Cocktail & Other Recipes By Spirit Tequila & Mezcal Cocktails

Frozen Margarita

Frozen Margarita in curved margarita glass with salt rim and lime wheel, on orange background

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

When the heat outside calls for a remedy, the practical solution is an ice-cold drink. Around the world, that often means Margaritas, the beloved cocktail combining tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice, usually served up or shaken and strained over ice. But if maximum frostiness is your goal, make it a Frozen Margarita, a much more recent variation that originated in Dallas and dates to 1971.

Mariano Martinez opened Mariano’s restaurant that same year and quickly established it as one of the best places in Dallas to get sizzling fajitas and blended Margaritas. But he had a consistency problem. Serving so many guests each night, some drinks were rushed and unmeasured, while others sat too long at the bar and began to melt. He wanted a way to streamline the process so that each guest received a perfect cocktail. The answer came from an unexpected source: the Slurpee machines at 7-Eleven.

After witnessing the machines in action, Martinez realized that he could apply the same principle to his Margaritas and outfitted an old soft-serve ice cream machine to pour the tequila-based drink. His problem was solved, and the slushy, uniform cocktails were a hit.

Unfortunately, not everyone has a dedicated Frozen Margarita machine at home. If this is the case, you're most likely going to have to rely on a blender. While you can still making solo servings, the blender really shows its value when you’re making multiple drinks at once. In that case, you can scale up the recipe to account for the number of servings you require.

Martinez wasn’t the first person to blend a Margarita with ice, but he did invent the machine-made version that helped to popularize tequila, Tex-Mex joints and Mexican restaurants in America.

As for that original Margarita machine? It can be found at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces blanco tequila

  • 3/4 ounce orange liqueur

  • 1 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

  • 1 cup ice

  • Garnish: salt rim

  • Garnish: lime wheel

Steps

  1. Salt the rim of a chilled Margarita glass and set aside.

  2. Add the tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice into a blender, and top with 1 cup of ice. Blend until the mixture is smooth and frothy.

  3. Pour the contents of the blender into the salted Margarita glass.

  4. Garnish with a lime wheel.

What's the Best Tequila for a Frozen Margarita?

In standard shaken Margaritas, blanco, reposado, and añejo tequilas can all be used to different effect. However, when blending into a Frozen Margarita, blanco tequila is your best bet. This is because the colder overall temperature of the drink can mute the nuances of aged tequilas, and these often pricer options don't show their full potential.

As with all cocktails, aim to use 100% blue agave tequila to ensure a quality product that isn't adulterated with neutral spirits.