Tommy’s Margarita
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 16.7% ABV ∙
Tommy's Margarita is a tequila sour of tequila blanco, fresh lime, and agave syrup, a triple-sec-free riff on the Margarita born at a San Francisco restaurant. Bright and tart with a silky, honeyed sweetness rounding the edges, this pours crisp and clean, finishing dry with a lingering citrus snap.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake: Tequila blanco 60 mlLime juice 30 mlAgave syrup 30 ml
- Strain into the chilled rocks glass filled with ice
- Garnish with a lime wheel
Tips
- Strain into fresh ice rather than the shaker ice, which is already partly melted and waters the drink down.
- Shake hard for a full 10-12 seconds so the agave syrup fully integrates with the lime and tequila before straining.
- Pre-chill the glass before straining so the drink doesn't lose its cold edge the moment it hits the ice.
History
Tommy's Margarita was conceived in 1990 by Julio Bermejo at Tommy's Mexican Restaurant, his family's San Francisco establishment, when he began swapping the classic Margarita's orange liqueur for agave nectar to spotlight the flavor of 100% agave tequila. Bermejo, the restaurant's beverage manager and a vocal advocate for pure agave spirits, had recently been introduced to agave nectar and started using it in the margaritas he served there, gradually turning the house pour into an influential template that eliminated triple sec entirely in favor of agave sweetener and fresh lime. The drink takes its name from the restaurant itself. It later gained international recognition, entering the IBA's official cocktail list with the 2011 revision among the New Era Drinks — often cited as the first drink named for a specific bar to make the list.
The drink is a variation on the Margarita, the classic tequila, orange liqueur, and lime sour whose own origin is disputed among several rival claimants dating to the 1930s and 1940s. Tommy's Margarita departs from that classic build by removing the orange liqueur altogether and using agave nectar as the sweetener, a substitution meant to let the character of the agave-based tequila come through more directly.
FAQ
What is in a Tommy's Margarita?
Tequila blanco, fresh lime juice, and agave syrup, shaken with ice and strained into an ice-filled glass with a lime wheel. It has no orange liqueur, which is the main thing that sets it apart from a standard Margarita.
What's the difference between a Margarita and a Tommy's Margarita?
A Margarita is built from tequila, orange liqueur, and lime, while a Tommy's Margarita drops the orange liqueur entirely and sweetens with agave syrup instead. The result is a more tequila-forward drink with an agave sweetness in place of the orange liqueur's citrus-and-sugar note.
How do you make a Tommy's Margarita?
Shake tequila blanco, fresh lime juice, and agave syrup hard with ice, then strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass filled with fresh ice and garnish with a lime wheel. Pre-chilling the glass beforehand keeps the drink cold longer once it's poured over ice.
What is the 3:2:1 rule for margaritas?
The 3:2:1 rule is a common Margarita ratio of three parts tequila to two parts orange liqueur to one part lime juice. Tommy's Margarita does not follow this rule, since it replaces the orange liqueur with agave syrup and uses a tequila-forward build of its own.
What's the secret to Tommy's Margarita's taste?
The agave syrup is the secret: it sweetens the drink the way orange liqueur would in a standard Margarita, but leaves the tequila's flavor and lime's tartness more exposed instead of masking them with orange notes. Using tequila blanco rather than a rested or aged tequila also keeps the profile bright rather than oaky.
