I found myself with a gap of time between clients on a nice sunny afternoon while in Edwardsville, the town where I grew up and lived most of my life. So I decided to stop by Taqueria Z for a quick Margarita!

I’ve visited Taqueria Z a few times before. They are a small establishment but have great food and Margaritas. And importantly, their Margaritas are very consistent, given how they are hand made with quality ingredients. This time was no exception. The Margaritas at Taqueria Z taste very “traditional”. There is not a lot of sweetness, a lot of fresh lime flavor up front, and a prominent Tequila flavor. Plus I believe the Tequila is of a lowland variety, as it has an earthiness that I equate with old school Tequilas. I rate the Tequila this day an 8.

On our final full day at our business conference in Colorado, a group of us went to the Pump House Brewery, a firefighter themed establishment. Interestingly, they had a full selection of Margarita choices. For this trip, I chose their house Margarita.

The drink had excellent flavor right off the bat with a good balance. It was light and easy to drink. It was just slightly on the tart side and I would have liked a little more tequila flavor but it was otherwise excellent. I give the Pump House Brewery House Margarita an 8.5

It was time for another trip to Colorado! This time it was for a business conference and while there, my lady and I were invited to go to dinner with a group of people. We went to the Longmont Public House located in, appropriately enough, Longmont, Colorado. They listed a Margarita with my favorite ingredients: Tequila, agave, and lime. So of course I had to try one. And the good news was that they offered a choice of Tequilas! So I started with a Margarita with their standard Tequila, Exotico.

When made with Exotico the Margarita was very smooth with a nice balance. It was just a tad on the tart side but I really liked it. I give it an 8.5

I next chose a Margarita made with Don Julio. It was even smoother, which I should not have been surprised given how smooth Don Julio is and how much I like this Tequila. With the Don Julio I give this Margarita a 9.

And then I did something I had never done before! But before I can tell you what I did, I need to set up the back story.

A few days earlier I met Thomas Vela, a part owner in Dry Land Distillers, a small Colorado company that creates a few specialty liquors including one made from Colorado Prickly Pear cactus that is then processed in a way that creates a virtual Mezcal. While not truly a Tequila, traditional Mexican Mezcal shares some similarities with Tequila given that they are both made from the Agave plant. Agave and cactus are in the same family of plant so the Dry Land Cactus Spirit tastes extremely similar to a Mezcal. Now normally I am not a big fan of Mezcal. It is normally not as smooth as Tequila and I am simply not a big fan of smoky flavor in my drinks.

Anyway, Thomas was part of the business conference we were attending and he knew a group of us were going to dinner. So I got a call from him while we were at dinner and he said to come outside and meet him in the parking lot. My lady and I went out there and he had brought us a sample of his Cactus Spirt to give a try. (He said he could not bring it in the restaurant due to liquor licensing laws). So we sampled it and I was pleasantly surprised. This “Mezcal” made from Colorado Prickly Pear Cactus was strong but smooth and the smoky flavor was not overwhelming. This was something I could truly enjoy.

I then had an idea! And now for what I’ve never done before. Technically it was two things I’ve never done before. First I smuggled in some of the Cactus Spirt into the restaurant (I’m SO naughty!). Second I ordered a virgin Margarita and when I received the drink, I added the Cactus Spirt. I’ve never smuggled alcohol into a restaurant and never made a “Mezcal” Margarita.

Anyway, with the Dry Land Distillers Cactus Spirit, the Margarita was nice and smooth as before but with the smokiness of a Mezcal. Again the smokiness was not overpowering so it was a pleasant drink, worthy of an 8.5. Now don’t try ordering this Margarita from Longmont Public House because it’s not on the menu!

While in the “real” Southern Illinois for a business training event, a group of us went to Tequila’s restaurant in Carterville, IL. While an average Mexican place although I will say the decor in bright, colorful, and fun. The food was good, although the Margarita was average. It was a little on the tart side and definitely made from a mix. However it was reasonably flavored and pleasant to drink. It gets a 6.5 on my scale.

I then realized that I had been to a Tequila’s in Carbondale, IL and that Margarita was basically the same. It turns out that Tequila’s has 8 restaurants in Southern Illinois. I’m happy for their success – and I just wish I could toast to them with a better Margarita!

On the bright side of things, this was the 4th day in a row that I had a Margarita! Life is good!

While in the town of Marion, IL for a business event, my lady and I stopped by a uniquely-themed restaurant right next to our hotel. Named the 20’s Hideout, the restaurant had an elegant speakeasy feel to it, complete with live piano and luxurious bar. I asked the server for a Margarita and he asked my choice of Tequila. This is always a good sign and I requested Don Julio, which they obliged.

The Margarita I had that night was very well-balanced and had a great flavor. While it was a little on the sweet side, it was otherwise an absolutely excellent Margarita worthy of a 9. Interestingly, this Margarita had a thicker “viscosity” than most. I’m wondering if it was due to the sugar content, although it wasn’t super sweet so I’m not sure what exactly gave it a heavier mouth feel. Regardless, it was a surprisingly good Margarita, although given how good the food was, it shouldn’t have been so surprising. The 20’s Hideout is clearly a quality establishment and has a bartender to match.

Located on the Washington Street district in downtown St. Louis, Rosalita’s Cantina is somewhat well known among locals. I have been a few times – although it had been a long time – and for whatever reason I had never taken the time to review their Margaritas. On this occasion I took the opportunity to make sure to do so.

