Margarita variations, Italian style

Back in May, my soul sister (and style and entertaining icon) Annette Joseph hosted a little Cinco de Mayo party at her place in Italy and served margaritas made with limoncello. Holy citron! When I heard about them, I had to get to mixing. Her instructions were to use limoncello in place of the Cointreau, and with that starting point I arrived at version one. Annette and I made them together on Memorial Day and she had a brilliant modification in mind: adding a splash of Mexican Fresca (which, to my great surprise, has real sugar and pink grapefruit juice — it is not an artificial diet soda and it’s worth checking out). That’s version two, scaled for a crowd and lightened a tad by the soda, perfect for poolside sipping.

Annette’s Margherita

Version one:
1 ½ oz. premium tequila
1 oz. decent limoncello*
1 ½ oz. fresh lime juice
½ oz. simple syrup
pinch of sea salt

Combine all ingredients with ice in a shaker; shake and strain into an ice-filled glass (with or without salted rim).

Version two, for a small crowd:
1 cup añejo tequila
1 cup fresh lime juice
2/3 – ¾ cup decent limoncello*
12 oz. bottle of Mexican Fresca (or other grapefruit soda, such as Jarritos Toronja or San Pellegrino Pompelmo if you want to go with the Italian theme here)

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher, stir gently, and pour into glasses prepped with ice and a lime wheel or two. For best results, pre-chill all the ingredients and once mixed nestle the pitcher into a container of ice (or the fridge) to keep things cool.

* I used Caravella, which is tasty and seems to be pretty easy to find. If you happen to be in the French/Italian Riviera, do yourself a favor and stop into Au Pays du Citron in Menton, France, and check out the insanely delicious cellos Annette turned me on to. The citron vert was my favorite.