Name: Gin Margarita Cocktail
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 oz Gin; 1 oz Orange Liqueuer; 1 oz Lime Juice; Kosher Salt (rim); Lime Wedge or Wheel (garnish)

Our refreshing Gin Margarita is a fun play on the traditional Mexican cocktail made with tequila.

Our quick & easy drink recipe features premium gin, Cointreau orange liqueur, fresh lime juice, salt rim and lime slice garnish.

We love serving this Margarita with Gin in the summer. On a hot day it’s a truly refreshing boozy beverage perfect for gin lovers!

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What Is a Gin Margarita?

A margarita is a Mexican cocktail consisting of tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice, blended with ice, or without ice.

According to cocktail historian David Wondrich, the margarita is related to a popular Mexican drink, the Daisy (margarita is Spanish for daisy), remade with tequila instead of brandy. Daisies are a family of cocktails that include a base spirit, liqueur, and citrus.

It became popular during Prohibition as American residents travelled to Mexico for alcohol. There is an account from 1936 of Iowa newspaper editor James Graham finding such a cocktail in Tijuana, years before any of the other margarita creation myths.

One of the earliest stories is of the margarita being invented in 1938 by Carlos “Danny” Herrera at his restaurant Rancho La Gloria, halfway between Tijuana and Rosarito. He apparently created it for customer and former Ziegfeld dancer Marjorie King, who was allergic to many spirits, but not to tequila. This story was related by Herrera and also by bartender Albert Hernandez, acknowledged for popularizing a margarita in San Diego after 1947, at the La Plaza restaurant in La Jolla.

If you’re looking for fun and tasty new ways to enjoy the classic Mexican cocktail try making our refreshing Margarita with Gin!

Gin Margarita Cocktail Recipe Ingredients

Our homemade Gin Margarita cocktail is made with fresh and premium ingredients:

Gin: we suggest using premium gins like Tanqueray, Botanist, or Bombay Sapphire.
Orange Liqueur: use Triple Sec or Cointreau to add a luscious orange flavour to the drink.

Lime Juice: we always suggest juicing fresh limes as you’ll taste the difference. Do not use store bought lime juice!
Salt: we suggest decorating the rim of your cocktail glass with kosher salt.
Lime Slice: garnish the cocktail glass with a fresh lime slice or dehydrated citrus wheel.

We love serving a Gin Margarita with a salt rim like the classic Mexican tequila cocktail.

Gin Margarita Recipe Tips

This cocktail recipe is easy to make at home, ready to serve in under 5 minutes.

We love serving our Gin Margarita recipe in the hot summer months. The refreshing gin drink is a crowd pleaser at garden parties, family barbecues and cottage cocktail hours.

Our Gin Margarita recipe serves one person. If you’re hosting a large gathering feel free to multiply the ingredients by the number of guests and muddle the drink in a punch bowl or jug rather than a cocktail shaker.

We’ve made this drink with a salted rim but if you don’t like salty beverages you can skip this step.

Serve a Gin Margarita garnished with a fresh lime slice or dehydrated citrus wheel.

This margarita cocktail recipe features gin, orange liqueur, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Best Selling Gin

Gin has certainly enjoyed a boom in popularity at cocktail bars in recent years. You’ll find fantastic premium gins distilled from Scotland to Muskoka. Here are some of the world’s best selling gins and some of our local small batch favourites:

Gordon’s Gin: The world’s top selling gin brand is owned by Diageo. The brand’s pink iteration has undoubtedly helped to fuel its success. Gordon’s has also unveiled a line of new innovative products including two “ultra-low-alcohol” pre-mixed gin and tonic sparkling beverages and Gordon’s Gin-infused popsicles.
Bombay Sapphire Gin: Bacardi-owned Bombay Sapphire is one of the worlds best-selling gins. Bombay Sapphire kicked off a new limited edition range with the launch of a gin inspired by summer in the English countryside.
Tanqueray: Diageo-owned Tanqueray launched a new marketing campaign developed to shift consumers’ attention from “gimmicks” to flavour and unveiled a range of bottled ready-to-drink gin and tonics, made with its London Dry Gin and Flor de Sevilla Distilled Gin.
Beefeater Gin: Pernod Ricard’s flagship gin brand is Beefeater. The brand launched strawberry-flavoured Beefeater Pink in 2018 and further expanded its portfolio with the debut of a new blood orange-flavoured gin.
Seagram’s: Pernod Ricard-owned Seagram’s is a top seller having recently purchased Italian brand Malfy Gin.
Hendrick’s Gin: Opened the door to its £13 million Gin Palace in 2018, allowing the brand to double its capacity to two million cases annually. The Scottish brand has also added to its portfolio with the launch of the limited edition summer solstice-inspired Midsummer Solstice gin.
Edinburgh Gin: This craft distillery in Edinburgh produces a parade of flavoured gin bottles including rhubarb & ginger gin, raspberry gin, bramble & honey gin, black currant & anise, strawberry & pink peppercorn and pomegranate & rose.
Dillon’s Distillery: This Beamsville producer makes small batch gins including rose gin, cherry gin and strawberry gin.
Muskoka Brewery: This Ontario craft brewery produces a London Dry and spicy pink peppercorn gin.

Best Bartender Tools & Cocktail Equipment

Before hosting a swanky Gin Margarita soiree you’ll need to ensure you have the best bartender tools and cocktail equipment.

Cocktail Kit: cocktail kits are the perfect gift for newbie mixology fans as they include basic bartender tools like a jigger, shaker and spoon.
Cocktail Shaker: a bartender’s best friend. Purchase a premium cocktail shaker to muddle or shake up your favourite pink gin cocktails.
Cocktail Glassware: make sure your bar is stocked with a selection of unique glassware to show off your favourite cocktail creations.
Hawthorne Strainer: this unique strainer features tightly wound coils and perforated holes. It keeps ice and other large ingredients like lime wedges in your cocktail shaker rather than in the glass.
Bar Spoons: slender and long bar spoons are a must-have when stirring drinks.
Bottle Opener: easily open bottles of beer or cider with the flick of your wrist or purchase a corkscrew for fine wine.
Pouring Spout: once you’ve opened a new bottle of gin insert these affordable pourers to make cocktail assembly a breeze.
Cutting Board: purchase a petite cutting board for your bar to slice garnishes or citrus wedges like lime, orange, lemon or grapefruit.
Ice Bucket: chill bottles of gin quickly in an ice bucket or keep by the bar when muddling gin mixers into cool creations.
Ice Crusher: fans of the Mint Julep love an ice crusher.
Ice Cube Kit: we suggest purchasing a selection of ice cube trays. Silicone styles are our favourite as they’re easy to clean and are available in various shapes and sizes.
Jigger: use a jigger to accurately measure spirits, juices, syrups and shrubs.
Juicer: invest in an electronic juicer or buy an affordable hand-held to easily juice fresh citrus like lemons and limes.
Muddler: fans of the Mojito love a sturdy muddler to mix mint and lime. Muddler’s are handy for any cocktail featuring ingredients that need a pounding like fresh herbs or citrus wedges.
Citrus Peeler & Zester: adorn your craft cocktails with a thick citrus peel or finer ribbons of lime or lemon zest.
Rimmer: Bloody Mary and Caesar lovers should outfit their bar with a handy rimmer for salting and sugaring glassware.

We love making this margarita with gin on a hot summer day.

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