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 (45ml) fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
- 1/2 ounce (15ml) fresh Lime Juice (optional - for brighter tasting cocktail)
- 2 ounces (60ml) Tequila
- 3/4 ounce (20ml) Simple Syrup , or to taste
- dash orange bitters
- kosher or sea salt 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
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:
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.
Wow – gorgeous shots and a wonderful use for meyer lemons. Hard to get hold of in the UK but definitely worth seeking out
A thoroughly enjoyable story to go with this recipe. Personally, I have never been able to actually smell the smell of stink bugs. My nose was never able to detect it.
Some people have all the luck!
A very refreshing & tasty frink!! Yum!
This post makes me want to plant a Meyer lemon tree. I am not sure how one would fare here in central Texas, but it may be the only way I can get my hands on a Meyer lemon. Your site is beautiful. I found it through Smitten Kitchen and David Lebovitz.
Check with your local nurseries. I depends on how cold you get, but they do very well in pots, so one option is to shelter the tree during the cold months, then bring it back out when you no longer have to worry about freezing.
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.