While they have a fairly extensive Margarita variety, I only had time to try one so I ordered the Rosa’s Favorite on the rocks. Made with Exotico Silver and Reposado Tequila, Bacardi Lemon Rum, plus fresh lime and orange juice, it is a unique blend of alcohol for a Margarita. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the rum component. Overall it had good flavor but it had a bit of a bitter finish. It had good Tequila and sweet components and was nice to drink. I’m not sure how the rum impacted the flavor to be honest. I give the Rosa’s Favorite a 7.5.

The Hi-Pointe Drive-In is a new restaurant in the town where I live. It is part of a chain that has been popping up around the St. Louis area, although I was not familiar with the establishment previously. Also, the restaurant likes to make light of the “high” reference in nearly every aspect of their menu and decoration theme. So while it was somewhat surprising to find a Margarita on their menu, it wasn’t too surprising they called it a “Hi-Rita”.

Also surprising was that it was better than expected. It was a little on the tart side but it had good Tequila flavor with a nice sweetness. For me it was a pleasing drink. For others it might be a bit too harshly flavored. I give it a 7.

Regular Margarita at El Rancherito

While on a quick road trip to take care of a client, my lady and I stopped for a bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant. El Rancherito presented as a fairly run-of-the-mill Mexican place and to be honest, their food and Margaritas were about the same.

I tried first their regular Margarita. It was light and refreshing, although definitely made from a mix. It was a little on the tart side. Nothing special, but a nice drink worthy of a 7.

Next I tried their “Golden Margarita”. It was about the same as their regular with maybe just a little bit more richness in the flavor. However, it was not really different enough to get a different rating than their regular so it also gets a 7.

The “Golden” Margarita at El Rancherito. Not much different than the regular!

Sunny’s Margarita

While at a Karaoke event with some friends, I met a someone who is a server at a Mexican restaurant called Sunny’s Cantina. I of course started talking Margaritas and she insisted that I come visit Sunny’s as soon as I could because I would love their Margaritas. As it turned out, I was able to visit just about a week later. Sunny’s has a nice selection of Margarita varieties so I of course had to sample as many as I could!

I started with what appeared to be their house Margarita, the aptly named Sunny’s Margarita. The listed ingredients were Espolon Blanco Tequila, fresh lime juice, & orange simple syrup with a salt rim. A seemingly simple but quality list of ingredients. And accordingly, this was a simple but quality Margarita. It had excellent balance and flavor, just a well-made Margarita. My only slight nitpick of this drink was that as solid of a Margarita as it was, the flavors just didn’t “wow” me. This is an odd contraction I admit, and maybe I had some grand expectation of what the Margarita would be but like I said, it was my only slight nitpick. Overall I give the Sunny’s Margarita an 8.5.

Next I tried their Jalapeño Margarita. The only difference in listed ingredients was jalapeño simple syrup instead of orange and a spicy salt rim instead of, um … a “not spicy” salt rim. Not surprisingly the Jalapeño Margarita was then very similar to the Sunny’s. I’m always wary of spicy Margaritas, as it is often too easy to have the spicy flavor overwhelm the rest of the drink. This one was very good, with just a pleasing hint of jalapeño flavor. I rate it an 8.

Finally, I tried their Cadillac Margarita. The ingredients listed were Teremana Reposado Tequila, fresh lime juice, orange simple syrup, and Grand Marnier. As always, I am wary of Grand Marnier in any Margarita because of the tendency for it to leave a bitter finish in my experience. The good news was that the Cadillac Margarita at Sunny’s Cantina was very good. It had a strong flavor as many Cadillacs do, however the Grand Marnier flavor in this drink was well balanced so it didn’t have an overly bitter finish. On the whole it was nicely balanced and very flavorful. It is worthy of an 8.5.

Additionally I was able to taste a Paloma, which is a Tequila-based drink that uses grapefruit juice instead of/or in addition to lime. While I don’t rate drinks like this on the same scale as a Margarita, since they are not Margaritas, if I were to guesstimate the quality of this Paloma in general, I’d say it might rate about an 8.

One of my friends ordered a drink called the Strawberry Margatini. which would make it seem like a strawberry Margarita and martini hybrid. I won’t say too much about it other than it tasted nice. I’d need to have more sips to get a good impression.

Unfortunately, I neglected to get pictures of all the varieties of Margaritas I had that evening. Which makes for a good excuse to return in the near future!

Sunny’s also has a variety of other Tequila-based drinks and an excellent food menu. We were all very pleased with our food and service that night so I highly recommend visiting Sunny’s Cantina.

I have been to a few different locations of The Melting Pot and I even wrote about their Margaritas in the past. Unfortunately the location I most frequently visited in the St. Louis area had closed a few years back. With that and the pandemic lockdown in effect the last couple of years, it had been a long time since I had been to a Melting Pot. There is another location of The Melting Pot in the St. Louis area, albeit a bit of a drive from where I live. On this evening I took the opportunity to visit this one to meet some new friends. And of course I found a Margarita on the menu.

I had tried The Freshly Picked Margarita at the previous location and was not very impressed. This time it seemed a lot better, albeit a very sweet yet flavorful Margarita. It has a nice Tequila taste and even with the very strong sweetness it is still well balanced with the other flavor components. It has a nice finish to boot and so I give this Margarita an 8.