The History of the Margarita

What is now Twisted Alchemy’s expansive, and growing, line of 100% Cold-Pressed Juices, Mixers, Kits, and Syrups all began with a margarita. Or fifty.

As avid margarita fans, our founders Kim and Scott celebrate their joint May birthdays every year with a marvelous margarita bash. Eventually, these parties, and the demand for margaritas, grew so large that they began to run out of fresh squeezed lime juice. And so the seed for Twisted Alchemy’s solution-based juices for craft cocktailing was planted. 

While our history begins there, the story of the margarita stretches much farther back. The margarita is a classic cocktail that has been beloved so universally for decades that it is hard to imagine a world without it. Like many cocktails, its origins are somewhat shrouded in mystery, but there are a few stories about how this revered drink came to be.

Many claim that the margarita got its start in the late 1930s or early 1940s by a bartender named Carlos "Danny" Herrera. According to the story, Herrera was working at his restaurant, Rancho La Gloria, in Tijuana, Mexico, when a customer asked for a drink that was not too strong, but not too sweet. (Seasoned bartenders have all heard that one before.) Herrera combined tequila, lime juice, and Cointreau in a shaker with ice, and the rest was history. 

Others suggest that the margarita was invented in the late 1940s or early 1950s by a socialite named Margarita Sames. Sames was known for throwing lavish parties at her vacation home in Acapulco, Mexico, and she created the cocktail as a way to impress her guests. According to the story, Sames combined tequila, lime juice, and Cointreau in a blender with crushed ice, and the blended margarita was born. Little did Margarita Sames know it would become a late night favorite for college partygoers and socialites alike. 

Perhaps the most likely story is that the margarita grew out of the classic daisy cocktail. The Brandy Daisy first appeared in a recipe book by “Professor” Jerry Thomas in 1862. It combined curaçao and Jamaican rum with the traditional specs of lime juice, orange liquor, and brandy that became popular in the prohibition era. Spanish speakers will have probably already guessed this, as “daisy” translates directly to “margarita.” 

As spring- and maybe even summer! - begin to slowly creep towards us, light and tart cocktails like the margarita once again are re-entering our bar repertoire. Savvy hosts know that a quick fix for an influx of margarita lovers can be found in our variety of margarita kits- including The Watermelon Margarita Kit, Blood Orange Margarita Kits, Pomegranate Margarita Kits, Passion Fruit Margarita Kit, and our all-encompassing Margarita Madness Kit. Just you and your closest friend sipping margs? Our Three Citrus Margarita Mix never disappoints. For parties big, small, or solo, we have your margarita needs covered.