A Margarita with Amaretto?

My wife had visited a fairly new restaurant in the St. Louis area called Il Bel Lago with a friend and wanted to bring me. As an Italian restaurant, I wasn’t necessarily expecting a good Margarita, but the place was classy and seemed like they had an excellent bar. On the menu was something called an Italian Margarita so I of course went ahead and ordered one.

The main difference between this “Italian” Margarita and a standard variety was the inclusion of Amaretto liqueur. Now personally I am a big fan of Amaretto and I make a nice Amaretto Sour with fresh lemon juice and a touch of agave nectar. But how would it work out in a Margarita? At first taste, the blend of fresh lime and citrus with amaretto was a little strange, but it quickly turned into a pleasant blend of sweet and tart flavors. The more I drank it, the more I liked it. Helping out the overall enjoyment of the drink was the fact that the bartender Angie came and talked to us and explained how she makes the drink and shared some of her tips and tricks. She definitely is a skilled bartender and offered a lot of knowledge on Margaritas and other cocktails. Now a Margarita made with amaretto liqueur may not be your thing, but I personally liked it and rated the Italian Margarita from Il Bel Lago an 8.

I’ve written about the Margaritas at Porter’s Steakhouse before. So when I got an an opportunity to eat there again, I also took the opportunity to have another Margarita.

While last time the Margarita garnered an 8, this time unfortunately, the Margarita was not quite as good. The flavor was fairly good but it was a little too tart. The tequila flavor was good, but overall it tasted like it was made with a mix. I believe that if I had specified the ingredients, Porter’s would have delivered a better Margarita, but for this visit I rate it a 7. Which just goes to show that it is difficult to judge how good an establishment’s Margaritas are because a lot of the time the quality will depend on the bartender’s skill and particular recipe they may use. This is why it is important to visit a place many times to make sure to get a broad range of samplings. Yes, it’s hard work, but I’m happy to shoulder this burden for all of you!

My family visits The Melting Pot quite often. I usually like to sample one of their cocktails, especially if they are offering a new variety of Margarita. On this visit I noticed they were in fact highlighting a new drink that they called the Freshly Picked Margarita. The ingredients listed were Avion Silver Tequila, Solerno Blood Orange and Cointreau orange liqueurs, agave nectar and fresh lime, lemon, orange, and grapefruit juices. With ingredients like those, I knew I had to try it.

Unfortunately, the combination of ingredients just didn’t quite work out to make a good Margarita in my opinion. First, the initial flavor hit was a bit bitter. The tequila flavor was good but there was not enough lime flavor. The orange and grapefruit flavors were quite a bit more prominent instead. While it was an overall good drink, the fact that the flavor profile is much more orange than lime strays away from what I would call a Margarita. Because of that, I only rate this drink at a 6.5 as a Margarita. However, as a general cocktail, it probably deserves higher marks so if you like a Margarita-like drink with more orange flavor, this might be your thing.

For our final stop on my second Margarita Run, we stopped at a place called Chaparritos Mexican Restaurant.

Unfortunately, the Margarita we had that night was a bit fruity tasting. It tasted nice overall, but I would prefer more citrus and tequila flavors. At least it did have a nice finish and was refreshing. I would rate our final Margarita of the night a 7.

So this wrapped up Margarita Run II in St. Louis. Overall I would say that I was expecting more out of the Margaritas in the various Mexican establishments on Cherokee Street. None were really bad, but none really stood out as a Margarita I would consider anywhere near the best in the city. Perhaps the establishments all were gearing their drinks to satisfy the multitude of gringos that visit and maybe they have special Margaritas for those in the know? If so, I’d like to find out how to get some of those! Until then, I’ll keep searching for the Ultimate Margarita.

For our fourth stop on Margarita Run II, we chose an establishment called Taqueria el Torito.

We ordered a Margarita pitcher. The drink overall was smooth and balanced but it had a bit of a “medicine” twang on the finish. I would have preferred more citrus flavor and stronger tequila flavor. However it was light and refreshing so it gets a 6.5 rating for this visit.

For our third stop on this Margarita Run, we chose Don Carlos Restaurant. Of all the places we visited that day, it had one of the most unique decors I remember. But on to the Margarita.

The drink we received that night had a good overall flavor. It was a little more on the tart side, and unfortunately did not have a lot of tequila flavor. However, it was generally balanced and refreshing. For this I give the Margarita we had that night at Don Carlos Restaurant a 7.

For our second stop on Margarita Run II, we chose La Vallensana. This restaurant gave us a choice of what tequila to use in our Margarita so I we ordered a pitcher with Don Julio silver.

The taste of the Margarita was smooth and well balanced. Similar but a little sweeter than the one we had at Taqueria el Bronco. But since I had the choice of tequila, it definitely had a better tequila taste. I give the Margarita we had this visit at La Vallensana an 8.

After the fun we had on my first Margarita run a couple of years ago, I decided it was time for another. This time, we would focus on establishments on Cherokee Street in St. Louis, an area well known for Mexican restaurants and grocery stores.

Our first stop was Taqueria el Bronco. I chose their “Margaritas Jose Cuervo”. It had an overall good flavor, although the tequila did taste like a mixto, which I believed due to the fact there was a bit of a “twang” on the palette. Light and balanced, if it had better tequila it could have been a big winner. However for this visit, I only rate it a 7. Now they do have Don Julio, Patron, Hornitos and some other nice tequilas in their bar, so I believe they would use a better tequila if asked. However for this visit I just wanted to get their normal recipe. If I ever come back, I’ll be sure to request a better tequila.

An upscale Mexican restaurant in the town of Clayton, MO, I was really excited to try Cantina Laredo. As it just so happened, I noticed the County Executive of St. Louis County was having a drink there while we were having lunch. Happening place it seems!

I chose to sample their Casa Rita Margarita, their claimed “signature margarita.” Highlighting Giro Silver tequila, Cointreau, and fresh-squeezed lemon and lime juices, I figured this Margarita should be a winner. Overall the drink was decent tasting, but it had a bit of strong alcohol finish. It tasted like it might have been a bit too much Cointreau. It was also a little lacking in sweetness and not enough of the fresh lime juice flavor comes through. The “wang” of the Cointreau made it taste like it was made with a mix, even though the ingredients seemed to be all top-notch. On this visit, I would rate the Casa Rita from Cantina Laredo a 6.5, but I’m wondering if the bartender was just a little too heavy-handed on the alcohol this time around. One day I’ll make it back to Cantina Laredo and give their signature Margarita another try.

Since I last wrote about Cleveland Heath’s Margarita, I’ve visited a few times since then, but hadn’t written about their Margarita. This visit I wanted to make sure to take notes of the Margarita I was served.

One of the great things about Cleveland Heath is that they have an excellent bar. They make many varieties of great drinks using fresh ingredients and expert bartending. I asked the bartender what he made his Margaritas with and he showed me Tres Agaves Tequila and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. Tres Agaves is a quite popular Tequila around my area and I’ve found it to be quite smooth and tasty in a Margarita.

The Margarita I had this visit was quite tasty and smooth. It had a great balance of sweet and citrus flavors. Perhaps it was just a bit on the sweet side and I would have preferred a little more fresh lime flavor, but it was overall excellent, as their drinks usually are. I would rate the Margarita on this visit an 8.