Do frozen margaritas have alcohol in them?

Frozen or On the Rocks: The Great Margarita Debate

The refreshing taste of a cold perfectly blended margarita on a hot summer day…there truly is nothing better. When the bartender mixes the tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice just right, it’s like you’re instantly transported to paradise. When you picture this perfect margarita, is it frozen or on the rocks? It’s one of the biggest debates in Tex-Mex food, but we’re here to help settle the score. 

Ice Cold

Surprisingly, one of the most polarizing ingredients in the Great Margarita Debate is ice. Everyone knows that in a frozen margarita, the ice is blended into small beads that spread out throughout the drink, while in an on-the-rocks margarita, the drink is poured over ice cubes. Whether you prefer frozen or on the rocks margaritas may very well have to do with your ice preferences.

Frozen margs have little blended ice beads. This gives a frozen marg a texture that just isn’t present in an on-the-rocks margarita. The evenly distributed pieces of ice also ensure the entire margarita is ice cold. However, the small beads cause the ice to disintegrate faster, melting your drink more quickly. 

With the signature square ice cubes in an on the rocks marg, the ice melts much more slowly. This allows for continuous cooling of your drink without watering it down. You also don’t have to worry about getting brain freeze with an on-the-rocks margarita. However, it is not initially as cold as a frozen margarita, because the ice is not blended within the drink. 

Taste and Alcohol Content

As margarita experts will tell you, you get a much stronger lime/citrus flavor in on the rocks margaritas, due to the aeration process when the cocktail is shaken. Additionally, because frozen margaritas are made in a big blending machine, you may get slightly less tequila than you would in a precisely measured-by-the-drink on the rocks margarita. 

Garnish

In this Instagram age, the garnish is everything. It’s safe to say for adding all sorts of fruits and (sometimes) vegetables to the top of a drink, a frozen marg is the way to go. Its stronger surface tension allows the bartender to add whole slices of fruit and umbrellas as garnishes, without them sinking, to later be fished out when the drink is gone. Extravagant garnishes make for the best pictures, and to this end, you’ve got to go with frozen. 

The Great Margarita Debate Results

At Guadalajara Restaurants, we love all kinds of margaritas—both frozen and on the rocks. We’re not here to judge you if you prefer one over the other, our goal is to make delicious refreshing drinks you’ll love. From our Cervezarita to our Strawberry Swirl Margarita and everyone in between, you can trust that you’re getting the freshest, highest-quality ingredients possible. 

To let us know how you feel about the Great Margarita Debate, visit us on Facebook or Instagram. To see our drink menu, visit guad.com, or stop by one of our four convenient Houston-area locations.

When the mercury climbs and summer’s heat calls for a remedy, the practical solution is an ice-cold drink. In Texas, and around the country, that often means Margaritas, the beloved cocktail combining tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice. But for an extra cooling option, make it a Frozen Margarita, a Dallas invention dating back to 1971.

Mariano Martinez opened Mariano’s restaurant that same year and quickly established it as one of the best places in town to get sizzling fajitas and blended Margaritas. But he had a consistency problem. Serving so many guests each night, some drinks were rushed and unmeasured, while others sat too long at the bar and began to melt. He wanted a way to streamline the process so that each guest received a perfect cocktail. The answer came from an unexpected source: the Slurpee machines at 7-Eleven.

After witnessing the machines in action, Martinez realized that he could apply the same principle to his Margaritas and outfitted an old soft-serve ice cream machine to pour the tequila-based drink. His problem was solved, and the slushy, uniform cocktails were a hit.

Maybe you have a Margarita machine at your home, in which case, you probably throw a great party. If not, you likely have a blender. And sure, a Margarita tastes great whether you’re drinking solo or serving a group, but the blender really shows its value when you’re making multiple drinks at once. In that case, you can scale up the recipe to account for the number of servings you require. Blend a big batch, and you can provide glasses to all your friends, which keeps everyone happy and keeps you from having to play bartender all night.

Martinez wasn’t the first person to blend a Margarita with ice, but he did invent the machine-made version that helped to popularize tequila, Tex-Mex joints and Mexican restaurants in America. As for that original machine: It can be found at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

• 2 ounces blanco tequila

• 3/4 ounce orange liqueur

• 1 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

• Garnish: salt rim

• Garnish: lime wheel

1. Salt the rim of a chilled Margarita glass and set aside.

2. Add the tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice into a blender, and top with 1 cup of ice. Blend until the mixture is smooth and frothy.

3. Pour the contents of the blender into the salted Margarita glass.

4. Garnish with a lime wheel.

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