27 May 2008

Margaritas in Europe

As my long-time readers know, I have bemoaned the fact that European bartenders seem incapable of making a good margarita. What you get ends up being something like a tequila martini with an overwhelming taste of sour lemon.

But I have finally learned the secret for getting a good margarita in Europe. Oh yes I did!

First Step: Ask the bartender if they have Rose's Lime Juice.

If they say "yes," ask them to replace the lemon juice with Rose's Lime Juice. Voila! Mission accomplished. Sit back and sip with a smile on your face.

If they say "no," give up.

If you insist on ordering one anyway, get a side order of Sprite and use it to "doctor" the margarita and make it drinkable.

Two further notes...
  1. If you like it "on the rocks," just ask for it to be served over ice cubes. European bartenders do not uniformly understand the phrase "on the rocks," regardless of what language is used.
  2. Think before asking for salt on the rim. They generally just use regular table salt, which really doesn't have the same effect as the rock salt normally used. Might be better to just skip that part.
Enjoy!

10 comments:

Pumpkin said...

I was just telling my husband the other day that I would kill for a good margarita!

Thanks for the advice. :)

GL'sD said...

Are you becoming a lush??

Global Librarian said...

Pumpkin: Glad to be of service.

Dad: At 15-20 chf for a couple of ounces, only some of which is alcohol, I am unlikely to become a lush any time soon. Geesh!

Anonymous said...

GLH says: we are limited by the size of our ice tray, which only holds 8 very small ice cubes.

Jul said...

Obviously what you need is some more ice cube trays! And the American kind, none of these wussy little Euro ones.

The Big Finn said...

I always use Rose's Lime Juice for my margaritas. Just mix equal parts R.L.J., Grand Marnier, and tequila. I just mix it in an empty water bottle and leave it in the fridge until needed. I also bring margarita salt containers back from the U.S. so I have them at the ready.

Just rim the glass with salt, throw a few ice cubes in said glass, pour in your ready-made concoction, add a wedge of lime, and...

Margarrrrrrrrrrrrrita!

Global Librarian said...

Jul: we have the little, wussy European ones because the Big American ice trays won't fit in our eensy, weensy European freezer. What we really need is a separate, larger freezer.

TBF: You go with the Grand Marnier, eh? We're Cointreau folks ourselves. Other than that, the recipe's the same.

Unknown said...

I´m a Stollys and Lime girl. Of course no-one here drinks Vodka. They only drink that bathroom cleaner called Schnaps. Can´t get Lime anywhere, let alone Rose´s. I can drive about an hour to buy it from a Commercial shop (which we do at christmas). It´s the little things which I miss which makes it tough here.

And I thought every European had a separate freezer (or they do in the country here). No-one understood me when I said that the one on top of the fridge would be fine. My mother-in-law brought us the freezer which never seems to be full.

Lynda said...

hmmmm margarita... haven't had one of those for a while... might be time for a party.

Anonymous said...

Of all the things I miss after 8 years this has to be top of the list. Roses Lime juice nothing like it cant buy it. i always ask and they look at you as if you have no idea. In Italy never found it, recently in Brientz Ch I saw two small bottles on the shelf next to the wines. I snatched them up and also two of Roses cranberry. They were the last.
Roses is available around the world so why not here?
Anyone have inside info.
Enjoy your site here's mine we spend weekends in Ticino where we have a house. http://www.italyexpat.blogspot.com
please link it Donna