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Have a summer fling with margarita

"Gourmet Magazine" calls it the popular cocktail in the United States. Entertaining experts call it the staple of warm weather festivities. Jimmy Buffet simply calls it that frozen concoction that helps him hang on.

With a salted rim, splash of citrus and sweetness and hearty kick of tequila, the margarita is so simple yet so devilishly good.

So what's the secret to a great margarita?

"You keep it simple," said Leo Camarena, manager and bartender at El Rancho Grande Mexican Restaurant in Middletown. "But you have to have a good heart when you make it and be happy on the job."

Decisions, decisions

Just as there are many different accounts of its origins there are also countless varieties as well as theories on how to make the perfect

margarita.

Tony Vanjohnson's Cincinnati-based Margaritas Mexican restaurants offer more than 17 different varieties of margaritas. Their House Margarita has been voted "the city's best margarita" several times over and their Latino Affair margarita "the must have." Add to the many different varieties, the choice of salt or no salt, blended or "on the rocks", regular or "cadillac" (made with premium tequila), the seemingly endless options are enough to make your head spin before you've even had a drink.

Margarita magnifica

Connoisseurs of the cocktail contend that the only "true" margarita is one made with the four original ingredients: lime juice, orange liqueur, tequila and salt — then shaken and served over ice. However, even then, flavors as well as brands of those four main ingredients can vary greatly.

For example, there are many different kinds of lime juice: fresh squeezed, pre-packaged sweet and sour mix, frozen varieties like Lime-aid and Roses Lime Juice. The same goes for the orange liqueur — there's Grand Marnier, Cointreau, and Triple Sec. Last but not least is the ingredient that most would agree is the key to a magnificent margarita — the tequila, which like the other three ingredients, is available in many different styles: plata (silver), blanca (white) or anejo and reposada (gold).

Tasting away in Margaritaville

So how does one attain the most desirable flavor? Experts suggest conducting an informal, blind taste test of all the separate ingredients

of your favorite margarita before sloshing them together.

Jack Zink, who was a bartender for 10 years before becoming a managing partner at Hamilton's Texas Roadhouse, said to make a great margaritas you must have the right ingredients and a free spirit.

"Throw out the rules and have fun with it," Zink said. "It's kind of like chili: everyone thinks theirs is the best."

The classic margarita

1 oz. tequila

1/2 oz. Cointreau or Triple Sec

1 oz lime juice

Rub lime around rim of martini glass and dip in Kosher salt. Remove excess by tapping the glass against the heel of your hand. Pour all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake hard, then strain into glass.

The Midori margarita

6 ounces tequila

3 ounces Midori

5 ounces sour mix

ice

Pour the ingredients except the ice into your blender and blend for about 10 seconds. Then, throw in a handful of ice and blend for another 30 seconds.

Strawberry Margarita

6 oz. can frozen limeade concentrate

2/3 limeade can tequila

1/3 limeade can triple sec

1 small carton frozen strawberries

Put all ingredients into blender container. Fill blender with ice and blend until smooth