Recipe: "Margarita Man" Mariano Martinez's Perfect Margarita

July 20, 2011— -- Once a high school drop-out who once lived in a rough part of Dallas, Texas, Mariano Martinez has made a name for himself as the guy who invented the frozen margarita machine.

Now simply known as the "Margarita Man," Martinez said he got the idea when he was 26 years old and trying to get his small Mexican restaurant in Dallas off the ground. His opening night was a disaster.

"We had one blender. We had bartenders cutting lime and squeezing them. They were supposed to be measuring the tequila, the cointreau. They were overwhelmed," he said. "I had a very sleepless night that night. I stopped at a 7/11 store and I saw that Slurpee machine back there -- and the light bulb went off."

Now the margarita is the number one cocktail in the world and 36 countries have margarita machines. Americans consume 180,000 margaritas every hour.

Now you can make the "Margarita Man" perfect margarita at home with his recipe below.

Mariano's Margarita

Shaken, Not Stirred

Ingredients:

2 oz. fresh hand-squeezed lemon or lime juice

1 ½ oz. 100 percent Agave tequila

1 oz. Grand Marnier

Preparing the Margarita:

Salt the rim of a glass, if desired. Set aside. Fill pint shaker with ice and add all ingredients. Shake vigorously exactly five times. Pour contents of a shaker in glass.

Lime wedge garnish optional.

A note from Mariano Martinez:

A great margarita must contain three primary ingredients: 100 percent agave tequila, real orange liqueur, and real, freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice. It must also be correctly hand-shaken with ice. Some 100 percent agave tequila recommendations are: Herradura Silver, el Jimador, Patrón Silver or Don Julio Blanco. Expensive aged tequila is not necessary for margaritas, but don't buy by price alone. Cheap tequila can contain grain alcohol, so stick with 100 percent agave tequila for the best margaritas.