22 February: National Margarita Day

It's National Margarita Day - here are some Margarita facts.

1. A margarita is a cocktail consisting of triple sec (most often Cointreau but it could also be Grand Marnier, Gran Gala, or blue curaçao), tequila and lime or lemon juice. The IBA (IBA Official list of Cocktails) standard is 7:4:3, ie, 50% Tequila, 29% Cointreau, 21% fresh Lime juice.
2. There are a whole raft of tales about the origin of the margarita. Basically, it could have been invented any time between 1936 and 1961, by Carlos "Danny" Herrera, Don Carlos Orozco, Francisco "Pancho" Morales, Margarita Sames, Jose Cuervo, Santos Cruz or Robert James "Rusty" Thomson.
3. Another explanation is that during prohibition people went to Mexico to get a drink and that a Margarita is a version of an American drink called the Daisy, made with tequila instead of brandy.
4. There are as many stories about how the drink got its name. Margarita Sames named it after herself, while the other possible inventors named it for Margarita Henkel, the daughter of the then German ambassador, Mexican showgirl Rita de la Rosa or Peggy Lee.
5. Margarita is thought by many to be a Spanish name, the Spanish for Margaret, but in fact, it's a German name, although it is the Spanish word for Daisy.
6. The first known publication of a margarita recipe was in the December 1953 issue of Esquire. This one called for an ounce of tequila, a dash of triple sec and the juice of half a lime or Lemon.
7. In the USA, bartenders usually use Persian limes for the lime juice component while in Mexico they use key limes.
8. The drink can be served with ice or without, and usually with Salt on the rim of the glass.
9. The traditional margarita glass is a stepped-diameter variant of a cocktail glass or champagne coupe, but if you don't have any of those, it can be served in a variety of other glasses.
10. The drink comes in flavours other than straight lime - variations include mango, Peach, Strawberry, Banana, Melon, or raspberry. There is even a variation called the "Coronarita", in which a bottle of Corona is upturned to drain into a margarita.