How do I reverse engineer a margarita?

July 25, 2006 10:09 AM

A friend and I love the margaritas served by a particular restaurant and wish to make our own, as the location is somewhat distant for both of us. We'd like to reverse engineer the recipe.

A friend and I love the margaritas served by a particular restaurant and wish to make our own, as the location is somewhat distant for both of us. We'd like to reverse engineer the recipe. The owner has given us some clues: the recipe has four ingredients and he has given us two of them. We can't even buy a pitcher and take it home.

So far, our options seem to be either bribing the help (which may not work, as some are the owner's family) or sneaking some of the margarita out of the restaurant and taking it somewhere to be chemically analyzed. We suspect the analysis is ridiculously pricy, as the websites for these services don't list a fee.

What are our options? Are there places that reverse engineer drinks, cheaply? Has anyone else done this?

posted by adipocere to Food & Drink (30 answers total)

Trial and error is probably your best bet. Analyze the flavor and color. What are the two ingredients that you already know about, and what are the qualities that make this margarita so special?
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:12 AM on July 25, 2006

Find a chef, bartender, or someone else with a sensitive palate, and buy them a margarita. They may be able to work out two missing ingredients by taste.

On the other hand, the real trick is most likely going to be identifying not the ingredients but the proportions. Your chef friend should be able to help with this too, though.
posted by zadermatermorts at 10:14 AM on July 25, 2006

A good maragarita is tequila, lime juice, contreaux, and ice, nothing else. On the rocks with some salt on the rim for me, thanks.
posted by InfidelZombie at 10:16 AM on July 25, 2006

What are the two ingredients you know already? In general the type/brand of tequila would be the most important element.
posted by brain_drain at 10:17 AM on July 25, 2006

Good possibility they are using a mix and he doesn't want to tell you.

I would get recipes and spend a fun filled weekend trying them until you get it right or puke trying.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:20 AM on July 25, 2006

Some sort of mass spec analysis = ridiculously pricey, especially for it to discriminate the very variables you need to know, such as brand of tequila.

Social hacking is almost always more effective. Get a good chef or bartender drunk.
posted by docgonzo at 10:23 AM on July 25, 2006

I agree this is one of those things where people will help you, not chemical analysis. As others have said, what two ingredients do you have? And what makes this margarita so "great"?

Experimientation on your own or with friends may also produce an unexpected result - you may end up mixing something you like even better than the one you intended to reproduce.

Personally, the best margaritas I've had - the star ingredient is great tequila.
posted by vacapinta at 10:29 AM on July 25, 2006

Too bad the restaurant won't tell you. I once wanted to know how to make an Apple Martini. The bartender wrote it out for me.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 10:32 AM on July 25, 2006

Ask the owner again for the two ingredients he already told you (fiegning forgetfulness). Maybe he'll slip up and give you an ingredient he didn't before (or better yet, two!)

Bribe a broke busboy to find out for you? Give him a small amount of cash up front, with the promise of more if he gets the recipie for you, or at least gets you on the right track?
posted by cgg at 10:33 AM on July 25, 2006

With the two ingredients in hand, it wouldn't be difficult to figure out the others. It's not a terribly big list.

Fresh lime juice
Sweet-and-sour
Tequila (brand and type)
Triple Sec
Gran Marnier
Cointreau
posted by frogan at 10:44 AM on July 25, 2006

Response by poster: One of the components is Sousa Tres Generations tequila. The other is MinuteMaid lime-ade mix. I've tried mixing them together in various ratios, but haven't gotten it right.
posted by adipocere at 10:45 AM on July 25, 2006

You're missing the orange flavor. Try Triple Sec, Gran Marnier or Cointreau. You might try a shot of orange juice, too.
posted by Floydd at 11:06 AM on July 25, 2006

There's not a bar where you can watch them dispense it out of the pre-made frozen drink dispenser...I mean make them?
posted by FergieBelle at 11:12 AM on July 25, 2006

Response by poster: No, they make them in vats. I've sat in the bar and watched them pour it off. I can't properly describe this margarita, just to say that it is the best margarita I've ever had, bar none.
posted by adipocere at 11:17 AM on July 25, 2006

What bar is their nearest competitor, meaning near physically and also tends to sell a lot of margaritas? Try asking the bartender at that bar how the one you're curious about makes them. Odds are he knows.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:21 AM on July 25, 2006

BTW Triple-Sec, Cointreu and Gran Marnier are all orange flavored liquers and kind of interchangeable (triple-sec being the low end one).

Classic bar Marg, (from the well) is tequila, triple sec, lime-juice and sweet and sour.

When I tended bar I always went a bit heavier on the sweet and sour which wasn't very traditional (or for purists) but the common people liked them more. Sounds like the limeade is taking the place of sweet and sour and limejuice. There may be some sugar to sweeten that up. I don't know what that really tastes like, but I'm assuming its a bit more bitter than lemonade. If it's sweet there may be sweet and sour to take the sweet edge off. A good marg should have a sweet and sour thing going on.

