Ingredients
- 3 ounces tequila
- .75-1 ounce Cointreau
- juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime, to taste
- a dash of simple syrup, or agave nectar, or neither
- a pinch of salt
Preparation
Step 1
Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice
Shake until very cold
Strain into glass filled with fresh ice
A few notes on the above:
All proportions are a matter of preference. The important thing is the actual ingredients (kinda like cooking, yes?).
The tequila is important. Do not use Cuervo Gold, regardless of how much you think the guys in Steely Dan must know about drinking. It's crap. And my gag reflex still kicks in when I smell it, due no doubt to experiences during my misspent youth. Good tequila will alway say "100% agave" on it. Right there on the label. Sauza makes a plata (under their "Hornitos" label) that to my mind is a tremendous value, especially when buying the 1.75 liter bottles. Start there.
The triple sec is important. Do not use crappy, cheap triple sec. Use Cointreau. It's a real product, and not loaded with artificial colors and flavors. As far as I know. And it tastes better. If you don't believe me, do a taste test.
Lime or lemon. It doesn't matter. If lemon is good enough for Maria's in Santa Fe, it's good enough for me. But more importantly, lemons are generally cheaper, and their prices seem more stable, and both make a good drink.
If you don't shake at least 30 times, the drink won't be cold, and beneficial dilution will not take place. You do want to incorporate some cold water into the cocktail, via shaking. If you don't shake long and hard, and especially if you put that ice from the shaker right into the glass with the cocktail, rather than straining over fresh ice, you'll end up with warm ice, melting very quickly in a warm drink. Too much dilution + warm drink = not preferable.
As for the salt in the drink? There is/was a bartender at the Old House in Sante Fe, who convinced me to try a margarita his way: a pinch of salt *in* the drink. I was hesitant, but from that point on, I was hooked. Give it a try.