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Margarita Quest

By George Sinclair

1) Danny Negrete ( invented 1936), "Garci Crespo hotel" (1934 – 1948), Peubla, México Danny Negrete's Margarita

Ingredients Preparation Glass Garnish 1 part silver Tequila Shake & Strain Rocks None 1 part triple sec (Cointreau)

(crushed ice)

1 part fresh lime juice

The most circulated origin story of Negrete’s Margarita is a), though b) is the

official Negrete Family version of events.

a) Invented the Margarita in honour of his girlfriend, who liked salt in all her drinks. b) Invented the Margarita for his sister-in-law, Margarita, as a wedding present. Danny Negrete went on to work at various other places in México, one of which is Agua Caliente, where there is a race track that claims to be the birthplace of the Margarita. 2) Francisco 'Pancho' Morales (Invented: 4th of July, 1942), Died January 3rd 1997, aged 78. (ministry of tequila) 'Tommy's Place', Ciudad Juárez, México “Pancho was a teacher in the Juárez bartenders’ school, the drink was soon well-known all over the state of Chihuahua.” (“The Book of Tequila- A Complete Guide, by Bob Emmons). A customer asked for a Magnolia, which 'Pancho' didn't know, except that it had Cointreau.

Francisco ”Pancho” Morales’ Margarita

Ingredients Preparation Glass Garnish 2 parts silver Tequila Shake with crushed

ice, Cocktail Salt rim.

1 part Triple Sec then strain into glass. 1 parts fresh lime juice

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juice

3) Carlos ”Danny” Herrera (invented: 1947– 48), died, May 14th 1992, aged 90 (The Houston Chronicle) Invented the Margarita in honour of Marjorie 'Margarita' King, a show girl. Marjorie King died, January 3rd 1998, aged 91 (LA Times) Marjorie King starred in the following films: · My Weakness (1933) · Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise (1931) · The Great Gabbo (1929) "Rancho La Gloria", Rosarito Beach, México “Rancho La Gloria”, located on the road between Tijuana and Rosarito Beach, close to the Caliente Racetrack.” - The Book of Tequila- A Complete Guide, by Bob Emmons. Note: The Caliente Racetrack claims that it is the birthplace of the Margarita.

Carlos "Danny" Herrera's Margarita

Ingredients Preparation Glass Garnish 3 parts silver Tequila Shake with crushed

ice, Cocktail Salt rim.

2 parts Cointreau then strain into glass. 1 part fresh lime juice

4) Enrique Bastante Gutierez (Invented: 1940’s) Former World Cocktail Champion (?) Invented the Margarita for Rita Hayworth Hayworth’s Real name: Margarita Carmen Cansino, born: 17th October 1918, Died: 14th May 1987. no specific cocktail recipe found. Margarita Cansino had, at one point, worked at the Agua Caliente Racetrack (early 1930’s). Did Gutierez work at Agua Caliente Racetrack? I am still waiting for an answer, from Agua Caliente.

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5) Margaret Sames (Invented: December 1948), Acapulco, México

Margaret Sames’ Margarita

Ingredients Preparation Glass Garnish 3 parts silver Tequila Shake with ice, Champagn

e Salt rim.

1 part Cointreau then strain into glass. Saucer 1 part fresh lime juice

GS: The Sames story is a little strange, some of the versions of the story lead me to believe she was copying a drink she had seen somewhere else. But she, herself, claims that she personally invented it. Margarita ratios: 2:1:1=6:3:3 (50% tequila, 25% Triple Sec, 25% fresh lime juice). 3:2:1=6:4:2 (50% tequila, double as much Triple Sec than fresh lime juice). 3:1:1=6:2:2 (60% tequila, 20% Triple Sec, 20% fresh lime juice). 1:1:1=6:6:6 (33% tequila, 33% Triple Sec, 33% fresh lime juice). GS: there is little difference between the 6:4:2 & 6:3:3, a mere shift of 1 (from lime juice to Triple Sec) GS: I feel it is safe to assume that it was invented in México, using Mexican limes (“limons”), Triple Sec and Tequila. GS: I find it curious that each inventor of the Margarita, appears to have invented a different drink proportionally. Debating It (Texas Monthly, August 1995): Who created the Margarita, and when? It would be easier to identify the missing link between man and ape. So many Margarita candidates have been put forward and so little hard evidence has been offered that the origin of the now-ubiquitous drink will probably never be known.

