{"id":2477,"date":"2025-11-14T11:23:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T11:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=2477"},"modified":"2025-11-14T11:23:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T11:23:43","slug":"mix-up-your-margarita-with-the-toreador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=2477","title":{"rendered":"Mix up Your Margarita with The Toreador"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just when you thought you’d tried every margarita variety, another recipe appears from the archives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"margarita<\/div>\n

The toreador made its debut in 1937, in Billy Tarling\u2019s Caf\u00e9 Royal Bar Book<\/em> \u2013\u00a0a full 16 years before the margarita first appeared in print (it appears alongside a very margarita-like recipe, though, called a picador \u2013 so the debate around the margarita\u2019s origin continues.) The bartender who brought the toreador to my attention was agave expert Deano Moncrieffe, owner of London\u2019s popular Hacha tequila bars and creator of the viral crystal-clear Mirror Margarita.<\/p>\n

Moncrieffe recommends using a lightly aged reposado tequila \u201cbecause the apricot really brings out the tequila\u2019s notes of dried fruit and sweet spice.\u201d But a crisp blanco<\/em> such as Ocho also works. My tip for the apricot brandy would be the Lune D\u2019Abricot by Merlet, a French, family-owned company that makes fabulous cognac and liqueurs (try a splash in a cognac-based sidecar). The author of Tequila: A Tasting Course, <\/em>Millie Milliken, suggests adding a dash of Angostura Bitters to the mix, too. Or garnishing with a thyme sprig \u201cto add some herbal and more earthy aromas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"hacha
The Hacha toreador \u00a9Hacha<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the toreador proves, changing up the sweetening agent is a great way to give a Margarita a fresh twist. Simply swapping your Cointreau for a different brand of orange (or citrus) liqueur brings a subtle new flavor profile that can have a big impact.<\/p>\n

I love the triple sec by London craft distiller Sacred \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s a starburst of zestiness, with a fragrant, juicy finish that comes from hand-cut oranges and Amalfi lemon peels. The more floral Flor de Azar Orange Blossom Liqueur is made in Mexico from an exotic array of botanicals, including several types of citrus, plus orange blossom and tuberose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lesser-known Cointreau Noir, which is based on a Cointreau recipe from the early 1900s, is also fabulous.\u00a0Made from a blend of classic triple sec and Remy Cointreau cognac infused with walnuts and almonds, it has notes of bitter orange peel and caramelised nuts that give a margarita real class.<\/p>\n

\"cointreau
The lesser-known Cointreau Noir \u00a9Cointreau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earlier this year, Cointreau also very quietly launched Cointreau Citrus Series, a new range of limited-edition citrus distillates starting with Cointreau Corsican Pomelo. At 40 percent this product is technically more spirit than liqueur \u2013 but if you spliced it with a bit of sugar syrup it would do the job of triple sec very well. Look out for a new variety launching in the new year.<\/p>\n

The brandy-based Pierre Ferrand Dry Cura\u00e7ao is a orange cura\u00e7ao in the old style \u2013\u00a0silky and rich with a tongue-tingling bitterness from cura\u00e7ao oranges, that gives way to some very subtle notes of prune, lemon and vanilla. (The brand also does a lesser-spotted yuzu variety, that\u2019s not nearly as good, sadly, but still rather a fun flex).<\/p>\n

Campari can also be very good for giving a margarita an Italianate hit of bitter orange and a pretty splash of color. Just make your regular margarita with 5ml less of triple sec and add 5-10ml of Campari.<\/p>\n

A classic Tommy\u2019s margarita, of course, is made without any orange liqueur at all \u2013\u00a0instead it\u2019s sweetened with agave syrup, which has a slightly more caramelized sweetness than a sugar-based triple sec. The Tommy\u2019s was invented in the eighties at Tommy\u2019s bar in San Francisco \u2013\u00a0and it remains for many agave purists the ultimate take on the drink. If you find yourself missing the citrus, just add a few dashes of Angostura Orange Bitters or the splendidly picante Regan\u2019s Orange Bitters No.6.<\/p>\n

\"sacred
London craft distiller Sacred makes a zesty, fragrant triple sec \u00a9Sacred<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Toreador<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • — 50ml blanco or reposado tequila<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • — 20ml apricot brandy (I used Merlet Lune d\u2019Abricot \u2013 depending on the sweetness of the brand you may want to tweak this by 5ml)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • — 25ml freshly squeezed lime juice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Glass: <\/strong>cocktail or ice-filled rocks<\/p>\n

        Garnish: <\/strong>none<\/p>\n

        Method: <\/strong>shake with ice and strain<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Just when you thought you’d tried every margarita variety, another recipe appears from the archives.\u00a0 The toreador made its debut in 1937, in Billy Tarling\u2019s Caf\u00e9 Royal Bar Book \u2013\u00a0a full 16 years before the margarita first appeared in print (it appears alongside a very margarita-like recipe, though, called a picador \u2013 so the debate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}