Classic Margarita with Fresh Lime Juice and a Little Magic – Bitters
This is the best margarita recipe. Made with fresh lime juice and a few dashes of orange bitters. Perfect for home or to share with friends at a party. The addition of bitters gives this classic margarita cocktail a wonderful layer of flavor.
Margarita Cocktail with Fresh Lime Juice – simply the best
Call us suckered, hoodwinked, or duped. We believe in magic potions. Someone hawking small bottles of potion, proclaiming outlandish results. Hmmm. Out of curiosity, we’ll skeptically try the potion. A few shakes in a cocktail drink. A very familiar cocktail. But with a mere few dashes of this elixir it became something new. Better. Incredibly delicious. It really is the best margarita cocktail.
Cocktail bitters are mystical potions which marries the ingredients of a cocktail together. Just about anytime we find a bar making exceptional cocktails drinks, it is almost a guarantee that they have a beautiful stock of bitters frequently reached for behind the bar. Often times, there are bitters they are making themselves amongst the bottles. This is the start to the best margarita recipe.
Our discovery of bitters’ magic powers first came to fruition in the pages of a book. Not for the lack of signs trying to tell us the same thing. A reader commented about our use of triple sec in an old margarita recipe, disapproving of its unctuous sweetness and mentioned it would be much better with some simple syrup and bitters instead. (Side note – there are better options than classic triple sec. Explore all the different orange liqueurs out there). We come home from a crafty bar just loving their cocktails and we’ll be all aflutter talking about their house made bitters.
Bitters for Margarita Cocktails
Time after time, bitters had been under our noses, and yet we passed right over their magic. But all of these subtle and not so subtle hints took us along our path. Ripening for the moment when we laid hands on the book Bitters by Brad Thomas Parsons.
We first discovered the book were meeting with the publishers of Ten Speed Press to discuss a project we were working on with them, and we spied the Bitters book on their shelf. They must have seen the twinkle in our eyes, because the lovely ladies at Ten Speed handed us the book to take home as we concluded our meeting.
After perusing book it had us excited. Beyond being a great read and resource, it changed how we make cocktails.
Video on Making a Classic Margarita with Fresh Lime & Bitters
We’ve made many a homemade bitter with the help of Parsons’ book. The process of bitters is about a month long, but well worth the time and experimentation. We always have to have a batch of bitters on hand from our Algerian tangerines.
Bitters for a cocktail is like the pepper and salt to a dish. Or the fish sauce to Vietnamese cuisine. By themselves it is a bit overpowering, but when added with the other ingredients they season it perfectly. Make two classic cocktails, one with bitters and one without and see which you like better. It will almost always be the one with the bitters.
Not sure what else to do with all your homemade bitters?
Start with adding some to plain soda water for a homemade flavored sparkling water. No need to buy La Croix again. Is your stomach a little uneasy? That soda water with a few dashes of bitters may be the trick to settling your tummy.
Like most everything good in cocktails recipes there is always folklore and mystery involved and bitters are no exception. It is part of the beauty. One legend which we’ve yet to try but is fun to share, is the no-fail cure to hiccups. Soak a sugar coated lemon wedge with Angostura bitters and take a bite. Hiccups will be gone.
Enjoy! We’re off to sip on a delicious margarita.
Classic Margarita w/ fresh Lime & Bitters
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces (45 ml) Tequila we prefer Resposada or Anejo for this cocktail
- 1 ounce (30 ml) Orange Liqueur , or to taste *see headnote
- 1 ounce (30 ml) fresh Lime Juice
- 1/2 ounce (15 ml) Simple Syrup , or to taste *see headnote
- a few dashes Orange Bitters , optional
- flaky salt for the rim (optional)
Instructions
- For a Salted Rim: Rub the rim of an old fashioned glass (or whatever glass you prefer) with an edge of a lime slice. Swirl the rim through a small pile of flaky salt to salt the rim. Add ice into the glass.
- Combine 1 1/2 ounces (45ml) tequila, 1 ounce (30ml) orange liqueur, 1 ounce (30ml) lime juice, 1/2 ounce (15ml) simple syrup, and bitters in an ice filled shaker.
- Shake vigorously for about 15 seconds, making sure the margarita is nice and chilled. The shaking also helps lightly dilute the cocktail to a proper portion.
- Strain into the prepared glass. Serve or drink immediately and with leisure.
Notes
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Check out our Cocktail Recipes Here and our Complete Whiskey Guide.
Solid recipe, agave nectar is usually the preference but simple syrup is good with bitters.
Next time give this a try and see how you like it
2oz añejo (I infuse with vanilla, cloves, star anise, smoked orange zest)
1oz Contreau
1oz fresh lime (1 lime)
2 dashes angostura bitters
(If this isn’t sweet enough for your taste but you like the flavor, add .5oz liquor 43)
I’m also rediscovering bitters, but there’s no “restoring” the margarita to pre-Triple Sec status, because the way I heered it, the original Marg used Cointreau anyway! So more power to innovation, not restoration!
Can I ask, what is your “trusted resource on classic cocktails”? I know I’m late to the party here but always looking for a tried and true recipe book.
Hi Amy,
I like the Ultimate Bar Book. But there are a lot of great other cocktail books out there too. Usually I’ll look for ones which are using bitters, fresh juices, never resort to mixes. That sort of thing.
T
While I’ve enjoyed several margaritas in my lifetime, I am a virgin to cocktail creation. I got pleasantly schooled at a recent visit to our local liquor store. Two ladies saw my ingredients and gushed with margarita recommendations, lol. I didn’t really even know which tequila to try. I know. It’s shameful to admit ; ) I’m curious what people’s faves are. One woman recommended Hornitos so alas, that’s what I tried. I gotta say, d’lish! It’s very refreshing on a hot day such as this one. Thanks for the recipe. Cheers!
Hi Melissa,
There are so many choices for tequila, and you can’t go wrong with hardly any of them. All the more reason to keep trying more and more margaritas and other delicious cocktails to find the one that is your favorite. Generally we’ll stick with and anejo (aged) or sometimes a reposed (rested – aged less) tequila, but that isn’t a set in stone rule. Hornitos is nice, same with Suaza. If we find it at a good price point we’ll grab Cazadores, Herradura, or El Jimador. Just thinking about this makes us want to go out and try a few more tequilas. We try to keep the price point below $25 for a cocktail tequila, otherwise it seems like a waste. Save the good stuff for sipping.
Shake it like you mean it!
One of the few rules of cocktails – make it COLD and use fresh juices. Welcome to the land of shaker faces! -Search that on Vimeo 😉
T & D
I simply love the purity of this margarita – best recipe out there for sure!
That’s awesome. Thanks so much!
T
Yum! I could use a margarita right now….