22 February

Margarita Day

Margarita (straight-up)

So we are drinking a...

Margarita (straight-up)

There are days for most things in the US, but Margarita Day is a subject very close to our hearts. Because, no matter who invented this classic cocktail, or added a salt rim to a Picador, the Margarita is a seriously great cocktail - at least is when made well, with quality ingredients, according to a tried and tested recipe.

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, February is a little chilly for a frozen Margarita but the weather is never too cold for a Margarita served straight-up, or perhaps also consider a Mezcal Margarita.

Inspired by this auspicious day, you may also want to learn more about the Margarita's history and the various characters who claimed to have created it, or explore the numerous Margarita variations that demonstrate this cockail's versitality.

It is also Don The Beachcomber's birthday

Somewhere in Texas this day back in 1907, Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt came into the world. He left home aged 19 and changed his name to Don the Beachcomber. He travelled around the Pacific before settling in Hollywood, and opening up the Tiki-tastic Don's Beachcomber Café where he lured in celebrities with exotic dishes and potent rum cocktails. Don fought in Europe in WWII, and his wife managed Don the Beachcomber which became a 16-branch chain.

When Sunny and Don divorced, Sunny, took control of the restaurants, meaning that Don couldn't open a Don the Beachcomber in the US anymore. Being the free-thinker he was, Don moved to Hawaii instead and settled in Waikki, where he opened up an entire Polynesian Village centring round a banyan tree.

Don, and his fellow Tiki entrepreneur, Trader Vic had an ongoing disagreement over who invented the Mai Tai. We've both of their recipes, but it only seems right that we mix up Don's Mai Tai today.

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