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Margarita History

Margaritaof the Year

Patrón makes it a margarita.
You make it a party.

Making history, with tequila

Our annual celebration of the iconic cocktail starts with the introduction of inspired new recipes crafted by the most talented bartenders around the globe. It’s up to you to vote on which will be crowned The Margarita of the Year and leave behind a tasty legacy for the world to enjoy.

Explore 2019’s margaritas

2019 Margarita of the Year

This Dynasty Rules All in 2019

Made by bartender Jay Khan and inspired by Hong Kong, the Dynasty Margarita features traditional Chinese ingredients and a sweet and citrusy flavor. Lychee and ginger pair perfectly with Patrón Silver, and a grapefruit salt rim adds depth to the world’s most loved margarita.

See recipe Play video

2018 Margarita of the Year

Going green in 2018

The Verde Margarita, a classically frozen margarita with not-so-traditional flavors, took the title by pairing celery with Patrón Silver and a touch of elderflower liqueur to make bartender José Luis León’s Mexican-inspired cocktail come to life.

See recipe Play video

2017 Margarita of the Year

Topping off 2017

Inspired by the sunset over the ocean, 2017’s Coralina Margarita by Riesler Morales of Mexico City wowed the world with its unique, refreshing and lightly floral combination of wine, Patrón Reposado and hibiscus.

See recipe

2016 Margarita of the Year

Bringing the Heat in 2016

A spicy tribute to bartender Jordan Corney’s Texas roots, The Rosa Picante Margarita spiced up the 2016 competition with its unexpected, yet delightful combination of jalapeño, rose water and the crisp agave flavors of Patrón Silver.

See recipe Play video

2015 Margarita of the Year

Savoring Smoky in 2015

From the land of BBQ and all things weird, this Austin original by bartender Brian Dressel rode the smoky flavor trend of 2015 all the way to the top by combining Patrón Silver, pineapple juice and a pinch of smoked paprika with a unique sea salt rim.

See recipe

History, refreshed

Our celebration of the margarita doesn’t stop once we announce a new crowd favorite, we pay homage to the classic cocktail’s inception and evolution throughout the years.

drag or click to reveal timeline

swipe to explore

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Black and white photo of an old city with horse drawn carriages.

1873

The Whiskey Daisy

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Bartender behind the counter making a cocktail.

1913 – 1917

Gin Daisies

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Sign of tequila drink specials and their prices.

1929 – 1930

Tequila Gets in the Mix

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1937

Tequila Gains Popularity

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Drawing of red building in Los Angeles, California. Labeled McHenry’s.

1939

The Margarita is Made

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Old truck transporting barrels of tequila.

1941 – 1945

Tequila Crosses the Border

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Close of a black and white map with “Ciudad Juarez” in bold.

1942

The Margarita is Named

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Woman smiling next to a microphone.

1948

Peggy & Margarita’s Margarita

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Cover of the Esquire magazine.

1953

First Recipe in Esquire

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Margarita in a martini glass with salt and a lime.

1957 – 1959

The Margarita Gets Popular

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Two frozen margaritas with salt and lime, one plain and one with a pink swirl.

1971

The Margarita Gets Frozen

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Margarita on the rocks with salt and a lime and part of a tequila bottle in the background.

1989-1990

Tommy’s Margarita

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Yellow cocktail with brown rim being poured with a dish of a red powder next to it.

2015

The premier Margarita of the Year

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Close up of a margarita with a pink flower and jalapeño floating in it. Jalapeños and ginger are displayed in the background.

2016

Raising rose-flavored glasses

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Pink cocktail with a salt rim and red floater on a brown table with a bowl of limes in the background.

2017

One to wine & dine

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Frozen green margarita with a pink flower and celery garnish on a table with a basket of oranges, limes and celery in the background.

2018

A Verde Victory

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Cocktail with a salt rim and lime garnish on a table.

2019

A New Dynasty

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drag or click to reveal timeline

Black and white photo of an old city with horse drawn carriages.
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1873

The Whiskey Daisy

Frank Haas, bartender at Eberlin’s, around the corner from the New York Stock Exchange, adds a little soda water and liqueur to a whiskey sour and names it the Whiskey Daisy. It is served in the standard short-drink glass of the day.

Bartender behind the counter making a cocktail.
×

1913 – 1917

Gin Daisies

American bartenders’ guides start printing recipes for Gin Daisies sweetened with raspberry syrup or, especially, grenadine, rather than orange liqueur, and now served in a tall glass with cracked ice and soda.

Sign of tequila drink specials and their prices.
×

1929 – 1930

Tequila Gets in the Mix

E.R. Madden of the Turf Bar, Main St, Tijuana, reaches for the wrong bottle while mixing a Gin Daisy and creates the Tequila Daisy. It catches on. His recipe is a secret, but appears to have been the grenadine-sweetened version of the Daisy, although served in a short glass.
During that same time, the “noted scientists” behind the bar at the Agua Caliente gambling and racing resort in Tijuana come up with a “sacred formula,” as they describe it: a Tequila version of the grenadine-formula Gin Daisy, with an extra splash of crème de cassis. They call it the “Tequila Sunrise.”
In 1930, The Tequila Daisy is also first mentioned in print (it will be 17 years before it appears in a recipe book).

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1937

Tequila Gains Popularity

The Café Royal Cocktail Book, by W. J. Tarling, head bartender at that London institution, includes several recipes for tequila drinks, including the Picador: tequila, lime juice and orange liqueur.
The same year, Nelson Saunders, a Los Angeles developer and civic booster, sponsors a campaign to give Los Angeles more of a Southwestern character, including persuading top bars and nightclubs to make tequila drinks.

