Name: Picador
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Reposado tequila; 22.5 ml Triple sec; 22.5 ml Lime juice

Picador
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Patrón Reposado tequila
³⁄₄ oz	Cointreau triple sec liqueur
³⁄₄ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of lime zest twist.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Express lime zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

The name might be more masculine, but it is still a classic Margarita. This 2:1:1 recipe is a touch on the sour side for most so you may want to add a 5ml (1 bar spoon) of agave or sugar syrup.

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History:

Yes, you're right! This drink is exactly the same as a classically proportioned Margarita. It was first published in William J. "Billy" Tarling's 1937 Café Royal Bar Book, 16 years before the first written reference to a Margarita.

PICADOR
¼ fresh Lime of Lemon Juice.
¼ Cointreau.
½ Tequila.
Shake.
W. J. Tarling, 1937

Conjecture suggests that this British recipe was copied by whichever American gave the Margarita its name. We've a page exploring the history of the Margarita cocktail and the various protagonists and their claims.

Nutrition:

One serving of Picador contains 152 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
22.06% alc./vol. (22.06° proof)
19.9 grams of pure alcohol

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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Rollin Kuhn

20th August 2023 at 04:00

I typically avoid margaritas because in the States they're a) the about the most common cocktail you can find, and b) oversaturation leads to people getting "creative" with them to try to stand out.

This recipe is excellent: as basic as it gets and exceptional because of it. Well-balanced in sweetness, tartness, and the essence of tequila coming through -- a very refreshing cocktail. And simple to make at home because it doesn't require crushed ice. This will be a regular for me.

Zach Schwartz

6th May 2023 at 15:34

I hadn’t seen this recipe before now, but serve it on the rocks and it’s exactly how I make my margaritas.

John Hinojos

9th April 2021 at 00:04

Like the more tequila in the recipe. Great as it is perfect, for me, on the sweetness. This is on the sour side, very refreshing, and very easy to drink.

Tuber Magnatum

8th April 2021 at 22:16

I noticed that while the ratio remains 2:1:1 in your book (15th edition), the volumes of each ingredient went up 25% (a nod to the need for more alcohol in the Pandemic?) and you didn't make mention of the option of adding some sweet. For me, this really benefitted from the internet recipe suggestion of some simple syrup!

Simon Difford

9th April 2021 at 06:52

The recipe above is more recent than that in the 15th edition of our book and is one of the many recipes I've updated for the 16th edition which I'm presently working on. The previous version had the same proportions but made a drink with 90ml (3oz) x 40% alc./vol. so for sobriety, I reduced this to the above 67.5ml.

Archie Duckworth

17th October 2020 at 21:03

More grown up than it’s frozen cousin and decidedly old school with its simplicity. Delicious and punchy!

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