Anyway to answer your question some sort of orange liquer would most likely be at least one of the remaining two ingredients. The other could be:

Sugar (or simple syrup which is sugar water used in many bars)
Lime Juice.
Sweet and Sour.
Or some mystery ingredient that we're not going to guess because of the lack of information given.
posted by bitdamaged at 11:45 AM on July 25, 2006

While we're on the topic -- anyone care to recommend a good margarita recipe? I have a bottle of good tequila that needs drinking.
posted by docgonzo at 11:46 AM on July 25, 2006

I love to make margaritas using frozen limeade concentrate instead of sweet/sour mix. My advice is to mix up the limeade double-strength (use 1/2 of the suggested amount of water). Then add the tequila (start with 1 oz. tequila to 4 oz. limeade mix and modify if necessary). Once you have the alcohol and limeade strength right then add small amounts of triple sec (or Cointreau, or Grand Marnier) until it has the right flavor.

Since the restaurant has already divulged its limeade ingredient, which would seem to be the more "secret" of the 2, it shouldn't be too hard to find out the other 2 ingredient. Suggestions:

"Excuse me, can you tell me if this is made with Grand Marnier? or is it Cointreau?"

or "This margarita is good, although it tastes differently than what I'm used to. Do you use a unique ingredient?"
posted by mezzanayne at 11:49 AM on July 25, 2006

docgonzo - totally key ingredient for good margaritas is homemade sour mix, made with agave nectar. no kidding. just about equal parts of lemon juice, lime juice, and nectar make for deadly margaritas, IMO. the rest is just quality tequila and big chunks of salt. oh, and some triple sec for good measure.
posted by casconed at 11:51 AM on July 25, 2006

yup, definitely missing the orange -- getting that mix dead on will be difficult-- if they make them in vats there may be a small amount of another ingredient in there-

I tend to use the standard recipe with a splash of Stewart's Key Lime Soda (not sure if it's regional or not) to take the bite out if I use a cheap tequila.
posted by tj at 11:58 AM on July 25, 2006 [1 favorite]

The other variable might be the sweetener. That is, instead of sugar, try cane juice.
posted by vacapinta at 12:07 PM on July 25, 2006

The guy who writes the "Top Secret Recipes" cookbooks said that he did the following:

Using medical tape, tape a cotton ball to the inside of your elbow to look as though you've recently have blood drawn.
Tell the waiter or restaurant manager that you're being tested for a food allergy (gesture to the blood draw site) and that it's necessary for you to keep track of *everything* you eat. Have a notebook with you for further corroboration. Tell him or her that you need a list of all the ingredients-- not the recipes, just the ingredients-- in your meal.

From there it's just a matter of getting the proportions right.

I have no idea whether this would actually work, but it's always struck me as a kind of funny thing to try.
posted by chickletworks at 12:21 PM on July 25, 2006 [3 favorites]

Here's how I make it at home:
4 ice cubes
2 shots tequila
1 shot Cointreau
2 shots grapefruit juice
2 shots lemonade
Combine in a pint glass and stir with your finger.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 12:26 PM on July 25, 2006

My family has always used frozen limeade in our margaritas - we mix them as follows:
Fill blender 2/3 full with ice
Dump in can of frozen limeade
Use can to add equal amount of tequila
Add a half a can full of triple sec/cointreau/Grand marnier
Blend. Drink.

In terms of hacking out the rest of this recipe, I agree with the ideas above of bringing in someone with a better palate than yours (e.g. chef or bartender). They'll likely immediately recognize any oddball ingredients. You should also find out if ice or salt count as any of the 4 ingredients. If one of those counts then the fourth ingredient is almost certainly triple sec/cointreau/grand marnier. If not, here are a few other possibilities I've used/seen in the past:
-Amaretto (pretty tasty, smooths things out and adds depth)
-Orange Juice (really common, helps cover for cheap triple sec)
-lime zest (pretty obvious, if you see little flecks of dark green in the drink)

[on preview: I really like chikletworks' idea. Although obviously *you* can't do it since they know you've already been asking about the recipe. Get a friend to come in (without you there) and give it a try.]
posted by rorycberger at 12:44 PM on July 25, 2006

Tell the waiter or restaurant manager that you're being tested for a food allergy

A bit off-topic, but please don't do this. Feigning food allergy issues is a real disservice to people who have actual serious food allergies. My ex was deathly (as in, near-instant anaphylaxis) allergic to carrots, and often had difficulty getting servers / chefs to believe her.
posted by dersins at 1:09 PM on July 25, 2006

You might want to indicate exactly how the current mix need to be adjusted, i.e. more sweet, salty, tart, etc.

A friend of mine from Colombia (South America) told me to add a little beer (two tablespoons) to the Margarita mix to make it a little sweeter. [I happen to really like them this way but others like to emphasize the tartness.]
posted by lilboo at 1:38 PM on July 25, 2006 [1 favorite]

You could go through the margarita recipes on Extra Tasty and see if any of them seem familiar.
posted by necessitas at 2:33 PM on July 25, 2006

Thanks for all the advice -- I'm looking forward to testing them out!
posted by docgonzo at 3:51 PM on July 25, 2006

Why assume the barkeep is telling the truth about four ingredients? Clearly he enjoys messing with you.

Try the beer, as lilboo says. Makes a slightly smoother drink. Not bad, but necessarily the result you're looking for.

Where can we find these killer margaritas, by the way? Or is that wrong of me to ask?
posted by IndigoJones at 8:36 AM on July 26, 2006

You might try posting this question on Chowhound or one of the other foodie sites if you're in an area that gets much discussion.
posted by phearlez at 2:44 PM on July 26, 2006