Name: Californian Margarita
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Blanco tequila; 22.5 ml Triple sec; 22.5 ml Lemon juice; 7.5 ml Falernum liqueur; 3 drop Saline solution 4:1

Ingredients

1 ¹⁄₂ fl oz

Blanco tequila

³⁄₄ fl oz

Cointreau L'Unique triple sec liqueur

³⁄₄ fl oz

Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

¹⁄₄ fl oz

Falernum liqueur

3 drop

Saline solution (20g sea salt to 80g water) or merest pinch of s

How to make

Glass

Prepare

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

RIM glass with salt (moisten outside edge with lime juice and dip into salt).

Prepare garnish of lime wedge.

Method

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.

STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Garnish

Garnish with lime wedge.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Californian Margarita contains 176 calories

Alcohol content:

1.6 standard drinks
20.97% alc./vol. (41.93° proof)
22 grams of pure alcohol

Review

To quote a "long time Californian and frequent visitor to America's Southwest", this recipe is a classic Margarita but "with a few tweaks. Usually a silver/blanco tequila; lemons sometimes because flavor is more consistent year-round" and "falernum to add a subtle, bit more complex sweetness, with ginger, lime, and spice notes."

Comments & Discussion

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Andre Derailleur Premium Member 8w

No falernum, but ChatGPT recommended pimento dram and clove garnish as a substitute. A pleasant margarita with some spice. I think I will stick to standard margarita on the rocks or Tommy’s margarita.

James Kittock Premium Member 32w

Went to make a marg, realized I was out of limes, found this, and tried it. I like the interplay of the Falernum and agave, just a lil too sweet. I might dial down the Cointreau a bit next time, but on the whole a pleasing cocktail!

Andrew Gelb Premium Member 30w

Hi James, I omit the agave syrup and up the Falernum to 1/4 oz. Cheers!

Doug Bain Premium Member 30w

Me too. Delicious .

Andrew Gelb Premium Member 34w

I am now honored beyond belief that this drink of mine has made it into the Hall of Fame! Thank you Simon! Cheers everyone!

Christopher Kaye 19w

Cheers, Andrew!

Chris Dimal 18w

And what a deserved spot it is. It is for sure my second favourite Margarita, after Christine Wiseman's! Citrusy, refreshing and has that hint of spice especially at the finish.

Florian Ruf Premium Member 49w

Made the cocktail today straight-up, which principally worked very good. Maybe a tad more dilution could even improve. For my taste it also was a little bit too sweet, maybe the autumn lemons from Italy are sweeter.

Andrew Gelb Premium Member 34w

Hi, perhaps double the Falernum (I use Taylor's) and omit the agave syrup. Cheers!

Florian Ruf Premium Member 34w

Thx for the tip, I will report.

Graeme McPherson 1y

Well what to do when you’re in the mood for a margarita and your backyard has a tree full of lemons and you get to wondering if you can make a tequila drink without limes? Diffords to the rescue with the Californian Margarita!
And this was an actually surprisingly good. This is going to go into my regular rotation - just to make sure my lemons don’t go to waste…….
A nice refreshing twist on a classic.

Matt Allard 1y

I finally decided to buy a bottle of falernum today and this was the first cocktail I tried making with it. Very pleasing margarita, though maybe not for my first experience with falernum since the tequila flavour kind of covered it up. Still, would definitely make this again.

Matt Premium Member 2y

Very good - the spice of the falernum and softness (relative to lime) of the lemon are nice, with the falernum and agave really boosting the sweetness quotient. I prefer a Tommy's style, but this is a great option for people who like a sweeter cocktail!

Andrew Gelb Premium Member 34w

Hi, perhaps double the Falernum (I use Taylor's) and omit the agave syrup. Cheers!

Shannon Burns 2y

Intrigued by the 5+ star rating, I chose the "Californian Margarita" to celebrate Cinquo de Mayo. It did not disappoint, and in my humble opinion, lives up to the lofty rating. And I used plain ol Blanco Tequila. I can't imagine how the Silver would be an improvement. I rim Margaritas with a mixture of sugar and both lime & lemon crystals (full disclosure, I lean toward the sweeter end of things.

Vaclav Alex Kyslik 1y

afaik Blanco/plata/silver/white is all the same thing.

Andrew Gelb Premium Member 2y

Hello all, I'm AG, and I remain so honored to have one of my drinks mentioned on this amazing site! To be clear, in response to some of the helpful comments below, I use Cointreau, and I use a full 1/4 oz of the Velvet Falernum. I feel that's enough "sweet" for me so I do not add any Agave syrup, or saline. It's wonderful to see how others play with the recipe to make it work for themselves! Salud!

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 2y

Many thanks, Andrew. Your delicious cocktail has been in our Top 100 most-visited cocktails for the past two years. Proof that one of the best out of 1,000s!