Name: Californian Margarita
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Blanco tequila; 22.5 ml Triple sec; 22.5 ml Lemon juice; 5 ml Falernum liqueur; 5 ml Agave syrup; 3 drop Saline solution 4:1

Californian Margarita
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Photographed in a Soho Spun Old Fashioned

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Patrón Silver blanco tequila
³⁄₄ oz	Cointreau triple sec liqueur
³⁄₄ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₆ oz	Difford's Falernum liqueur
¹⁄₆ oz	Agave syrup
3 drop	Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of salt rim (optional) & lime wedge.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

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."

View readers' comments

History:

Andrew Gelb, a Difford's Guide regular, shared his recipe for this cocktail via a comment on our Margarita page. Many thanks, Andrew. He is a self-professed "long time Californian," hence we named it in his honour.

Nutrition:

One serving of Californian Margarita contains 183 calories

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
20.5% alc./vol. (20.5° proof)
20.5 grams of pure alcohol

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 24 comments for Californian Margarita.
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Matt Allard

27th April at 14:09

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

29th July 2024 at 00:50

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!

Shannon Burns

5th May 2024 at 23:38

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.

Alex Riga

10th May at 12:48

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

Andrew Gelb

22nd February 2024 at 16:41

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

23rd February 2024 at 16:13

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!

J B

30th December 2023 at 08:02

This was a bit on the sour side for me. I added a barspoon of agave which I felt made it more balanced and enjoyable. Fun use of Falernum though.

Simon Difford

21st January 2024 at 19:46

Agreed. I've added 5ml (1 barspoon) agave syrup as you suggest. Many thanks.

Yorey C

20th January 2024 at 05:08

concur with this. too sour without extra sweetener.

Dave Smith

27th November 2023 at 01:54

Dave from California here. My recipe: anejo 1.0, Cointreau 0.5, agave syrup 0.25, lime juice fresh squeezed 1.0, Meyer lemon 1.0. Very juicy! Sub silver tequila if you want my fav is Milagro.

Stephen Murray

16th August 2023 at 09:31

I subbed Cointreau for Mandarine Napoleon and it was marvelous.
The question is is Mandarine Napoleon a triple sec or Curacao or is it a good sub for either. I have read your articles on both spirits but when it comes to subbs I'm still confused?

Simon Difford

16th August 2023 at 12:13

Mandarin Napolean is closer to a curacao than a tripe sec but sits in it's own category as distinctively different from both. As you say, it can work brilliantly in place of both triple sec and curacao.

Eric Watson

7th July 2023 at 15:42

First time I've used Falernum, (Difford's). I think this may become my favourite Margarita!
My wife loves it!

Ben R

5th February 2023 at 01:01

Possibly the happiest I've been with a margarita that I've made myself. The perfect balance of sweet and sour. I triple checked the recipe and the comments to see if it was really supposed to be lime instead of the lemon, but the lemon does it right in spite of my expectations.

Ignacy Szczupal

17th September 2022 at 23:20

For someone who considers that white tequila as vodka is only a way to produce % and who doesn't like margeritas... this version is very drinkable. :)

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