I Asked 4 Experts To Name the Best Tequila for Margaritas—They All Said the Same Thing
This tequila wins bartenders’ vote for its clean, complex flavors.
Simply Recipes / Adobe Stock
Have you ever walked into a liquor store trying to find the perfect bottle of tequila for a batch of margaritas only to be totally overwhelmed? Usually when the staff comes to offer me some guidance, I panic and mumble, “I’m all set!” Then I grab the closest bottle to me and pay as quickly as I can.
I know a good tequila when I taste it, but I have difficulty articulating what I’m looking for, so trying to select the right tequila in an endless sea of options is nearly impossible. Browsing the aisles nowadays feels like flipping through a gossip magazine, as a who’s-who of celebrity-backed bottles have made their way into the zeitgeist, each tempting me like a targeted ad.
Plus, the stakes feel very high. I don’t drink tequila regularly, so when I invest in a bottle, it sticks around for a while. I need someone to break down the basics and tell me exactly what to buy—a tequila advisor. With that in mind, I reached out to some experts in the mixology space to ask them what they think the best tequila is for margaritas. To my delight, the top choice among them was a discovery for me: LALO Blanco Tequila.
The Experts I Spoke To
Julianna McIntosh: Co-host of The Art of Drinking podcast and author of Pretty Simple Cocktails
Suzanne Critchlow: Beverage Director at Pascual in Washington, DC
Natalie Migliarini: Drinks influencer and author of Beautiful Booze: Stylish Cocktails to Make at Home
Ricardo Flores: Bar Manager at Hot Tin and Bayou Bar in New Orleans
The Tequila the Experts Like Best for Margaritas
What first caught my eye about LALO was the price. A 750-ml bottle rings up at about $40, far less than what I’ve spent on dud bottles before. LALO is a blanco tequila which means it isn’t aged, making it a great option for a clean, light margarita. Plus, it contains only three ingredients—agave, yeast, and water—which means you are getting a pure taste.
With so many different options on the market, purity was one of the most important factors for the experts I spoke to. “It is certified additive-free,” says McIntoch, “so it has such a nice, bright, agave-forward flavor, which makes it smooth.” But she also likes how easy it is to taste LALO’s other layers of flavor. Its hints of cinnamon and citrus “make it so much more inviting for a margarita,” she notes, “where you can really play with those flavors inside the cocktail.”
Critchlow agrees. “LALO is citrus dominant, and there are light complexities of spice and florality. Those flavors complement the essential ingredients of the margarita.”
Simply Recipes / Lalo
In fact, there are so few elements to the drink—just tequila, triple sec, and fresh lime juice—that “starting with a high-quality tequila when making a margarita is a necessity, as you can taste the quality of every ingredient,” says Migliarini. “LALO only makes blanco tequila, and they are hyper-focused on making that product as high-quality as possible, so it provides a fresh flavor with citrus and spice notes that enhance and balance out the margarita.”
Basically, this tequila is a margarita’s perfect team player, says Flores. “LALO is known for its smooth, crisp flavor,” he notes. “That and the clean finish make it versatile and approachable, allowing it to shine in a margarita without overpowering the other ingredients.”
I followed their advice and made a batch of my favorite spicy margaritas this past weekend with my newly procured bottle of LALO. Let’s just say this bottle won’t last that long. There is a clarity to LALO that I’d never experienced before in a tequila. I could taste all its nuances.
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