The 2 Liquors You Need For Jimmy Buffett's Perfect Margarita

Jimmy Buffett left quite a legacy in the food world. If you didn't stay at one of his resorts or try the eponymous sandwich at Cheeseburger in Paradise, there's an easier way to reminisce about him — by making a margarita Buffett's way. Considering his most famous song, as well as much of his business empire, revolved around the margarita, you can imagine the late tropical rock singer-songwriter knew a thing or two about making a standout version of the drink. A few months after his death in September 2023, The Wall Street Journal raised a toast to the "Mayor of Margaritaville" with the recipe of what, according to a spokesperson, was Buffett's favorite drink. It's called Jimmy's Perfect Margarita, and it modifies the standard recipe to subtly elevate the final result without changing the drink's character.

A classic, well-made margarita showcases tequila by combining the spirit with flavors that contrast and complement. While typically made with a crisp silver (aka blanco) tequila that is unaged and has a bright profile with peppery notes, the margarita Buffett favored used aged (aka reposado) tequila. Unlike its blanco variant, aged tequila is stored for 60 days or more in wooden casks, thereby inducing complexity and transforming sharp flavors into more rounded notes of caramel and spice. The subsequent cocktail is more nuanced and conducive to slow-sipping. The other liquor in Jimmy Buffett's perfect margarita is the essential triple sec, an orange liqueur that is the backbone of a good margarita and adds juicy citrus notes to complement the tequila. The concoction is finished with lime juice, simple sugar syrup, and a salted glass rim.

Like many tropical-themed cocktails, a margarita exudes the carefree energy of basic ingredients shaken together with a glug of tequila for a boozy, beachy drink in a rimmed goblet. What sets professional margaritas apart, however, is a careful calculation that perfectly balances non-alcoholic components that are sweet, sour, and savory, with spicy and orange citrus flavors from tequila and triple sec, respectively. The perfect margarita à la Jimmy Buffett builds on this by using a more full-bodied, aged tequila.

The perfect margarita is a fixture on Margaritaville cocktail menus, and here, the recipe goes a step further. It uses two types of tequila: a gold and a silver. The former is generally lightly aged (and sometimes flavored with additional ingredients), while the unaged silver has those zingy, peppery notes. Combined, the two tequilas project a range of agave flavors that any single tequila would be hard-pressed to offer. Similarly, the orange citrus flavors are introduced using both triple sec and orange curaçao. Essentially, the two-liquor margarita becomes a four-liquor margarita, while keeping all the other elements unchanged.

Between blanco, joven (aka gold), reposado (aka rested or aged), and añejo (aka extra aged), there are numerous tequila combinations to try Jimmy Buffett's perfect margarita trick with. When using a blend of tequilas or even just a single aged tequila for complexity, it's best to keep the rest of your margarita recipe unchanged. However, if you're having fun with flavored margaritas, use blanco tequila, which is more versatile as a base, and save the aged spirits for when you want a Buffett-inspired, tequila-forward margarita.