I had the pleasure of attending a Bitters Seminar with King Cocktail himself, Dale Degroff at Bosscat Kitchen and Libations in Newport Beach, CA. Dale is a master mixologist who honed his skills by bartending many establishments, most notably the Rainbow Room in New York.

Margarita Recipe à la Dale DeGroff

• Dale DeGroff is the author of The Craft of the Cocktail (4.18 avg rating, 610 ratings, 27 reviews, published 2002), The Essential Cocktail (4.32 avg rati.
• Dale DeGroff is the godfather of the cocktail industry and mentor to three generations of mixologists and bartenders. Regarded as the “essential bartending guide” by the New York Times, his book The Craft of the Cocktail, which he published in 2002, has influenced the entire cocktail and hospitality industry.
• Dale DeGroff is often referred to as ‘ King Cocktail ‘ – his books, The Craft of the Cocktail and The Essential Cocktail, are considered by many, including us at Drink Spirits, as the definitive classic cocktail books.

Cointreau or no Cointreau? That is the question hotly debated by margarita connoisseurs. To get a definitive answer, we had an audience with the “King of Cocktails” himself. The following recipes come from Dale DeGroff, former bartender at New York’s famous Rainbow Room, author of the book The Craft of The Cocktail and president and founder of The Museum of the American Cocktail.

The Original Margarita

Straight Up or On the Rocks, Not Frozen

Dale Degroff Book

Ingredients:
. 3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
. 1/4 oz. Cointreau
. 1/2 oz. tequila

Preparation:
Assemble all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake well to a slow ten count. Strain into the serving glass of choice (tumbler or cocktail glass if served without ice). If salting the rim of the glass, use only Kosher salt, never iodized. Just salt half the glass.

> Check out GAYOT’s Guide to Tequila.

One gallon or about 47 4.5-ounce margaritas

The batch cannot be assembled simply by multiplying the ingredients by the number of drinks you would like to make. Additional sweetness in the form of simple syrup, and a little less tequila and lime juice is needed to make the batch work for 47 portions.

Don’t forget to take into account the shaking of the drink, which provides the final and critical ingredient of any cocktail: the one ounce of water added by shaking. That is why it is so critical to shake a drink well and for the proper time.

Ingredients:
. 32 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
. 16 oz. simple syrup *
. 36 oz. Cointreau
. 44 oz. tequila

Preparation:
Assemble all the ingredients in a container just a bit larger than a gallon and adjust sweetness with lime juice and simple syrup. If it tastes good to you, it is probably good.
Remember individual servings still must be shaken with ice, even if the mixtures is already chilled.

Note: To use the batch above for margaritas, an additional 1 1/2 to 2 ounces of simple syrup must be added to the blender for each serving to carry the flavor forward through all the additional water.

* How to Make Your Own Simple Syrup
Fill a container that has a screw top half way up with granulated sugar (if your grocer has Superfine or Bar sugar use that). Fill the rest of the way with pure water. Screw on the top, turn upside down and shake well. Set aside and if sugar settles out, shake well again to dissolve. It is not necessary to cook and room temperature water will do fine.

Dale Degroff Bitter

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Categorized: DrinkCocktail RecipesMargaritaTequila & Mezcal

Dale Degroff Cocktail Book

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