Does anyone have a recipe for a "party sized" Margarita pitcher?

[bn087]

I was wondering how many limes, oranges and lemons it would take to make a pitcher ot margaritas that would use an entire 750ml bottle of tequila.

Usually I do equal parts tequila/limes. So 1.5oz tequila, 1.5oz of fresh lime juice...then I mix in fresh orange and lemon juice till it tastes right. Of course I also add a little agave nectar to touch it up some.

So if I want to use an entire bottle of Hacienda De Chihuahua Silver for margaritas on New Years. How many limes will equal 750ml? I dont have a squeezer so I have to do it by hand, its a CHORE! And I lose some juice.

750ml of Sotol
750ml of Lime Juice
375ml of Equal Parts Orange and Lemon
125ml of Agave Nectar

Does that sound pretty accurate to make a pitcher of margaritas?

[MrAgave]

I thought there were about 16 1.5oz shots in a 750ml bottle, so multiply your single shot recipe X 16.

[bn087]

So I guess I am looking for...

24oz's of Sotol HDC Silver
24oz's of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
12oz's of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
6oz's of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
8oz bottle of Agave Nectar (around here I can only find 8oz bottles for 8.00!)

If I can only get 1oz of juice from a lime. A safe bet would be to purchase 30 of them I suppose....Gosh that seems like a very large amount! I will also need about 5 oranges and 8 lemons.

Does this recipe seem pretty accurate in amounts? They should be good, Sotol Ritas are amazing and I am going to test a float of Del Maguey Crema De Mezcal on top of the first margaritas to see if the taste is desirable or not.

[bn087]

By the way, I went out on a limb last night and purchased one of those bottles of concentrated lime juice (only 50 cents). They make a green squeeze bottle and a yellow one for concentrated lemon juice. It said one teaspoon was equivelent to the juice of one lime. So I added a few teaspoons and a few squirts of water and it was disgusting! DO NOT USE THESE FOR MARGARITAS!

[totallytequila]

Hi bn087, Just wanted to tell you that I used to use a hand held squeezer for citrus and that soon became a real pain in the rear! For the amount of fresh juice that you probably use for your assorted agave drinks, you would be better off investing in an electric juicer. I know buying brand new can be costly. I find them used in local thrift stores for prices ranging from $3.99 to $9.99 depending on condition. At those prices no big deal if one burns out. I look out for them all the time and have a few in the cabinet as back up just in case. I've tried those concentrated plastic juice things...your right they are awful! :-\ I'm interested to find out how your margarita pitchers turn out. To me it sounds like a lot of lime juice but I guess the only way to find out is to try it. You'll probably feel nice & buzzed by the time you master the recipe! Let us know how it turns out....Happy New Year!

[La Buena Vida]

Very hard to beat fresh squeezed key limes, but something I have used before that comes pretty close is called Nellie & Joe's. It comes in 12 or 16 oz bottles for about 3 or 4 dollars. I get it at the local Target in the groceries section. If I can make this link work, you can see what it looks like. Hope this helps, Happy New Year!!

http://www.keylimejuice.com/products.htm

[bn087]

Today I HAND squeezed...

30 Key Limes (about 10 oz's of Juice)
15 Regular Limes (about 12 oz's of Juice)
6 Texas Sweet Juice Oranges (12 oz's of Juice)
4 Large Meyers Lemons (about 6 oz's of Juice)
1 Bottle (11.75oz) of Light Organic Agave Nectar


Total amount of juices/nectar = 52 oz's

I also cut up 2 Strawberry Papaya's (never heard of them until I was looking in the organic fruit section. I seeded and sliced them up in small chunks and added it to the fresh mix to sit overnight in the fridge.

The result in a taste test without tequila is VERY VERY GOOD! Its a little tart to drink alone without an agave spirit in it but the Texas Juice Oranges were very very sweet tasting and I am very excited to find them.

The Strawberry Papaya juice hasnt come out in the mix, I'm hoping by tomorrow with a little stirring some of the juices will come out and sweeten up the mix.

Since I ended up with 52 oz's of fresh mix, I would appreciate everyones input on how much tequila will fit Earlier on this thread, we said that there are 16- 1.5 oz shots per 750ml bottle...which roughly comes out to about 24 ounces.

Would One 750ML bottle do good for 52 ounces of mix?

I am still planning on floating a 1/2 shot of Del Maguey on top to see if it blends at all. If not the bottle isnt being drank fast at all, there is always next time! I also am bringing a small bottle of Orange Triple Sec for those who need to tame it down some but to me it is perfect, and it should be...it took an hour to squeeze and cut everything.

[totallytequila]

That margarita blend sounds like a winner! Fresh & delicious!
I am going to a co-worker's house tonight for a New Years Eve party and I told him I am bringing the "Traveling Margarita Bar" with me. I have a nice set up with a large Dos Lunas bar mat and will bring all three bottles of their product (blanco/repo/anejo) to sip & make margaritas. I squeezed (not by hand!) all fresh Florida fruit...pink grapefruit, key limes, oranges, & callamondins. I will offer all four in any combination...margaritas, palomas, cosmos, etc. Dos Lunas Tequila has been doing alot of promos here in Florida. I have come across a few free marketing materials, signage, glasses etc. Now all I have to do is work on getting some complimentary tequila! Happy New Year to all!

[MargaritaLover]

No replacement for fresh fruit, I agree. I have used Nellie and Joe's in the past. Found it a bit concentrated and I needed to add water or orange juice to tone it down. Anyone with the same experience?

[totallytequila]

I too have tried Nellie & Joe's and even though it is a little better than most, I still don't like the overall taste. If I'm not mistaken doesn't it have some sort of bisulfite or stabilizer in it? Anyway I didn't like the aftertaste and I felt it took away from the premium agave flavor of the margarita.