Zesty Margarita

I made a really nice margarita tonight. Though it's a Thursday night, I'm taking tomorrow off from work. So it's Friday night for me!

Tonight I made Natasha and myself my standard martini-style margarita with 4 oz tequila (Gran Centenario silver/Plata in this case), 2 oz Cointreau, juice of about 1 lime and about 1 Tbs simple syrup. This recipe size makes 2 stiff drinks (combine ingredients into shaker with lots of ice...shake and strain into large chilled martini glasses). I say "stiff" because at 3 oz of 80-proof liquor in each drink, that's the equivalent alchohol content to two 12-oz Shiner Bocks (sounds like about the right size after a rough work week!).

To spice up the standard recipe, tonight I used a zester/grater and added a little bit of the zest/skin of the lime to the shaker also. Not the entire lime -- it's easy to go overboard with too much zest. This adds a bit more of a bright citrus note on top, kind of like when you add some fresh basil on top of some pasta right before serving (or, if you prefer, some fresh cilantro on some shrimp tacos).

This margarita also reminded me how good that Gran Centenario Plata is -- outstanding! Right up there with the Patron silver and Tezon silver as my favorite tequilas for margaritas.