Have you been considering the purchase of a margarita machine, but just aren’t sure if it is worth it?  Well here are 5 great reasons to pull the trigger and have your very own machine.

1. You love Frozen Margaritas

If you are truly a fan of frozen margaritas and you want to enjoy them at home, then a margarita maker is perfect for you.  You will be able to enjoy restaurant quality drinks at home anytime you like.  Not only will you enjoy your drinks at home, you will save money.  If the average drink costs $7.00 in your area and you go out for just one once a week, you will spend $364.00 not including tip!

2. Better Frozen Margaritas

A purpose built margarita machine will knock the socks off of a blender when it comes to making frozen margaritas.  Using a blender to make your frozen drinks can lead to chunky and inconsistent drinks. The Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker shaves ice first, then blends the drink. The result is a smooth drink that will rival any restaurant drink.

3. Make more than just Margaritas

Not only can you make margaritas, you can make any frozen cocktail or drink.  Take any drink you like and turn it into a wonderful frozen cocktail.  Like fruit smoothies?  You can blend up great tasting fruit smoothies with these machines.

4. Got Kids?

If you have children you can put this machine to work on those hot summer days making slushies.  Just blend up ice and flavored syrup or juice for the perfect at home slushies.  Just be careful, once word gets out in the neighborhood, you may find the kids lining up at your door!

5. Great for Parties

If you like to entertain, but do not like having to tend bar, then a machine is perfect for you.  Everyone loves to watch these machines do there magic and your guests are no exception.  Many of them will be more than happy to make there own drinks in these easy to use machines.  This will free up your time to do more important things like enjoying the party.

You will find a never ending collection of margarita recipes out there, the one thing you will find many of them to have in common is that they are loaded with calories.  You could easily consume half of your daily calories by going out and having a couple of drinks.  Ready made margarita mixes are also notoriously high in calories, so try and avoid them altogether. Just because high calories are the norm does not mean we have to give up margaritas altogether, we just need to find a way to cut out some of the calories. This can be accomplished by substituting fresh fruit for sugar, orange extract for triple sec and so on.  Let your imagination run wild and try different things.

Here are a couple of popular low calorie margarita recipes:

The Skinnygirl Margarita

Ingredients

• 2 oz of Clear Premium Tequila
• Tiny splash of Orange Liquor
• Juice of 4 Fresh Lime Wedges

Preparation

• Mix all ingredients and serve over ice
• Garnish with fresh lime wedge

(source)

HG’s Magical Low-Calorie Margarita

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Sierra Mist Free (or Diet Sprite Zero, or your other fave no-cal lemon-lime soda)
• 1.5 oz. tequila
• 1 packet (two 5-calorie servings) sugar-free powdered drink mix, lemonade (like the one by Crystal Light)
• 2 tbsp. lime juice

Preparation

• Combine all ingredients, mixing well and pour over crushed ice
• If desired rub the rim of the glass with lime and dip into salt or sweetener

(source)

As you can see from the two examples above, making a low calorie and great tasting margarita is simple.  If  you prefer frozen/blended margaritas you can just add the ingredients and ice to your blender or margarita machine, blend and enjoy.  You may need to experiment with the ingredient measurements to account for the amount of ice and water that ends up in a blended drink. Enjoy!

In its most basic form, a margarita contains tequila, triple sec(orange-flavored liqueur) and fresh lime or lemon juice.  The ratio of the ingredients vary, but the IBA (International Bartenders Association) official ratio is 7:4:3, this works out to 50% tequila, 29% Triple Sec, 21% fresh lime or lemon juice.  Other popular margarita ratios are 2:1:1:, 3:2:1 and 3:1:1. Many margaritas also have a sweetener added to enhance the taste of the drink, simple syrup or plain sugar are often used for this purpose. The margarita is frequently served with salt on the rim and a wedge of lime.

Those basic margarita ingredients are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to margaritas. Margaritas blended with fruits are very popular, some examples are strawberry, raspberry, mango, melon, banana and apple. Virtually any thing can be added to the drink to suit the consumers taste buds.

Frozen margaritas are also a very popular twist on the classic drink.  To make, the standard or any combination of margarita ingredients are blended with ice.  The ratios will need to be adjusted to account for the addiction of ice and water. To get a restaurant quality drink at home you can get a purpose built machine, such as the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker.  This type of machine will yield a much smoother frozen drink.

So the next time you are making a margarita do not be afraid to experiment with different ingredients.  The possibilities are endless!