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The most frequently told version is that the Margarita was first made in the forties by an unnamed bartender in Palm Springs, California, to mimic—but soften—the classic combination of a shot of tequila accompanied by a lick of salt and a bite of lime. A favorite story among Texans is that a bartender named Pancho Morales invented the Margarita on July 4, 1942, at a Juárez bar named Tommy's Place ("The Man Who Invented the Margarita," TM, October 1974). Supposedly, it all began when a woman requested a Magnolia (brandy, Cointreau, and an egg yolk topped with champagne). Morales was a little fuzzy on the recipe, so he improvised—and his ersatz creation was a big hit. Another popular theory cites society hostess Margarita Sames (formerly of Dallas, now of San Antonio), who claims to have concocted the drink for Christmas houseguests at her Acapulco hacienda in 1948 ("Barroom Brawl," TM, July 1991). But of all the people said to be associated with the Margarita, the one who deserves the most credit is Vern Underwood, who first imported Jose Cuervo tequila into the U.S. in 1945 and promulgated a great advertising slogan: "Margarita: It's more than a girl's name." Vernon O. Underwood Chairman of the Board, Young’s Market Company, (Wine and Spirits Wholesaler), 2164 North Batavia, Orange, California 92865, (800) 317-6150 http://www.youngsmarket.com/ Response to E-mail, from George Smith at Young’s Marketing Company: “THE TEQUILA BOOK has most of these answers” “The Tequila Book” (1978) – Marion Gorman ASIN: 0809281759 This is an out of print publication. GS: Until I get a copy of “The Tequila Book”, I will defer to Robert Plotkins statement that 1955 is the year of the “Margarita: It’s more than a girls name” slogan. Carlos “Danny” Herrera

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http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/homes/spaf/Yucks/V2/msg00063.html SAN DIEGO Carlos "Danny" Herrera was always a little vague about the exact date he mixed a jigger of white tequila with lemon juice and triple sec, creating a smooth and salty concoction he named "Margarita."

It would have been October or November of 1947 or 1948, he told friends. And then he would add: "Three things happen to you when you get old. You lose your memory, and I can't recall the other two."

Mr. Herrera died here in San Diego of natural causes at the age of 90. He had moved here five years ago to be with his daughter, Gloria Amezcua.

He was born in México City in 1901 and worked his way across México as a young man, finally settling in Tijuana in 1929. He built a home seven miles south of Tijuana in what was then wide open land he and his wife called "La Gloria," after his daughter.

The couple added a bar in the home, the only one for miles, to entertain the many friends who dropped in. Traffic was so heavy that the couple decided to operate the bar as a business.

Their home became a restaurant in 1935, offering Mexican cuisine, mixed drinks, beer and wine. Within a few years, the couple decided to add 10 motel rooms next to the restaurant. Then came a swimming pool. Then came a booming clientele from across the border including Hollywood stars.

Called Rancho La Gloria, it was midway on the old road that connected Tijuana with Rosarito Beach.

Among the bar's clientele was a showgirl and sometime actress who called herself Marjorie King. She was allergic to hard liquor, except for tequila, but she didn't like to drink it straight or even with a lemon and salt.

Mr. Herrera started experimenting and came up with a concoction that was three parts white tequila, two parts Cointreau and one part fresh lemon juice. He added shaved ice and blended the mixture with a hand shaker.

He called the drink "Margarita," after the actress. He dipped a small, short-stemmed glass in lemon juice, twirled the rim in a bowl of rock salt and poured in the liquid.

He later bragged that she loved the drink from the first moment it touched her lips. So did a lot of other people.

The drink made its way to a small restaurant in San Diego. Bartender Al Hernandez mixed the concoction for the first time in the United States. He did some more experimenting with different blends of juices and tequilas.

By the mid-1950s, Margaritas were served in almost every San Diego bar, and their popularity eventually spread across the country.

Mr. Herrera and his first wife were divorced in 1940. He married a Coronado socialite, the late LaVenda Van Ness, in 1950, and the couple built a large home in La Gloria.

