Mid July. The heat is blasting you inside and out and you need relief. Relief is easy to find because Jackrabbitscrewball brings you a new cocktail every week and makes it easy for you to mix 'em up. I hesitated on this selection though, not because it isn't universally loved, but because you've already had it. Still, I think here the pros outweigh the cons and it is essential that this very important cocktail be given the once over, especially now.

I'm referring to none other than the classic Margarita!

[Gal Yaniv - cocktail-guru.com]

Follow up:

You know it, you love it, and every time you grab the tequila to make one you forget the recipe. I'm guilty as well, but there's a reason why: everyone has a different recipe. It's only 3 ingredients! Here's the deal we're going to make. I'll give you the recipe and you remember it, because I'm going to make this too easy to forget.

2:1:1

The ingredients are tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice. 2:1:1 - that is hard to forget, yes? 2:1:1.

Three simple ingredients, yet so many delicious variants! Change the brand of tequila and you change the entire drink. Switch from triple sec to Cointreau or Grand Marnier... switch from fresh squeezed lime to lime in a bottle and yep... you change the entire drink. But if you're like me, you use what you have when you need a margarita. Have limes? Excellent! No limes? Use the bottled lime. You will learn how to tweak based on your ingredients on hand - don't ever be afraid to use your judgment as long as you stay close to 2:1:1 in your mix.

2oz premium tequila
1oz orange liqueur (triple sec, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, orange curacao)
1oz fresh lime juice (or the juice of one lime - see the "1" part in the 2:1:1 still stands)

Rub a lime wedge around the rim of your glass (classic margarita, old fashioned or rocks glass if served with ice, and a standard martini glass if served straight up) and salt the edge.

Shake on ice and strain into glass.

Variants! There are so many but we really only need to talk about two. Changing 2:1:1 and not using fresh lime juice.

Ratios:

The International Bartenders Association says that a margarita has a ratio of 7:4:3. Eric Felten uses an 8:4:3 and alternate ratios of 2:1:1, 3:2:1, 3:1:1, and 1:1:1 have all been described somewhere. You can see where this is going. Tequila, lime juice and orange liqueur mix well and you should feel free to modify to your taste. If you are serving drunks, cut back on tequila and use 1:1:1. If you like more of a kick, top up the tequila and go to 3:1:1. Make it how you like it, but never forget 2:1:1 as a base.

Sugar:

Many recipes call for simple syrup (which is just concentrated sugar water and very easy and worthwhile to make if you mix cocktails often) or lime cordial (sweetened lime - think Roses Lime Juice). Bottled margarita mixes are going to be full of crap ingredients but essentially they are citrus and sugar (or taste like it). If you are someone who will never have a fresh lime in the house, I would suggest buying those little green bottles of RealLime Juice and making a bottle of simple syrup. Mix RealLime in like it was lime juice then add a splash of simple syrup. This will work fairly well because it is (was) real lime juice before it was bottled. The trouble with lime juice is it goes bitter over time, so you need to add something to sweeten it to make a balanced margarita. Finally, don't even think of trying of stirring in granulated sugar into lime juice, it doesn't mix and leaves an unpleasant sugar bolus at the bottom of your glass.

Ultimately you are going to be the one drinking these wonderful cocktails and you should make them just as you like them. If you like a splash of sugar syrup, then do it. If you are genuinely lazy and enjoy using margarita mixers, then use them, but don't come back here and tell me my recipe sucks.

Tequila, lime and orange liqueur, 3 things you can mix together in nearly any proportion and not go wrong.

Cheers!