What Is a 50/50 Margarita and Why Ought to You Be Making It This Summer season

One of the crucial vital issues to learn about cocktails is that after getting the ratios memorized, there’s countless room to experiment. Take the margarita as our instance: Whereas actual portions can shift barely to go well with preferences, the essential ratio is 2 components tequila to at least one half every triple sec and contemporary lime juice. From there, you can begin swapping in a special spirit for the tequila. 

That’s the considering behind the mezcal margarita, which swaps tequila for its smokier cousin. However right here’s the attention-grabbing half: You don’t all the time need to swap one spirit for an additional. A primary instance of that is the 50/50 margarita, which has grow to be a favourite of mine these days. Initially created by Natasha Bermudez, bar director at Llama Inn and Llama San in New York, it’s a minimalist riff that retains the traditional margarita’s proportions—tequila, lime juice, and Cointreau—however replaces the tequila with a 50/50 mixture of mezcal and sherry.

Sherry isn’t a spirit—it’s a fortified wine with a decrease alcohol (15–20% ABV)—nevertheless it brings unimaginable depth to this drink. The result’s smoky but floral, with the wealthy and nutty flavors of sherry—its advanced, layered, and arguably much more sippable than your common margarita.

The Key Components for a Fabulous 50/50 Margarita

To land on my ideally suited rendition of this drink, I made six totally different variations that mixed varied types of each mezcal and sherry. This is what I realized after tasting all the outcomes.

Begin with an incredible mezcal. Let’s get this straight: mezcal will not be a kind of tequila—tequila is a kind of mezcal. I made this cocktail for our group with each Mezcal Verde Amarás, an Espadín-based mezcal that’s broadly out there in US shops, and Ojo de Tigre, a mix of Espadín and wild-harvested Tobalá an agave selection recognized for its fruity, advanced flavors. It doesn’t matter what you select, the secret is to make use of mezcal that’s high-quality and adequate to sip by itself.

Use a candy sherry. We began with a dry Manzanilla sherry (Valdespino), which created a crisp, citrusy cocktail—nevertheless it leaned too sharp. Then we tried a fino sherry (Tio Pepe), which was even drier and extra mineral-forward, however made a margarita that was unbalanced and in want of extra sweetness.

The breakthrough got here with Pedro Ximénez sherry, particularly from Valdespino. It’s a richly candy, syrupy model of sherry with flavors of fig, toffee, and dried fruit. Our colleague and Meals & Wine editorial director, Dylan Garret, put it completely: “It has the same earthy profile to agave nectar, but in addition brings in notes of fig, toffee, raisins, molasses, and dried fruit.”

He added, “Utilizing PX sherry offers you all these refined, nuanced flavors, whereas additionally letting you be lazy—you don’t want so as to add a bunch of additional components or make any syrups.”

The consequence was a wealthy, balanced cocktail that paired fantastically with each mezcals, although we leaned barely towards Ojo de Tigre.

Salt your rim—with model. What’s a margarita with no salted rim? I exploit a 50/50 mixture of kosher salt and Tajín for one thing a bit of extra dynamic. I solely salt one facet of the glass, so it’s solely half salty (kinda like me), becoming for a 50/50—and it retains the salt from overwhelming the previous couple of sips. It’s a small contact that makes your margarita really feel a bit of extra particular.

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