• Skip the jalapenos, if you arent into spicy drinks.

Lastly, if you have any tips for a killer margarita, share it with the rest of us in the comment section.