During the next 30 years the couple entertained many Hollywood personalities, including Walt Disney, Mickey Rooney and Vincent Price. His wife died in 1989.

Besides his daughter, Mr. Herrera is survived by four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

http://www.premiersystems.com/holiday/margarita.html

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The Tequila Margarita, its history and an original recipe. The origin of the Margarita is problematical. It has been attributed to the Garcia Crespo Hotel in Puebla, Bertita’s Bar in Taxco, a San Antonio party girl in Acapulco, the Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, and even places in Los Angeles and San Diego. Wherever it was invented, it had gained popularity by the 1930’s in both México and the United States. My parents spoke of enjoying Margaritas in the ‘30s in Guyamas. The Hussong family, who have owned Hussong’s Cantina in Ensenada, Baja California, since the 1860’s, did not claim to have invented the Margarita, but they have served them since the 30’s and claimed their recipe to be as original as exists. Hussong’s was a favorite watering hole of the fishing and hunting crowd out of Southern California in the 40’s and 50’s, and I had my first taste of a Margarita there around 1948 or 49. Before he died in the early 1960’s, Dick Hussong gave me their original Margarita recipe, seldom used by then for tourists, and I have preserved it. Hussong’s has changed over the years, and is now one hell of a fall-down-on-your-face tourist and surfer bar, but sadly, with tourist-surfer Margaritas. Here, though, is Dick Hussong’s recipe as he gave it to me: 2 oz. Cuervo Gold Tequila 1 oz. Fresh squeezed lime juice 7/8 oz. Mexican Controy Liqueur Salt a cold champagne glass by wiping a cut lime around the rim and dipping into coarse salt to the depth of 1/8th inch. Put the ingredients into a shaker with an abundance of cold, fresh ice. Cap the shaker and shake the Margarita well. Strain into the prepared glass. French Cointreau or even Triple Sec may be substituted for the Controy and any good Anejo Tequila will do. http://ensenada.baja.com/nightlife/hussongs/ Hussongs Cantina Ave. Ruiz #13n Old Town Ensenada Tel. 011-52-61-78-32-10 Danny Negrete

http://www.pocolocolombardo.com/margaritachronicles_1.htm

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”I interviewed Salvador Negrete, the son of Daniel Negrete, the purported inventor of the Margarita. Salvador says there are many fallacious stories about the origin of the Margarita, such as the one above, but that " this is the true story." The family story goes that Danny opened a bar at the Garci Crespo hotel with his brother, David. The day before his brother's marriage, Daniel presented the Margarita as a wedding present to Margarita, his sister-in-law. Danny combined one-third Triple Sec, one-third Tequila and one-third squeezed Mexican lime juice. The drink was not blended and was served with hand- crushed ice. In perusing the internet, Danny's Negrete is the earliest name credited with creating the worlds most popular cocktail. Salvador describes his father as a quiet "Caballero" who was only angered by one thing. His ire was stirred by the abortions created by blending strawberries, bananas, pinas and other fruits into his beautiful Margarita. He asks that they call these concoctions by some other women's name and let his sister-in-law have her unblemished prize. Danny was born in México City in 1911. In México City, he started what may have been the first bar in México for respectable women. In 1944 he moved to Tijuana and worked as a bartender at Agua Caliente and continued to internationalize his cocktail. He came to Ensenada in 1950 and worked at the Riviera and the San Nicolas Hotel. Salvador learned from his father that the qualities of a good bartender are intelligence, good shoes and dress, clean fingernails and being bilingual. Danny Negrete is world famous and articles about him have appeared in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He was invited by many mayors to their cities and was invited to Europe and Hawaii. Today, we pay tribute to the many contributions Mr. Negrete has added to the history, allure, and charm of México. Though there are many contenders, Danny Negrete is most likely to be dubbed "The Father of the First Margarita." Danny was a homeboy until his death five years ago. I think the dude deserves a statue on Mateos.” Salvador Negrete, Grand Chaparral, Avenida Reforma, Ensenada México Spa-Peñafiel Hotel, formerly Garci-Crespo Hotel. The name change occurred in 1948. Spa Peñafiel Carretera Puebla-Tehuacan Km 20 Tel +52-238-382-0190 Fax +52-238-382-0191 Or Hacienda Spa Penafiel Penafiel, Tehuacan, México Phone: +52 (0) 2 383 820 190 Translated from: http://www.tehuacan.gob.mx/images/Historia/mainhechos.htm 5th of August of 1934 Inauguration of Great Hotel GARCI? CRESPO later

