Celebrate National Margarita Day

Today is National Margarita Day in the US, and we welcome those outside our borders to celebrate the day with us. Margaritas have a long and interesting history. While theories of its origins abound, it isn’t likely that the drink was named after a particular woman, as most stories speculate. According to drink historian David Wondrich, the best guess is that the drink evolved from a cocktail known as the Daisy, which originated as a mix of alcohol, citrus juice and grenadine. The Spanish word for daisy? You guessed it: margarita.

Over the years the alcohol trended from whiskey to gin to tequila, where it likely earned its Spanish name. There are hundreds of different varieties of margaritas, most featuring different fruit flavors with a few branching out to ingredients as diverse as chocolate and green tea. The drink can be served on the rocks, straight up, or blended, with or without a salty rim.

The EYB Library contains 15 pages of margarita recipes, including a few savory dishes and baked goods using margarita mix and/or tequila, so even if you are a teetotaler you can celebrate the day in style. Here are a few Member favorites to get you started: 

Spicy grapefruit margarita from The Grilling Book
Beer margaritas from The Boozy Baker
Today’s perfect margarita (aka Topolo margarita bartender’s recipe) from Frontera
Frozen honeydew-basil margaritas from Food & Wine Magazine (pictured above)
Margarita cheesecake from Martha Stewart’s Cakes
Margarita steak fajitas from Fine Cooking Magazine