Maria Margarita
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 20.2% ABV ∙
The Maria Margarita is a shaken tequila sour built on tequila blanco, pomegranate juice, lime, and agave syrup, a fruit-forward twist on the classic Margarita. Cold and silky with a tart snap up front, mellowing into a honeyed finish where a whisper of bitters lingers beneath the citrus.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Tequila blanco 60 mlPomegranate juice 15 mlLime juice 15 mlAgave syrup 10 mlAngostura aromatic bitters 2 dashes
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Float a dehydrated lime wheel
Tips
- Pre-chill the coupe before straining — the shaken volume is small and warms quickly in a room-temperature glass.
- Shake hard and with plenty of ice; the pomegranate juice needs real dilution to keep the drink from tasting syrupy.
- Add the Angostura bitters last, right before shaking, so the dashes stay measured rather than over-poured.
History
The Maria Margarita is a modern variation on the Maria Theresa Margarita, a tequila Margarita recipe from Trader Vic's, created by swapping in pomegranate juice for cranberry juice. The swap is credited on a cocktail recipe site only to an unnamed author, so no individual creator can be named for this specific version.
The Maria Theresa Margarita itself descends from the Margarita, whose own origin is disputed among several rival claimants placing its creation in Mexican or American bars between the 1930s and late 1940s. The Trader Vic's organization, founded by Victor Bergeron, built a repertoire of tequila-based Margarita riffs, of which the cranberry-juice Maria Theresa version is one, later reworked into the pomegranate-based Maria Margarita.
FAQ
What are the basic ingredients in a margarita?
A classic Margarita is tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh lime juice, shaken or stirred. The Maria Margarita is a fruit-forward variation that replaces the orange liqueur with pomegranate juice and agave syrup, plus a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters, shaken and served up in a coupe with a dehydrated lime wheel.
How do you make agave margaritas?
An agave margarita uses agave syrup in place of the sugar syrup found in some Margarita recipes, keeping the tequila's own agave character front and center. The Maria Margarita follows this approach, shaking tequila blanco with agave syrup alongside pomegranate juice, lime juice, and a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters, then straining up into a chilled coupe.
