.... at least all of the ones I've tried are. Are there any decent ones out there or is the only way to make a proper margarita at home to do it "by hand"?

I've noticed the same thing and would like to hear of any good ones. Not only are they not very good, they also tend to be fairly pricey at $5-$6 a bottle. I was in Mexico a couple of weeks ago and saw Tequila for that much or less.

Never understood pre made drink mixes
Margarita: Tequila + Triple sec or Cointreau or Cura�ao (liqueur) or Grand Marnier splash of Lime juice in glass (salt rimming optional) DONE!

They are so easy to make from scratch, why even bother with those vile mixes? Here is a really good one.

2oz silver tequila
3/4oz freshly squeezed lime juice
3/4oz Cointreau

Shake, pour Into a rocks-filled coupe rimmed with salt

(James Meehan, PDT in NYC)

Trust me, Mine are the best. Hand made, from scratch. DON'T use a mix, make them from scratch. I can't tell you my receipt, and I can't make just a couple at a time, Don't know how. My batch starts with 3 liters of Tequila. Don't use high priced, good Tequila on a Margarita, that is a waste of good Tequila, and $$. Sauza Gold works well. Only Rose's Lime Juice, and NO TAP WATER! Not in the mixing , nor for Ice Cubes. A good Sweet and Sour Concentrate mix, and you have a really good Margarita. On the West Coast, If you can get Quickway Sweet and Sour Concentrate, use that. I have been known to buy 15 to 20 Gallons of that, and haul it back to Illinois. It keeps and is (IMO) the best. A case is 4 one gallon bottles. Not that damn foamy crap either.

A good Margarita recipe. May I assume you mean fresh or at least unsweetened lime juice?

Another good Margarita recipe.

While that sounds like a reasonably tasty drink, it is actually a Tequila Collins (tequila + sweet & sour mix) / Tequila Gimlet (tequila + Rose's Lime Juice) hybrid and not technically a Margarita at all due to it's lack of an orange- or orange peel-flavored liqueur in the ingredient list.

I do, however, whole-heartedly agree that using good, expensive tequila in a Margarita is a waste of both money and good tequila.

It may be disgusting, but it is not gross like Fernet

http://www.tresagaves.com/products/margarita - I seem to recall this stuff was pretty good.

(1) Anything that has a fresh citrus component is usually icky icky eww when using an artificial substitute.

(2) Since the tequila taste comes through in a decent margarita, a decent tequila is important (not just for headache reduction). Top shelf not necessary, but steer clear of the bottom shelf, or anything that has phony gold color.

Margarita....

"White" Tequila, and the medium priced brands labeled 100% agave work as well as any, although I'm emotionally attached to Sauza. The key? "White" usually has a harsher bite, better in a cocktail w/other ingredients.

"Key" limes, not "Persian" (and a good cast metal squeezer is an indispensable bar tool)

There's a long dispute over which "orange" liqueur, Cointreau or cheaper Triple Sec (Grand Marnier's both expensive a "chi-chi"). Old timers are quite happy with the Mexican domestic imitation, "Controy".

My formula ("Dry"): 2 parts tequila, 1 part lime juice, 1/2 part orange liqueur, shaken and served "Up".
No salt, but then Margarita's are traditionally consumed with a savory appetizer or salty bar snack.

Rose's lime juice, developed by the Brits as a scurvy preventive, has no place in a Margarita, not does any other bottled (and preserved) lime juice. "Sweet & Sour" mix or concentrates? About as far from lime or lemon juice as you can get, plus enough sugar to damage a diabetic. "Sweet" has no place in a cocktail already sweetened with orange liqueur, and then there are the preservatives and stabilizers in goat-choking quantities.

For an interesting variation, try using lemon juice instead of lime, and Italian "Lemoncello"
for a touch of sweet (and lemon peel zest).

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Wow! Impressive. I will have to try this.

Rick Bayless's topolo margarita is the margarita against which I compare all others. Absolutely fantastic. Here's the topolo margarita recipe.

Yes

It's the only way. Get your lime juice from an actual lime.

Yes, fresh Lime juice. In a pinch 'Real Lime' bottle juice works just fine.

Absolutely agree Key Limes >>>>>> Persian Limes

Call me lowbrow, but I frequently use plain old frozen limeade mix. I haven't actually ever tried margarita mix.

However, since I see the Rick Bayless recipe posted above, I may have to revise my standards.

With apologies to Bayless who has leaped to the fore as TV's authority of fancy and multi-regional Mexican food, I'm not sure his recipe actually "fits' as a Margarita, missing one element key to and associated with the cocktail's history, the orange liqueur. Using Persian limes, his addition of a bit of "Zest" is good, since their juice (at least to my palate) has less flavor.

Your frequent choice, frozen limeade mix, is in my eyes off the board, the basis for an entirely different beverage, the drink served in punch form by the Chambers of Commerce of Texas Border cities hosting conventions, "Border Buttermilk", no more than frozen limeade mix and tequila. Over ice in a plastic cup, drinkable and capable of knocking the unwary over-consumer on his/her butt.

But then, times change, and my drinking began in an era in which "Sangrita" was a preferred chaser for a shot of tequila, lime wedges came only with canned Tecate (to cure the rusty aftertaste from the old steel cans), and Corona (and the Coronitas favored in "maisons de tolerance") was a cheap almost generic beer, ranked below even Carta Blanca in perceived quality.