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SPA PEÑAFIEL symbol of the tourist height of Tehuacán. The hotel is in a town renowned for its mineral waters, a famous national brand produced there is called “Garci-Crespo”. Margarita Sames Margaritaville From Today's Columbus Woman, June 1994 Margarita (the drink) Celebrates a Happy 45th If Margarita Sames had been just about anyone else, America's most famous drink --now celebrating it's 45th anniversary--may never have gone beyond the four walls of her home. Luckily for millions of "Margarita" lovers, the drink's creator had some powerful friends. "I was very close with a lot of famous hotel and restaurant people," said 81-year-old Mrs. Sames of the drink she concocted at her Acapulco home during the 1948 Christmas holidays. "I guess they played a big role in introducing the Margarita to our society." In the late 1940's, Mrs. Sames was a rich, young American socialite renowned for hosting wonderful parties in Acapulco that were attended by a circle of powerful movers and shakers. It was at one of those parties that the Margarita came to be. Looking to create a good daytime cocktail that "you could have several of," Mrs. Sames recalled, she took two of her favorite drinks--Cointreau, the famous French spirit, and tequila--and mixed them together. She added lime juice, rimmed the glass with salt and brought a tray of the cocktails to her friends at poolside. Among those friends who sampled the first batch of Margaritas were Nick Hilton, founder of the Hilton Hotel chain, Joseph Drown, who owned the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and Shelton McHenry, who owned the popular Tail O' The Cock restaurant in the Los Angeles suburb, Studio City. The concoction was a big hit among Mrs. Sames' friends who referred to it as "The Drink" or "Margarita's Drink." The name evolved finally into "The Margarita" after Mrs. Sames' husband one day presented his wife with champagne glassware etched with one word: "Margarita." Soon after they first tasted Mrs. Sames' new cocktail, Hilton, Drown, McHenry and other influential business people began introducing the Margarita at their establishments. They also ordered the drink when traveling, instructing bartenders on how to prepare it.

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Mrs. Sames, who today lives in San Antonio and retains a busy social life, first noticed her creation being served at the Acapulco Airport. It then moved quickly into California and gradually began spreading across the United States. As the Margarita grew in popularity, several variations of the drink began appearing, some of which have strayed from the original recipe of Cointreau, tequila, and lime juice. Among those versions is the popular frozen Margarita and its array of flavors. Many types of Margaritas have become favorites, but in Margarita Sames' home, where interesting and exciting friends still regularly drop by, only one type of Margarita is served. "And that's the original...the one I created 45 years ago," Mrs. Sames said with a smile. http://www.nightclub.com/magazine/April01/cocktail.html America’s Cocktail by Robert Plotkin The Margarita has enjoyed far more than the standard 15 minutes of fame. In fact, after climbing to the forefront of mainstream popularity 20 years ago, the drink continues to rank among America's favorite cocktails. Tequila shortage notwithstanding, the rage continues. Did you ever stop and ask yourself how a drink became a worldwide phenomenon? We wondered that about the Margarita, and, after some interesting detective work, we discovered a good story. San Antonio native Margarita Sames was a self-described socialite who, along with her husband Bill, owned a villa near the Flamingo Hotel in Acapulco, México. The year was 1948 and times were good. The war had ended three years before and the country was experiencing a prolonged period of prosperity. For the rich and famous, Acapulco was an irresistible playground. The Sames lived in Acapulco for part of the year. There they developed a close circle of friends, affectionately dubbed the "team." The cadre consisted of Fred MacMurray, Lana Turner, Nick Hilton, next-door neighbor John Wayne, Joseph Drown, owner of the Hotel Bel-Air, and restaurateur Shelton McHenrie, owner of the Tail o' the Cock restaurant in Los Angeles. This group of influential, high-profile friends was practically inseparable. They reveled in the festive, laid-back attitude of Acapulco, spending their nights playing by the pool and downing a considerable number of cocktails. Lunch was typically served somewhere around sunset. Cocktail On a Bet

