#MargaritaDay – Celebrate with Casa Noble Tequila & Skinny Margaritas

As I have previously noted, there are now national days for everything:  some traditional, some creative, and some downright silly.  February 22nd is “National Margarita Day,” and there is nothing silly about that.  Who doesn’t like sipping a cool margarita when surrounded by a mound of tortilla chips, bowls of guacamole and salsa, and a good mariachi band?

The origin of the margarita is as cloudy as one’s mind after inhaling two or three of the frozen variety.  But its current popularity is such that it is as ubiquitous as a Taylor Swift song.  And while I would never say aloud that a margarita counts towards your daily serving of fruit, I wholeheartedly agree with Jimmy Buffet that “If life give you limes, make margaritas.”

A good tequila is the essential ingredient in a good margarita. However, there seem to be as many tequila brands as flies at a picnic and selecting the right one, let alone a good one,  is a daunting task.  Just head to Total Wine and stand before the tequila section.  There reside bottle after bottle of the stuff, some clear, some golden, some with an ersatz worm, some with catchy names, and others with unusually colored glass containers.  For countless products, price is a guaranty of quality, but not necessarily so with tequilas.  This perplexing situation makes me thankful when I am given professional direction.  And I am very thankful for Casa Noble Tequila introducing me to its high-quality line of tequilas.

I was unfamiliar with Casa Noble, but that was totally my fault.  After all, Casa Noble dates back to the mid-17^th century and has earned many awards and accolades.  It still applies historical methods and selection processes, such as using only 100% blue agave and only harvesting when it is matures, which can take up to 14 years.  For National Margarita Day, Casa Noble sent me a 375 ml bottle of Casa Noble Crystal, a triple distilled, organic, 100% blue agave blanco tequila in a shapely crystal bottle.

There are different styles of tequila – blanco, reposado, and anejo – and blanco is perhaps the purest articulation of tequila since it is essentially clear and unaged, unlike reposados and anejos which are aged in oak for a couple of months to several years.  Oak aging gives reposado and anejo a certain smoothness that typically is not found in their younger sibling.  But Casa Noble addresses that problem by triple distilling its blanco to ensure purity and quality without expunging all character.  As Eric Asimov for the New York Times wrote about Casa Noble Crystal in the context of a blanco tequila tasting:  “Our favorite [blanco], the Casa Noble Crystal, was explosive, with rough, rustic flavors that, in their intensity, certainly reminded me of mezcal.”  Plus the tasting panel rated it the best value.  Neither Sous Chef nor I thought Asimov meant anything pejorative by his use of the word “rough” and Sous Chef undertook his own assessment, with somewhat disastrous results.  When it comes to wine tasting, Sous Chef and I are not of the “swish and spit” school.  Why let good wine go to waste?  So he employed our tasting techniques to Casa Noble Crystal and ultimately was rendered unable to give a coherent account.  It is a fair assumption, however, that he liked this tequila considering the number of straight shots he consumed during his tasting.

When so much care is taken to make a quality product, I like to make cocktails that feature the main ingredient and allow it full expression.  My Skinny Margaritas do just that and are adapted from my favorite margarita recipe, “A Good Margarita,” from the Sorella Cookbook.  My basic Skinny Margarita is simply tequila, fresh citrus juice (lemon, lime juice, and orange) and a little simple syrup or agave nectar depending on the tartness of the lemons and limes.  No Triple-Sec, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier or similar alcoholic additives.  From this base you can add other low-calorie ingredients to suit your taste.  For example, a Blood Orange Skinny Margarita can be made just by swapping a blood orange for a regular orange and increasing the simple syrup/agave nectar to offset the acidity and tartness of the blood orange.

One of my very favorite twists on the classic margarita is my “Skinny Spa-Garita”.  The “Skinny Spa-Garita” is a great thirst quencher for the hot winter, spring, fall, and summer days here in the desert.  I start with the basics – tequila, freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice (no orange juice), and simple syrup – and add fresh cucumber slices and freshly chopped basil to the shaker.  The end result is a light and flavorful margarita that won’t leave you dizzy or in a tizzy if you have more than one.  And since it is light on calories, you won’t feel guilty for indulging a bit.

Go ahead and celebrate National Margarita Day by grabbing a bottle of Casa Noble tequila (it will look great on your liquor shelf by the way) and make one or more of my guilt-free Skinny Margaritas!

Note:  As always when I am using a product supplied gratis to me, my comments and reviews are my own and are not influenced by the product supplier.  If I do not like the product, I will not post about it.