Did you know that the Margarita is America’s favorite cocktail? Since Nielsen first started conducting surveys to discover bargoers’ favorite drinks in 2016, the Margarita has been the number-one pick. In 2019 the drink edged out the Martini, the Old-Fashioned, the Mimosa and the Moscow Mule for the coveted first-place spot. The Original Margarita was created when Dallas socialite Margarita Sames mixed her two favorite spirits, Cointreau and tequila, together with lime juice while she was vacationing in Acapulco back in 1948.

Mexico carefully guards the name and legacy of its national spirit. Any liquor bearing the label “tequila” must be produced in Mexico, from blue agave (Agave tequilana azul) of the Weber Blue variety grown in Jalisco, or tequila of specially designated regions of Nayarit, Guanajuato, Michoacán and Tamaulipas. Distilleries are also carefully regulated, and assigned a NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) number. Much of the mass-produced tequila found in American liquor stores comes from fairly young agave plants, harvested when the sap is tart and acidic.