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Margarita Sames had an effervescent personality and a disarming smile. She was a social magnet and the unofficial leader of the group. The Sames house was the setting for many wild parties, raucous affairs that sometimes lasted days on end. Shortly before Christmas of '48, Margarita Sames was challenged by several ranking members of the team to devise a new and exciting cocktail, something to break up their regimen of beer and Bloody Marys. Her initial attempts were loudly and unanimously rejected. After each round of successively worse drinks, her friends - this band of movie stars and distinguished businessmen - expressed their displeasure by tossing her in the pool. Undaunted, a soaking wet Margarita Sames went back to work. She mixed together tequila and Cointreau with fresh lime juice. Having grown up in France, Sames was familiar with Cointreau, and after spending years vacationing in México, she had developed an appreciation for México's native spirit, tequila. She tried several different formulations; however, some came out too sweet, some not sweet enough. Then she hit on what she thought was the perfect blend: one part Cointreau, three parts tequila and one part lime juice. Knowing that most people drank tequila preceded by a lick of salt, she chose to garnish her cocktail with a rim of coarse salt. She brought out a tray of Champagne glasses brimming with her new creation. Her friends sipped heartily and the approval was overwhelming. They proclaimed it a triumph. It quickly became the group's signature cocktail, the main course and featured attraction during Christmas and New Year's Eve. Sames credits the proliferation of the drink to her friends, John Wayne, Fred MacMurray and Lana Turner. Her esteemed emissaries would go to restaurants and bars, tell the bartenders about the Margarita and order a few rounds. Soon it was a specialty at the Acapulco Airport. Nicky Hilton began promoting the cocktail at the bars in the popular Acapulco Hilton, as did Joe Drown at the Hotel Bel-Aire. One account has the Margarita originating at the fashionable Tail o' the Cock restaurant near Los Angeles. Owned by team member and Acapulco veteran Shelton McHenrie, the Tail o' the Cock restaurant may likely have been where many Americans first sampled Margarita's drink. In the years following, Margarita Sames remained a socialite in the international set. She continued serving her cocktail to her growing host of friends. She spent many afternoons sipping Margaritas with Eleanor Roosevelt, and the legendary baseball manager John McGraw was a lifelong friend of the Sames and the Margarita.

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http://www.independenttravelagents.com/acapulco10.htm

The “Los Flamingos” hotel was bought by John Wayne, Johnny Weissmuller et al.

1950- 1984

Official “Los Flamingos” Hotel Website: http://www.acabtu.com.mx/flamingos/index.html http://fodorstravel.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?cur_section=lod&destination=acapulco@7

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Almost a historical monument, this hot-pink hotel was the favored hangout of John Wayne, Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller, Errol Flynn, and the rest of the "Hollywood gang" back in the '50s, and their photographs adorn the walls of the lobby. The hotel is strung along a cliff that has some of the finest views in Acapulco -- from Pie de la Cuesta all across Acapulco Bay. Los Flamingos attracts plenty of Europeans who come to bask in the ambience of Old Hollywood and toss down the coco locos, rum drinks that barman Esteban Castañeda will tell you were invented here in the 1960s. Francisco “Pancho” Morales http://www.ministry-of-tequila.org/margaritas.htm Inventor of Margarita Cocktail Dies 7:11am EST, 1/3/97 EL PASO, Texas - The man widely credited with inventing the Margarita, a smooth tequila-based cocktail renowned for its potent kick, was buried after dying of a stroke. He was 78. Family members said Francisco "Pancho" Morales died on Monday in the southwest Texas border city of El Paso and was buried on Thursday morning. It was just across the border in Ciudad Juárez where Morales reportedly poured the world's first Margarita on July 4, 1942. Legend has it he was working in Tommy's Bar when a woman came in and asked for a drink he had not heard of. Feigning expertise, he whipped up a cocktail of tequila, Cointreau and lime juice. The woman loved it and asked Morales what the drink was called. The rest is history. Several people have proclaimed themselves the inventor of the Margarita over the years, although many experts and México's official news agency Notimex said Morales had the strongest claim to fame. His son, Gabriel Morales, said on Thursday his father never patented the drink and made no money from it. He later emigrated to the United States and worked as a milkman for 25 years before retiring in 1981. But the former barman never forgot how to make and shake a good cocktail. "Once in a while, someone would come over to see how he would make them and he'd do one for them," Gabriel Morales told Reuters. Morales said his father never boasted about his invention, or even particularly liked the drink. "He was always more proud of being a milkman, and of being a good father, husband and grandfather." The most common recipe for a Margarita is to mix two ounces of tequila, 1/2 ounce of triple sec, and the juice of half a lime with salt. The drink is then shaken with ice and strained into a cocktail glass rimmed with lime and salt.