Drawing of red building in Los Angeles, California. Labeled McHenry’s.
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1939

The Margarita is Made

McHenry’s Tail O’ the Cock restaurant opens on La Cienega St. in Los Angeles, with John Durlesser behind the bar. He invents the Margarita when he is, as Bon Appetit wrote in 1966, “asked to duplicate a drink a lady customer had once tasted in Mexico.” [Others place this event in the late 1940s or early 1950s.]

Old truck transporting barrels of tequila.
×

1941 – 1945

Tequila Crosses the Border

World War II brings a great deal of tequila into the U.S. to fill the vacuum created by the suspension of whiskey distilling and other wartime shortages.

Close of a black and white map with “Ciudad Juarez” in bold.
×

1942

The Margarita is Named

July 4th - Francisco “Pancho” Morales, head bartender at Tommy’s Bar, Ciudad Juarez, invents the Margarita when he mixes tequila, lime juice and orange liqueur for an American woman and names it after the Spanish word for “daisy,” margarita (as is claimed in 1974).

Woman smiling next to a microphone.
×

1948

Peggy & Margarita’s Margarita

Santos Cruz, head bartender at the Studio Lounge in Galveston, Texas invents the Margarita for jazz singer Peggy Lee, who wants a tequila drink but not the usual salt-and-lime business; he makes her a tequila Sidecar; her husband, guitarist Dave Barbour, christens the drink.
The same year, Margaret “Margarita” Sames, an American socialite living in Mexico, invents the Margarita at a Christmas party at her house in Acapulco (among the guests is the owner of the Tail O’ the Cock).

Cover of the Esquire magazine.
×

1953

First Recipe in Esquire

The Margarita first makes it into print in the December issue of Esquire Magazine.

Margarita in a martini glass with salt and a lime.
×

1957 – 1959

The Margarita Gets Popular

The Margarita finally takes off, due in large part to its popularity at the Tail O’ the Cock.

Two frozen margaritas with salt and lime, one plain and one with a pink swirl.
×

1971

The Margarita Gets Frozen

Mariano Martinez invents the Frozen Margarita machine.

read article
Margarita on the rocks with salt and a lime and part of a tequila bottle in the background.
×

1989-1990

Tommy’s Margarita

It’s one of the most popular margarita recipes in the world, and Patrón sat down with creator Julio Bermejo to get the firsthand story of how it came to be.

Yellow cocktail with brown rim being poured with a dish of a red powder next to it.
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2015

The premier Margarita of the Year

The very first margarita to claim the crown was the delightfully savory and smoky Patrón Smoked Sea Salt Margarita. Find out why it was the crème de la cocktail in 2015.

read article
Close up of a margarita with a pink flower and jalapeño floating in it. Jalapeños and ginger are displayed in the background.
×

2016

Raising rose-flavored glasses

The world toasted to - and voted for - the spicy Rosa Picante Margarita’s bit of heat and a dash of sophistication to help this delicious drink earn its place in margarita history.

Pink cocktail with a salt rim and red floater on a brown table with a bowl of limes in the background.
×

2017

One to wine & dine

The Coralina Margarita made a splash by incorporating wine into an elevated version of the classic tequila cocktail, doubling the delight of happy hour lovers around the world.

read article
Frozen green margarita with a pink flower and celery garnish on a table with a basket of oranges, limes and celery in the background.
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2018

A Verde Victory

The Verde Margarita took 2018’s crown with lightly floral and savory flavors inspired by Mexico’s “jugo verdes.” Bartender José Luis León created the frozen iteration using celery, St Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Patrón Silver, and his skills as one of Mexico’s–and now the world’s–finest.

read article
Cocktail with a salt rim and lime garnish on a table.
×

2019

A New Dynasty

The Dynasty Margarita took the title home in 2019 –all the way to Hong Kong. Made with lychee, ginger, Patrón Silver and a grapefruit salt rim, bartender Jay Khan did his country proud by incorporating traditional Chinese flavors into a cocktail that proved you can’t go wrong with a classic.

read article

Patrón Cocktail Lab

The thirst is real

See all the Margarita of the Year contenders throughout the years.

See recipes

2019 Margarita of the Year

One for the books

Get a refresher on the course of this year's competition.

  • Read More

Victory is served

Select a photo for more detail

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  • Jay Khan of Hong Kong wowed the world with his Dynasty Margarita in 2019.
  • Lychee and ginger represented Hong Kong’s cocktail scene to create the Dynasty Margarita, 2019’s citrusy and sweet Margarita of the Year.
  • John Paul DeJoria presents José Luis León with an apron of roses at the ‘Ritas and Roses brunch in Kentucky.
  • The 2018 Margarita of the Year, the Verde Margarita, with celery, lime and Patrón Silver.
  • Bartender José Luis León of Mexico City was inspired by his hometown’s popular “jugo verde” drinks to make the Verde Margarita.
  • Patrón Manager of Trade Education and Mixology, David Alan, presents Riesler Morales with the coveted Margarita of the Year trophy.
  • The spicy Rosa Picante Margarita featured a delightful combination of jalapeño, rose water and Patrón Silver.
  • Jordan Corney, creator of the 2016 Margarita of the Year – The Rosa Picante Margarita – rims his glass at Hacienda Patrón.
  • The spicy Rosa Picante Margarita featured a delightful combination of jalapeño, rose water and Patrón Silver.
  • Brian Dressel of Austin, Texas garnishes the 2015 Margarita of the Year – The Patrón Smoked Sea Salt Margarita – with smoked paprika.
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HANDCRAFTED IN MEXICO.
IMPORTED BY THE PATRÓN SPIRITS COMPANY, CORAL GABLES, FL., USA
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