Classic Margarita Recipe: The Ratio That Always Works

A classic Margarita is 2 oz blanco tequila, 1 oz triple sec, and 0.75 oz fresh lime juice, shaken hard with ice and strained into a salt-rimmed glass, either up or over fresh ice. That's the whole recipe: three ingredients and one technique.

The ratio, and why it's shaped that way

Bartenders write this as a 2:1:0.75 spec. The tequila carries the drink, the triple sec adds sweetness and body, and the lime cuts back through both with acid. Drop the lime to 0.5 oz and the drink turns cloying; push it past 1 oz and it turns into limeade with a tequila aftertaste. 0.75 oz is the point where the acid is loud enough to taste but not loud enough to win.

Our house spec on the Margarita recipe page uses a slightly softer 2:1:1 pour, a touch less tart, which holds up better if your triple sec is on the sweeter side. Both are correct; start with whichever matches the bottle in your bar, then adjust the lime by 0.25 oz until it tastes right to you.

Use fresh-squeezed lime juice, not bottled. Bottled lime juice loses its aromatic oils within days of pressing, and a Margarita made with it tastes flat no matter how correct the ratio is.

Method

1. Rub a lime wedge around half the rim of a rocks glass, then dip that half in salt. Leaving one side unsalted lets whoever's drinking it control how much salt hits their lips per sip.
2. Add the tequila, triple sec, and lime juice to a shaker with ice.
3. Shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds, until the shaker is frost-cold to the touch.
4. Strain into the prepared glass, either up (no ice) or over fresh ice.
5. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Check the exact amounts against your own pour with the measurement converter if you're working in mL rather than oz, and run the finished ratio through the cocktail ABV calculator. A standard 2:1:0.75 Margarita comes out around 24 to 26% ABV before dilution.

Common mistakes

• Sour mix instead of fresh lime. Pre-made sour mix is mostly sugar and citric acid; it has none of the aromatic oil that makes a Margarita smell like anything. Squeeze the limes.
• A warm shake. If the outside of the shaker isn't uncomfortably cold after shaking, it hasn't been shaken long or hard enough, and the drink will be under-diluted and harsh.
• Skipping the salt technique. Salt mixed into the drink itself, rather than sitting on the rim, makes every sip taste the same instead of letting the drinker choose.

Variations worth trying

Once the base ratio is second nature, it's a template. A few from our library that start from the same 2:1 tequila-to-citrus backbone:

• Spicy Margarita, jalapeño added to the shake
• Spicy Mango Margarita, mango puree softens the heat
• Watermelon Margarita, swaps lime-forward acid for fresh watermelon juice
• Vanilla Bean Margarita, a dessert-leaning take

If you're building a batch for a party rather than one glass at a time, the batch calculator scales any of these to a full guest list.