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Response to E-mail, from Tom Cannon; http://www.PocoTequila.com “my wife and I were just in Juárez, México last Saturday and we visited the Kentucky Club, a bar that has been in operation since 1920. The bartender there is a man by the name Lorenzo, who has worked at this club for nearly 50 years and was evidently trained by one Francisco 'Pancho' Morales who claimed to have invented the Margarita in 1942. Park Kerr the author "The El Paso Chile Company - Margarita Cookbook" recommended that we stand at the bar and order a Margarita from Lorenzo and have him relate his story to us. I agree with a statement by Mr. Kerr, "If the Margarita wasn't invented here it should have been." The debate I'm sure will continue as to the exact origins of the Margarita but we watched Lorenzo make ours by squeezing what looked like 2 fresh limons directly into a shaker, with 2 shots Blanco tequila, and 1 shot triple sec and crushed ice. Shook it up well and served it "up" into salt rimmed glasses. It's hard to imagine improving on the simple beauty of this concoction and I couldn't help imagine just how many of these great cocktails Lorenzo had made over his many years at the Kentucky Club. Always fresh lime or lemon juice. ( the above mentioned author Al Lucero is also the owner of "Maria's", a great Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe, NM that has a huge selection of premium tequila and they make all of their Margaritas with lemon juice because the limes we normally get here in the States can be somewhat bitter.) Limons are Mexican limes that are much like "Key Limes" and are great if you can get them. There are those that say the salt distracts from the flavors of the tequila and lime. Personally, I feel a Margarita just wouldn't be a Margarita without the salt. I would also never make or order a frozen Margarita. They should be shaken and served "on the rocks" or "up".

Lorenzo Hernandez: Custodian of the Margarita

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Lorenzo Hernandez works at: Kentucky Club, Avenida Juárez 629 Norte, Cuidad Juárez México

http://www.texasmonthly.com/food/recipes/9911_Margarita.php One of the many creation myths about the Margarita is that it was invented in Juárez in 1942 by bartender Francisco Morales. He has been gone many years, but you can still have a perfect Margarita there courtesy of Lorenzo Hernandez, who has been making them at the Kentucky Club, just across the international bridge on Avenida Juárez, for 53 years. As Hernandez will tell you, many different tequilas and orange liqueurs make excellent Margaritas. But the single most important ingredient in a top-notch Margarita is the juice of Mexican limes. True, Mexican limes are small and they have a lot of annoying seeds. But Margaritas just don't taste right without them. Response to E-mail, from Julio Bermejo: http://www.TommysTequila.com I do not like putting salt on a Margarita for several reasons. As you know salt is a big flavor enhancer. At Tommy's we want one's Margaritas to taste of mainly 2 things, which in our case happen to be the largest components in our Margaritas after ice: 100% Agave tequila and fresh hand squeezed lime juice. Our barmen actually taste our clients margies before they are served and we never taste them with salt.; the properly made Margarita does not need it. However if a client loves salt and has never been to Tommy's I will usually salt only half the glass to still try to give that client the opportunity to try the drink the way we made it. Furthermore if at another bar or restaurant and one receives a poor Margarita well if you put enough salt on it will become more palatable. If you ever have the chance to come to Tommy's and you

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order an El Tesoro Reposado Margarita , it will taste of El Tesoro Repo and fresh lime not of salt.

