Traditionally it’s a float of Grand Marnier orange liqueur on top of a margarita that differentiates the Cadillac Margarita from a standard option. The Cognac-based liqueur was used to cover up the taste of low-grade tequilas often used when Mexican restaurants started serving the Cadillac over 30 years ago, according to Bernie Garcia, president of Grandeza Spirits.
He learned the origin of this practice while researching and prototyping his Grandeza Orange Liqueur, available in convenient sidecar bottles, which launched this month in Washington restaurants, including Garcia’s family restaurant, where it all began.
The CoronaRita became very popular in Garcia’s family-owned Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar, with four locations in Washington. Noticing how popular the inverted Corona and margarita combination was, the restaurant moved onto mini bottles of Grand Marnier, making the Cadillac Margarita available. In order to attach the mini bottles Garcia needed a clip similar to that used for the CoronaRita. Keeping these clips in stock and available combined with the high price point of the miniature Grand Marnier bottles led him to find another in-house solution for the popular Cadillac Margarita.
Realizing there wasn’t a mini sidecar bottle on the market, Garcia got to work developing a prototype for the restaurant’s own mini bottle with built-in clip. The restaurants filled the prototypes with orange, raspberry, blueberry or blackberry liqueur, and in the initial restaurant trials, orange was the fan favorite. In all, they were selling thousands of margaritas in just one month. While customers loved the novelty of the little bottle clipped to their glasses, Garcia still wasn’t satisfied.
“In a margarita, you want the tequila to shine,” he says, adding he wasn’t happy with the Cognac- and brandy-based orange liqueur that masked the tequila in the restaurant’s margaritas.
For Grandeza’s Orange Liqueur, made from citrus, bitter orange peel and agave nectar, Garcia says the tequila is still the center star. “We set out to create the best possible orange liqueur to complement tequila in margaritas which is why we used a neutral grain spirit and agave nectar as our sweetener,” Garcia says. “The feedback we have received so far from restaurant and bar owners and guests has been overwhelmingly positive so we are thrilled about that!”
Celebrate National Margarita day with a orange liqueur-laced margarita available at nearly 40 Washington restaurants, and in liquor stores soon through Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.
Grandeza Margarita Recipe
Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces Papa Bueno Reposado Tequila
2 ounces fresh lime juice
1 1/2 ounces agave nectar
1/2 ounce Grandeza Orange Liqueur
1/2 ounce water
1 Grandeza Mini Sidecar
Garnish: lime wheel, salt
Add ice to a mixing glass and combine all ingredients. Shake vigorously for 5-7 seconds, and then pour into a large glass. Open a Grandeza Mini Sidecar and clip to the rim. Garnish with a lime wheel. For a salted rim, wet rim with lime and press into salt before pouring contents into glass.
