A tequila cocktail bar

We designed our Sal del Mar hand-embroidered bar towels with the idea that we could take an ordinary setting and make it say "party."

We went with our Tequila hand-embroidered towel for this setting on a window ledge. We liked the way the light shines through the martini-style glasses, and how the white linen and green with indigo-blue highlighted towels are like a piece of art work to show off the simple setting.

Of course, you can even find a place on the countertop in the kitchen and try out the Margarita bar towel with its magnificent sprawling letters in lime green. You will set out your beloved tequila. Set out limes, a shaker and martini-styled glasses rimmed with our Sal del Mar gourmet sea salt. And voila!

Fall Margarita

We believe Fall is for Margaritas too. Sometimes it seems that it is such a summer cocktail but tequila is right for any season. It's fun too to use different ingredients.  For our Fall Margarita, we put together grapefruit juice, tequila and lime. We chose a "highball" glass to serve it in instead of a martini glass to add to the Fall look. And of course, Sal de Margarita rims the edge to enhance the flavors of the tequila and lime.

A Fall Margarita
Freshly squeezed grapefruit is one of my favorites because it cuts through the flavor of tequila.

2 oz of Tequila blanco
2 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. agave nectar
Sal de Margarita sea salt

Fill a small cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in the tequila, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, lime juice, triple sec and agave nectar. Put on the lid and shake. Strain the cocktail into your Sal de Margarita rimmed glass and garnish with a slice of grapefruit.
Pour a layer of Sal de Margarita onto a small plate. With a slice of lime, wet half of the rim of the glass.(Rimming just half the edge with salt, lets you control how much salt you taste with each sip.) Dip the glass into the salt at a 45-degree angle and roll it from side to side. Be careful to not let any of the salt drip into the glass. 
TIP:  Take the grapefruit and lime out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature.
It is easier to squeeze citrus when it isn't cold.

A memorable margarita

Margaritas are by far at the top of the list of everyone’s favorite drink. And with Memorial Day around the corner, I thought I’d post my favorite recipe... my old, standby... the Classic Margarita.  I like it because it isn’t the sweet, slushy concoction that some bars serve in that big bulbous margarita glass you can have to drink with a straw because you can’t lift it. 

Classic Margarita

2 oz. Silver Tequila
2 oz. Cointreau
2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. fresh orange juice

Place ingredients in a cocktail shaker.  Add ice and cover. Shake thoroughly to chill the mixture. Strain into into your prepared glass with or without ice.

Garnish with lime slices and a float of 1/2 oz. Grand Mariner

To Prepare Glasses:

Moisten the rim of a martini glass with a cut lime
Spread Sal del Mar on a small plate
Dip the moistened rim of the glass into the salt until evenly crusted

There are a couple of secrets too:  

Make sure to use 100% silver agave tequila, use Cointreau instead of Triple Sec, because even though it is more expensive it has the necessary sweetness but a more elegant flavor; always use fresh lime and orange juices (adding the fresh orange juice and a float of Grand Mariner tempers the sharpness while adding character to its natural flavor.) And always shake in a cocktail shaker allowing the ice to melt giving your cocktail the right degree of frostiness. 

The Art of Salting A Margarita Glass

      For Margarita lovers...

Summer Setting

Perfect Summer Setting

I always think of Memorial Day as the beginning of lazy days of summer.

I know that there are still errands to be done, meals to cook and cleaning to do but...

it is also a time I give myself “permission” to do nothing.  

So I designed a “Summer Setting” and then had a photo shoot session with stylist Paula Hamilton (she is the artist too for Sal del Mar embroidered bag designs) and “my third daughter” and photographer, Amy Haskell.

This is where I can imagine reading... or napping... and, of course, with a margarita 

in a frosty glass rimmed with Sal de Margarita and a little snack.

New Sal de Margarita Bag

A lime is a lime is a lime

Fresh squeezed lime juice is the key ingredient for making a marvelous margarita. The most common lime in the U. S. is the thick skinned Persian lime. In Mexico, the margaritas are made with a Mexican lime or Key lime. Key limes are smaller, thinner skinned and are more tart with a bitter flavor compared to the Persian variety. Due to America’s sweet tooth, a lot of recipes use the prepared margarita mixes that use sugar or fructose corn syrup (and lots of it) along with imitation lime juice. The “Secret Sexiest Margarita” featured on the Sal del Mar website is a more authentic margarita that uses orange liqueur and orange juice for all the sweetness it needs to compliment the fresh limes. So don’t substitute!