Tommy's is regarded as serving the best Margaritas in the Bay Area by City Search, Bay Guardian , SF Weekly, SF Chronicle. The wall Street Journal calls us "the epicenter of tequila in the US." CNN calls us "ground zero of tequila in the US." I have been featured in numerous magazines, television shows and radio programs. I can be more specific if you like,. I can email you a bio with credits if you desire. We only use fresh limes because the acid for the drink must be in the freshest state possible. We buy our limes from a purveyor who does not refrigerate his limes. As limes are very delicate we do not want them being in an environment lower than 50 degrees F. Furthermore we use a handpress and squeeze once. We want juice not pulp . Also we cut the nibs or the ends of the limes which gives un more surface area on which to apply pressure for the squeezer and minimizes the oil from the rind of the lime. At Tommy's we squeeze approximately 35-40 cases of limes of 175 count per week. Embarrassingly I am not a Margarita historian. There are far too many people who claim to have invented the cocktail. I do believe the most important information pertaining to this refer to the 2 principle ingredients: 100% Agave tequila and lime. One's choice of triple sec / sweetener is relative and personal. Unfortunately too many times ingredients are determined by price. The well or rail or house pouring brand of tequila at Tommy’s is Herradura.

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http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2001-05-01/foodanddrink.php “'What do we do with this?'" The elder Martinez would whip up a batch of frozen Margaritas using a recipe he had gotten from a bartender at a private club in San Antonio in the late thirties.” Agua Caliente Racetrack http://sohosandiego.org/reflections/2001september/wecalledit.htm We Called it Caliente By Kathleen Kelley-Markham Agua Caliente has always been more to me than a complex of lovely buildings designed by a very talented young architect named Wayne McAllister. To me, it is simply Caliente, a place full of memories and stories told to me by my family. My mother's family owned a number of well-known Southern California landmarks including the U.S. Grant Hotel, Viejas Ranch (now Viejas Casino), the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles and the final link on the road to romance, Agua Caliente. Caliente stories were always the best. The family trips to Caliente were rather glorious especially since they occurred during the dark days of the Depression. My mother and her older brother viewed the resort as their personal playground, everyone knew who they were and with free run of all the facilities except the casino, their time was spent swimming in that fabulous pool, trying to retrieve coins from the wishing well and riding horses. Their older brother and sister were teenagers during this time and the lure of seeing celebrities and sports legends (including the famous racehorses Seabiscuit and Phar Lap) and attending soirees filled their memory books. The sight of Jean Harlow in a white satin dress at an adjacent table on the patio remained unblemished and fresh in my uncle's teenage memories. My grandfather served as the general manager and the person who happened to audition and hire Eduardo and Margarita Cansino as dancers. A few years later she would be known to the world as Rita Hayworth. If you believe my family's version, the Margarita cocktail was invented at Caliente and named after her. My Grandpa tried to look out for her. Years after she attained stardom she would always call or visit Pops (as she called him) whenever she was in town. The shutdown and confiscation by the Cardenas government produced its share of sad memories. Grandpa had been in charge of taking the profits from the casino and making deposits at the Border Bank that was built in San Ysidro. This clever tactic would serve to be invaluable as the change in government policies about gambling began to emerge. He would make the drive alone from Caliente up the Strand to Coronado every morning at about 4:00am. My mother waited up for him on the very last night. He was heartbroken. But even the sad moments had a bit of humor, especially the story of my Aunt Martha and her driver loading the trunk of her Cadillac with gold coins and barely making it across the border due to the immense weight of the casino's gold coins.

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As discussions take place about the preservation of Caliente's vestiges, I hope this reminds all of us that preservation is more than what meets the eye. Response to E-mail, from Kathleen Kelley-Markham. My grandfather's name was Clarence (always called Jerry) Strayer. Our family version is : my grandfather hired Rita and her father along with all other acts. The resort had a large amount of tequila that visitors were not ordering. In fact there was a surplus. So my grandfather asked the head Bartender to invent a cocktail that would use tequila. Voila! He then decided to name it after Rita/Margarita. http://www.sandiegohistory.org/timeline/timeline2.htm 1927 Agua Caliente (hotel, casino, spa) opens in Tijuana (golf course and racetrack open in 1928). https://www.caliente.com.mx/english/index.html Boulevard Agua Caliente 12027 Col. Hipódromo CP 22420 Tijuana, Baja California México Agua Caliente Race Track: Hipodromo Caliente (Race track) Blvd. Agua Caliente y Tapachula Tel: (66) 86 – 39 – 58 or (619) 231- 1910 https://www.caliente.com.mx/english/index.html "The Flowing Bowl: What and When to Drink", William Schmidt, 1892 Whiskey Daisy. It is made as a whiskey sour; only put a dash of some cordial on top, such as chartreuse or Curaçao. Whiskey Sour. A goblet with the juice of half a lemon or lime in the bottom, a squirt of seltzer a little sugar; mix this 2/3 full of ice a drink of whiskey; mix this well. Strain, and serve

