Bring the Margaritas Home for Cinco de Mayo

With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner, it’s hard not to feel a little stir-crazy reminiscing about tacos and margaritas past. But there’s no reason to despair when you can bring the fiesta to your own home kitchens.

There’s no better way to recreate the feeling of Cinco de Mayo at home than with The Original Margarita recipe. The Original Margarita was created by Dallas socialite Margarita Sames who mixed her two favorite spirits - Cointreau and tequila - together with lime juice while vacationing in Acapulco back in 1948. Crafted from a blend of all-natural sweet and bitter orange peels, Cointreau is beloved worldwide for its highly aromatic and perfectly balanced orange flavor. It is essential for any home bar.

The premium orange liqueur is highly versatile and can be mixed with essentially any spirit to make a more elevated cocktail. In the video below, Bon Appétit's Carla Lalli Music and Rick Martinez get together over Zoom to prep for Cinco de Mayo. Carla crafts The Original Margarita - Cointreau, tequila, and lime juice - and Rick puts his riff on the original recipe, the Mora Picosa. This spicy blackberry riff gets its kick from the chile de árbol.

Scroll down for The Original Margarita recipe and more twists on The Margarita from Bon Appétit chefs, including Carla's recipe for a Salt and Smoke Margarita - punchy with olives and mezcal - and Alex Delany's recipe for a Full-Citrus Marg, which gets its citrusy flavor from Cointreau (orange), lime, and grapefruit. Rick shares his recipe for the Mora Picosa. Molly Baz joins the party with a Spicy Celery Marg, which uses the leafy vegetable for a refreshing take on the classic.

The Original Margarita

Recipe by: Cointreau

Makes 1

1 ounce Cointreau
2 ounces blanco tequila
1 ounce fresh lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and add ice. Shake and strain into a salt-rimmed rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Salt and Smoke Margarita

Recipe by Carla Lalli Music

Makes 1

1 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce mezcal
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 dashes orange bitters
Toasted sesame oil, for drizzling
Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper
Lemon wedge
2 brined green olives, such as Castelvetrano

Pour some kosher salt onto a small plate; add a few cranks of black pepper and stir to combine. Rub lemon wedge lightly over rim of a rocks glass. Press rim of glass into salt-and-pepper mixture. Fill glass with coarsely cracked large ice cubes. Thread olives and lemon wedge onto a skewer; set aside.

Combine Cointreau, mezcal, lemon juice, honey, and bitters in a cocktail shaker; season with 3 cranks of black pepper. Fill shaker with ice and shake vigorously until outside of shaker is very cold and frosty, 30 seconds. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into prepared glass. Season with a crank of black pepper and drizzle with sesame oil. Garnish with reserved skewer.

Full-Citrus Marg

Recipe by Alex Delany

Makes 1

¾ ounce Cointreau
2 ounces tequila blanco
1½ ounces fresh ruby red grapefruit juice
½ ounce lime juice
2 tablespoon grapefruit zest
¼ cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons chile flakes

Grapefruit peel, for garnish
Lime wedge, for garnish

Mix salt, grapefruit zest, and chile flakes in a small bowl until evenly incorporated. Empty onto a small, flat plate. Rub the rim of the glass with a lime wedge and reserve for serving. Dip the rim of the glass into the salt mixture and fill with ice. Set aside.

Add the Cointreau, tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and a pinch of kosher salt to a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice, cover, and shake hard until the outside of the shaker becomes frosty and too cold to grip, about 45 seconds.

Strain the Margarita through a Hawthorne strainer or a slotted spoon into prepared glass. Garnish with a lime wedge and strip of grapefruit peel.

Mora Picosa (Spicy Blackberry)

Recipe by Rick Martinez

Makes 1

1 ¼ ounces Cointreau
2 ounces tequila reposado
¾ ounces fresh lime juice
1 lime wedge
6 blackberries, divided
1 chile de árbol
1 mint sprig
Kosher salt
Cayenne pepper (optional)

Place some salt and a pinch of cayenne on a small plate and mix to combine. Rub rim of an old-fashioned or rocks glass with lime; dip in salt. Fill with ice and set aside.

Combine 4 blackberries, chile de árbol, mint, tequila, Cointreau and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice, cover, and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is very cold, about 20 seconds.

Strain cocktail through a Hawthorne strainer or a slotted spoon into reserved glass. Garnish with remaining blackberries.

Spicy Celery Marg

Recipe by Molly Baz

Makes 1

¾ ounce Cointreau
2 ounces fresh celery juice
1½ ounces tequila blanco
¾ ounce lime juice
½ ounce agave syrup
¼ serrano chili, stem and seeds removed, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt
Limes wedges, for rim and garnish
Celery leaves, for garnish

Place some salt on a small plate. Rub the rim of an old-fashioned or rocks glass with lime (reserve for serving); dip the edge of the glass in salt. Fill the glass with ice and set aside.

Muddle the serrano chili in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add the Cointreau, tequila, celery juice, lime juice, agave and a pinch of kosher salt.

Fill shaker with ice, cover, and shake vigorously until outside of shaker is very cold, about 30 seconds.

Strain the Margarita through a Hawthorne strainer or a slotted spoon into prepared glass. Garnish with celery leaves and lime wedges.

Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit