What does a Tommy's Margarita taste like?
A Tommy's Margarita tastes cleaner and more tequila-forward than a classic margarita: just tequila, fresh lime and agave syrup, so it's tangy, lightly sweet and peppery.
Tommy's Margarita
tequila and lime, nothing else
A Tommy's Margarita is tequila, lime juice and agave syrup, shaken and served on the rocks, usually without a salt rim. It comes from Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco. Dropping the orange liqueur makes it taste less like a sweet-and-sour cocktail and more like good tequila with lime. Agave syrup is a little softer than sugar, with a faint honey-like warmth, and it echoes the tequila's own flavor. Made with a nice blanco tequila, it's peppery, green and bright.
Where you’ll see it
On craft cocktail menus and at bars that take tequila seriously, often listed simply as a Tommy's. Some bars make it their house margarita and use it as the base for spicy or flavored versions.
Order it if you like tasting the tequila and want a margarita that is bright, not candy-sweet.
Quick questions
- What's the difference between a Tommy's and a regular margarita?
- A Tommy's has no orange liqueur. It uses agave syrup instead, so it tastes simpler and more of tequila and lime.
- Is a Tommy's Margarita sweet?
- Only a little. There is just enough agave syrup to round off the lime, so it reads tangy and fresh rather than sugary.