The Margarita is basically a tequila-based Daisy, a type of cocktail made with spirit + usually orange liqueur + lemon or lime juice. As it happens the Spanish word for Daisy is Margarita. The first mention of the Tequila Daisy was in 1936 when the editor of the Moville Mail told the story of trying it in a saloon in Tijuana where it was first made by mistake when the barman reached for the wrong bottle when making a Daisy.

A cocktail with the exact proportions of a Margarita but with the name Picador was included in the British Café Royal Cocktail Book by William J. Tarling in 1937.

The first time the cocktail was seen in print and called Margarita was not until 1953 when it was published in Esquire magazine.

There are lots of other claims to the origins of the Margarita. For example that it was first concocted by Carlos (Danny) Herrera in 1938 at his Rancho La Gloria bar in Rosarito, Mexico for a showgirl called Marjorie King. King was allergic to all alcohol except tequila, but didn’t like to drink the stuff straight.

Or that it was named for actress Rita Hayworth, who was offered one by an admiring bartender during a theater job in Tijuana in the 1940s. (Hayworth’s real name was Margarita Cansino.)

The Sultan glass was designed in 1966 by Finnish designer Nanny Still.

Product information

This is one in a series of illustrations of classic cocktail recipes with a selection of the most beautifully designed glasses.

The size 40x50 cm (approx 16x20”) are signed and printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White 310g archival paper and are sold in a limited edition of 50 prints.

The size 30x40 cm (approx 12x16”) are printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Studio Enhanced 210g archival paper.