Meyer Lemon Margarita
This Meyer lemon margarita recipe was one of our first recipe posts back in 2010. It’s fun to see how our photography and garden has changed over the years! 
Meyer Lemon Margaritas
I have a little confession. I didn’t used to be very fond of Meyer Lemons. In fact, a scratch and sniff of a Meyer lemon rind rekindled memories of small stink bugs that gathered in mini-swarms during the warm summer months on ranch where I first teethed.
The bugs were small and innocent, yet when threatened they’d release a malodorous spray in the vicinity of any foe. Stumble upon a swarm of these little buggers and I’d be dancing about like a pinball trying not to run into one, lest I upset their delicacies. Many times failure would leave me perfumed with “eau de pew”. Worse yet, memories of them flying kamikaze into my maw still leave me cringing and wanting to rinse my mouth clean. It’ll teach you to keep you mouth shut, I guarantee.
Flavorful Meyer Lemon Margaritas
And these little golden treasures of the culinary world, the beautiful, brillant-yellow Meyer lemons, reminded me of that smell. Go figure. The juice is harmlessly tart, being lower on acid which gently softens its bite, and slightly sweet which adds an extra dimension over the typically delicious classic lemon, the Eureka. However, for me, the oils in the rind nearly alway trigger those foul olfactory memories of the stink bug.
Over ten years ago, Diane and I bought our first citrus tree to put on our tiny patio. A beautiful little lemon tree. A Meyer lemon tree. At that time I had no idea what a Meyer lemon was. A lemon is a lemon, right?
When our pride of the patio developed its first fruit, Diane squealed with joy while I sniffed the brilliant yellow prize and was instantly transported back to my childhood run-ins with the stink bugs. I put on my best happy face and gave her back the lemon grenade to enjoy all by herself.
Wonders of Meyer Lemon Juice
Years do funny things to our senses and slowly the Meyer lemon became less offensive to me. The juice was always wonderful on the palate, but it took a while before I could fully embrace the love of the Meyer. The sense of smell is very powerful, but within the last few years, my heart and nose have warmed to the Meyer lemon and my love for them now equals that which I extend to all of our other citrus. We’ll both joyfully coax and pamper our Meyer lemon tree trying to get it to produce as much of its fruit as the branches will bear.
Love of Lemons
We’ve always enjoyed using the juice of the Meyer lemon for cooking. Meyer lemon muffins or Meyer lemon curd are absolutely delectable. The gentle lemony tang combined with the touch of sweetness that Meyer lemons behold are a joy to the palate. However I had never used them for cocktails until one of our dear LA friends, Sara, mentioned their favorite drink of the summer was the Meyer Lemon Margarita. They had picked their tree bare concocting these enticing cocktails.
Intrigued and always on the hunt for another delicious cocktail, especially one which pulls from our garden, we sliced & iced a Meyer lemon with shot of tequila and hit of triple. At first sip our eyes widened. I immediately head back into the garden to snag a few more Meyer lemons and soon we began to wrap ourselves up in the warm tingle of tequila softened, sweetened and balanced by the golden elixir of the Meyer lemon. And after changing from triple sec to simple syrup and orange bitters (although you could always use a good orange liqueur), we had a cocktail which will always be in our house go-to list.
The Meyer Lemon pairs exceptionally well with tequila and we would be hard pressed to say if we like a classic Margarita or these Meyer Lemon Margaritas better. They each have their own delicious draw, this one slightly sweeter and more floral, the classic slightly brighter. Time to do a taste off with the garden fruit to see who’s flavor reigns supreme.
-Todd
Meyer Lemon Margarita
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces (45 ml) fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
- 1/2 ounce (15 ml) fresh Lime Juice (optional - for brighter tasting cocktail)
- 2 ounces (60 ml) Tequila
- 3/4 ounce (22 ml) Simple Syrup , or to taste
- couple dashes Orange Bitters
- Flaky Salt (optional) for rimming glass
Instructions
- Rub the rim of an old fashioned glass (or whatever similar vessel you prefer) with a meyer lemon slice. Swirl the rim through a small pile of kosher or sea salt to salt the rim.