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"What'll You Have?", Julien J. Proskauer, 1933 Whiskey Daisy It is made as a whiskey sour; only put a dash of some cordial on top, such as chartreuse or Curaçao Whiskey Sour A glass with the juice of half a lemon or lime in the bottom, a squirt of seltzer, a little sugar; mix this; 2/3 full of ice, a drink of whiskey; mix this well Strain, and serve. The fact that these two recipes are so similar, leads one to believe that Proskauer read “the flowing bowl”. Both books come along before any claims of the Margaritas creation. A Tequila Daisy “could” then, at the time, be comprised of: Tequila, Curaçao, lemon juice. As for the seltzer (soda) and sugar, this is entirely optional on most drinks anyway. The Daisy is a drink that continually changed, and has in fact changed to included raspberry syrup, then Grenadine Syrup. The combination of spirit (tequila), Curaçao (triple sec), sour (lemon/ lime) leads one to the family of cocktails known as the “Crusta”. From the Crusta comes the Side-car, which is also of the same period as the Margarita. The earliest recipe for the Side-car calls for equal parts of the three ingredients, which coincides with the Margarita of Negrete. As for Negrete/ Herrera’s use of crushed ice, this is easy to explain. Crushed, or shaved ice, was obtained by depleting a much larger block of ice. Such ice blocks were common in countries which either didn’t have widespread electricity supplies, or refridgeration. To illustrate the commonness of Spirit, Curaçao, Sour cocktail combinations, there follows a list: (Note: Triple sec is a type of Curaçao.) Vodka, Curaçao, lime juice= Kamikaze Vodka, Curaçao, lemon juice= Balalaika Gin, Curaçao, lime juice= Pegu Club Gin, Curaçao, lemon juice= White Lady, Delilah Rum, Curaçao, lime juice= X, Y, Zee Rum, Curaçao, lemon juice= Cuban Side-car Whisky, Curaçao, lime juice=? Whisky, Curaçao, lemon juice= Basin Street

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Tequila, Curaçao, lime juice= Margarita Tequila, Curaçao, lemon juice= Baja Side-car According to Dick Bradsell: (London’s Bar Guru) Barwise this cocktail [Margarita] is obvious. It is a tequila sour. Imagine being in a bar in México and wanting a true old style cocktail, 3 ingredients, strong, in a cocktail glass. They have got tequila and Limons, so all you need is a sweetener. [triple sec] is quicker and easier than making bar sugar [syrup]. http://www.sailmexico.com/west_coast_of_baja1.htm The walls inside the elegant old casino, the Riviera del Pacifico, display photographs of many of the famous people who frequented the casino, for example, Rita Hayworth and Bing Crosby. Former world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey managed the casino. GS: Some stories say that Marjorie King at one point owned the Riviera del Pacifico. President of the A.M.B. (Mexican Bartenders Association) Mr. Roberto Castellanos Tovar Retorno Cocodrillo 364 Supermanzana, 51 Manzana Quintana Row, Cancun, Mexico. Acknowledgments: The Cocktailian Club: http://groups.msn.com/drinkboy Dr. William K. Lombardo (http://www.pocolocolombardo.com ), Dick Bradsell, Theodora Sutcliffe, Mark Cannon (http://www.pocotequila.com ), Julio Bermejo (http://www.tommystequila.com ) People who have been contacted, and I am stilling waiting for a reply from:

1. Vernon O. Underwood 2. Mr. Tovar (president of the Mexican Bartender’s Guild) 3. Agua Caliente Racetrack 4. Los Flamingos Hotel, Acapulco 5. Hilton Hotels. 6. Robert Plotkin.