National Margarita Day | A Trip Around The World

National Margarita Day has arrived …. ¡Salud!

This year, we are traveling the world to get some of our hospitality partners’ favorite margarita recipes. From California to Aruba, notable chefs and mixologists, including José Andres is offering readers a reason to expand your margarita-making horizons.

In order to fully celebrate, we wanted to tell you the tale of how the margarita came to be … at least according to Mexican folklore. The margarita was first said to be invented in 1938 by Carlos “Danny” Herrera. He owned the restaurant Rancho La Gloria in Tijuana, Mexico. The story goes that a dancer by the name of Marjorie King came into his bar, and couldn’t drink anything other than tequila. King appreciated the spirit but couldn’t drink it neat so Herrera threw together the ingredients used for a tequila shot — salt and lime juice — and a few shakes later, thus began one early version of the margarita.

Another top contender for the inventor title is Margarita Sames, a wealthy Dallas socialite who claimed she whipped up the drink for friends at her Acapulco vacation home in 1948. Among her well-connected guests was Tommy Hilton, who eventually added the drink to the bar menu at his hotel chain. According to The Complete Book of Spirits by Anthony Dias Blue, though, the first importer of Jose Cuervo in the United States advertised with the tagline, “Margarita: it’s more than a girl’s name,” in 1945, three years before Sames claimed to have invented the drink.

Yet another version of the story comes from research done by VinePair. As VinePair explains, the margarita was most likely invented by an Irish man named Madden in 1936 (via Difford’s Guide). That’s when the first mention of a Tequila Daisy, a riff on a brandy-based drink that dates to Victorian times, came about in a newspaper story. While traveling in Mexico during the United States’ Prohibition Era, the newspaper editor sought out a bar to get a drink. That’s where he met the bartender, Mr. Madden, who explained that he accidentally picked up the wrong bottle when making a Daisy for a customer one day. However, Madden lucked out: the customer loved the tequila version of the drink so much that he told all his friends and the word soon spread about the new cocktail.

According to Liquor, the only difference between a Daisy and a margarita (or a “Tequila Daisy,” as it was once known) is the use of tequila instead of brandy. It’s not the super-sugary alcoholic slush that some people enjoy today but, in all likelihood, it could have been the start of the drink we now call the margarita (Tasting Table). No matter who invented this beautiful cocktail, it’s become a fan favorite—and thanks to the creative minds of many bartenders around the world, it’s also an inventive libation that makes for the ultimate Mexican-inspired drink. Whether you make it with tequila or tequila’s famous sister, mezcal, you will find a refreshing sip every time.

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