- Put the meyer lemon juice, (optional lime juice), tequila, simple syrup, and bitters in an ice filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
- Put a few cubes of ice in your prepared glass. Strain the cocktail into the glass and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition Information per Serving
Cocktails & Beyond – Here’s some of our favorite finds:
We tend to be a bit obsessive over our cocktail tools. Here’s some of our favorites we’ve collected and put to use over the years:
OXO Citrus Squeezer – What is the difference between an ok cocktail & a great one? Most of the time, fresh citrus juice. If you don’t have one, get yourself a squeezer.
Japanese Style Ice Pick – My favorite cocktail tool. With swag and great function, it’s perfect for cocktail geeks like us.
Cocktail Kingdom Leopold Jigger – We have a dozen jiggers, but this one is my favorite. Love the copper-plating, quickly gives a lived in patina. Love the lines on the inside marking off different measurements.Check out our Cocktail Recipes Here and our Complete Whiskey Guide.
- stovetop cheesy corn dip
- grilled green tomatoes recipe
- arugula watermelon salad
- homemade bread and butter sweet pickles
- More lemon cocktail recipes.
Very funny story about the stink bugs! It seems that a beautiful Meyer lemon margarita is a fabulous way to get past your childhood olfactory nightmares!
Your post is so timely. I’ve been traveling in New Zealand and Australia for about 4 months now and last night as I was walking home I ran across a real Mexican restaurant – authentic Mexican food down under – what a miracle! Anyway, my point is I had a margarita and it was so very good. Yours sounds delicious and I like the lower acid content that Myer lemons would provide.
Cheers!
This is making my mouth water! I love Meyer lemons. Love to use them for preserved lemons. Love Margaritas too!! Great photos! Of course 😉
These look amazing. I’m so very jealous of your meyer lemon tree. They just had some at our supermarket and I ran out and stocked up. I wasn’t sure what to do with them (was thinking about making preserved meyer lemons) but this looks like a good use of a precious fruit!
Please stop…you make me jealous EVERY DAY. I’m sitting here shivering and you’re drinking margaritas. No fair.
But…soon the weather will warm, the yard I have coaxed into resembling North Carolina in the dry climate of Colorado will start to be reborn and with it…margaritas. They’re my summer specialty and I never make them without fresh lemons (and in my version, limes) but have never considering using Meyer Lemons and I love them.
Duly noted…will have to try…but can I share this? My quest for the perfect margarita has resulted, for me, in discovering what I think is the single most important part…good tequila. Not pricey sipping tequila but something mid range. I always buy reposado…the smoothness of this slightly aged version will be wonderful with the tang of meyer lemons.
Now hoping for another toasty warm day like yesterday (45 degrees) when I can start to envision enjoying one too!
I couldn’t agree with you more about the tequila. I forgot to add in my comment above that the tequila I use for my margaritas is Hornitos Resposado, and I always use Bols – only Bols – Triple Sec. (I personally don’t like Grand Marnier or Cointreau – or even the delicious Patron Citronge liqueur, which I love on its own – in my margaritas.)
We double agree. Hornitos Reposado is our go-to tequila for cocktails. Bols is also the only triple sec we buy. Whether we use triple sec or Cointreau will depend on our mood and what is in the cabinet. The Bols triple sec has a lighter, almost cleaner flavor and mouth feel to me, but sometimes I like the slightly richer feel of Cointreau. Considering how much more Cointreau costs, we go through quite a few bottles of triple sec before emptying one Cointreau. Thanks to both of you for bringing this up. I couldn’t make up my mind when writing the post if I wanted to get into tequila selection and you have solved my dilemma.
Todd
When life gives me lemons, I hope they are Meyers.
I was surprised to find Meyer lemons at Costco of all places! I got sucked into volumized shopping and brought home the 4# package (because they were SUCH A GOOD DEAL!). I will be whipping up a few of these margaritas with some of them.
I photography is spot on, LOVE it. For the longest time my RSS reader was not updating your feed…. I think I got it fixed though…. Lemons are finally starting to be avail here without any post harvest..
