The Great Margarita Book [Paperback]

Al Lucero (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

When people have asked of a place to eat in Santa Fe, I find myself referring them to Maria's. Is the food good? Yes. But the margaritas they are the best. When you read this book, you'll know why.
-Robert Redford, from the foreword

On the rocks or frozen, with lemon or lime, with salt or without, nothing conjures up the festive spirit of Mexico and the Southwest quite like a margarita-especially one made with the best tequila. Al Lucero, owner of Maria's Restaurant in Santa Fe, has served up his nationally acclaimed, authentic margaritas for nearly 20 years. In this revised edition of The Great Margarita Book, Al offers more than 85 of his special formulas along with profiles of more than 75 premium tequilas, including discussions of the all-important blue agave and methods of tequila production, classification, and labeling. Also featuring recipes for spicy dishes from Maria's and other great tequila drinks, The Great Margarita Book is the quintessential guide to America's most festive cocktail. Salud!

   • Revised handbook to premium tequilas and margaritas with new photographs and updated tequila descriptions.
   • The previous edition has sold more than 50,000 copies.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

* Revised handbook to premium tequilas and margaritas with new photographs and updated tequila descriptions.

* The previous edition has sold more than 50,000 copies. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Al Lucero is the owner of Maria’s Restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As descendants of a Spanish conquistador who captained an army that occupied Santa Fe in the 17th century, Al’s family has been cooking and eating New Mexican food for centuries --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580080537
• ISBN-13: 978-1580080538
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 4.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,988,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The complete book of one recipe, October 31, 2005

By 

ducrab "Steve" (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Margarita Book: A Handbook with Recipes (Paperback)

This book has very good chapters regarding the origins of the margarita and about the different types of tequila. But, as far as margarita recipes... well... it's the same recipe over and over substituting different brands of tequila and orange liqueur. The proportions of tequila to liqueur to lemon (or lime) juice are itentical for each "recipe."

But, I must give some credit to the author... he does clearly state on page 30: "Although the mixing procedure is essentially the same for each margarita, the tequila and orange liqueur--or combination of the two--change from recipe to recipe." But, with that said, the whole book could have been reduced to a one-page chart with all of the tequilas listed on the page with "best mixed with" liqueur type listed next to it. Instead, we are treated to a whole book with identical "recipes" where the quantities remain the same, only the tequila brand names and liqueur brand names change.

Regarding the different types of tequila, the author likes to use the example of maple syrup. You have different grades of syrup that all taste different, then there's the syrups that are mixed with corn syrup. True, this is a good analogy for how different tequilas are made (100% agave vs. mixtos), but I think this analogy best fits the recipes in this book! For example, this book is similar to that of a pancake book that lists the same pancake recipe over and over, only the reader is instructed to use a different type of maple syrup for each "recipe." Yup, that's how this book reads!

I have a very good margarita recipe at home, it calls for the use of tequila, sweet & sour mix, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, and fresh orange juice. It makes an excellent margarita! But, there's nothing like it in this book... just the same basic recipe over-and-over-and-over again.

There are other books that are better at explaining how tequila is made and the differences between the brands... I would recommend buying those books to learn about tequila. Once you have a solid underatanding of tequila, then search the Internet and try various recipes.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointment, August 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Great Margarita Book (Paperback)

If you want to learn about some different brands of tequila, this is okay, but you can get more and better information for free online. The margarita recipes are virtually identical. It's unbelievable that they have them printed over and over again, page after page, just with a different brand of tequila.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the "Grand Prix" of Margarita books!, December 2, 1999

By 

IndyGP2000 (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Margarita Book (Paperback)

Ten Speed Press has added another spectacular edition to its fine series of books with this marvelous masterpiece on Margaritas! Al Lucero has definitely done his homework on this book and it shows with extreme detail and explanations of both recipes and the vast amount of Tequilas he speaks of and shows. The quality of paper and the way the pictures (in color) depict the different Tequilas, and the delectable looking Margaritas, will make your mouth water! I followed the simple directions to Mr Lucero's recipes and found Myself in Heaven! The Margaritas are delicious! If you love Margaritas - and you want high quality content, this book is a must!