Hi, Todd,
I used to make a delicious – but complicated – margarita I got from Cook’s Illustrated. Then one NYC hot summer’s day, as I was working in a room with no AC, I read a different – and simple – recipe on the now unfortunately defunct Ceres & Bacchus blog. It contained only 1/2 lime, 2 shots of Tequila, and one shot of Triple Sec. It was delicious, hit the spot, and became my go-to margarita recipe made with Hornitos Tequila and (always) Bols Triple Sec, served over lots of ice in a big wine glass.
Then two years ago a friend of mine who lives in California and has a Meyer lemon tree in her back yard sent me a HUGE box of her hand-picked lemons. I brought them to the farm, squeezed them all – so easy with a hand squeezer since they are sooooo soft – and froze the juice in Ziplock bags. You can imagine the good use I put that juice to.
Relatives and friends must have given my dad bottles of Scotch at Christmas during the years after my mother passed away, and he just stashed them in his liquor cabinet. I discovered them after he died. So that first winter, 2007, Walter and I drank Scotch sours made with Meyer lemon juice as our Saturday night cocktail, toasting my adorable and much-missed dad each week. To Anthony!
So I am no stranger to the delights of Meyer lemons used in a good cocktail. But a margarita? Brilliant. I don’t think I will be able to wait to try one of these puppies till summer, and even though – I kid you not – it is minus 6 degrees here at the farm this morning, I am going to get a Meyer lemon this week when I’m back in the city and make one! But from then on until the temperature soars, I will probably stick to your Sidecar Fizz as the Saturday night cocktail we have been drinking this winter. It warms the body and soul!
As always, thanks for the great concoction.
Vic
-6 degrees! That hurts. I can remember those days when we’d have an extra cold spell with the temps staying below zero for a time. Literally hurts to breathe.
A Scotch sour with meyer lemon sounds delicious. That may be tonight’s cocktail, with a continued toast to our passed loved ones. Glad to see you guys are hooked on the Sidecar Fizz.
Todd
Can I have one of those, please? Your pics and description sure make me crave for one!
Ever since I’ve heard about Meyer lemons on (American) food blogs, I’ve been wanting to taste them. Pity that they are virtually unknown here in France (at least, unfindable in fruit shops). And since David Lebovitz said they don’t stand travel very well, I’m a bit despaired…
I guess I’ll have to wait some more to satisfy that craving of mine ^^
Oooh! I can make these now, because my little Meyer lemon tree is finally producing fruit. Oh joy! Oh joy! Thanks for the recipe! 😀
Great piece of writing, Todd. Isn’t it amazing how scent can bring back old memories so vividly? I’ve heard the sense of smell is one of the strongest memory indicators. One question about the recipe: I guess the sweeter flavor of a Meyer lemon vs. a Eureka or other tart lemon counters the need to add any sugar or syrup to the cocktail? Using regular lemon juice without simple syrup seems like it would result in a mouth-puckering sip!
Thanks Dawn. For the Meyer lemons, I don’t think they need any extra sweetness. It is a personal preference thing, but for Eurekas I would add maybe a 1/2 oz of simple syrup, however for lime juice I don’t add anything. The triple sec (or Cointreau) and even the tequila have some sweetness to them but if you have a sweet jaw like me, then a little extra sweetness is nice. For alcohol lightweights, I’ll shake up a regular set of these (or classic) margaritas, add around 3/4 oz of simple syrup, pour it into a highball glass with ice then top with club soda to make a nice spritzer.
Thanks, Todd. Back in the day, tequila was my spirit of choice. I’ve become one of those “lightweights” now, so I’ll have to give your spritzer idea a try. 😉
I have not experimented very much with meyer lemons but this seems like the perfect opportunity!
Thanks!
When I smell a meyer lemon the first thing that comes to mind is a cocktail! My grandfather has trees and every evening he’d pick a lemon and make a vodka and tonic with meyer lemon. To this day it is one of my favorite drinks. I have never tried them in a margarita. More experimentation is in order, as it sounds great!
So pleased that you came round to liking these beauties, especially since this recipe was born of your appreciation. Cheers!
Love this!