Hey Bartender

Let's start at the beginning. A Margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila mixed with an orange-flavored liqueur and either fresh lemon or lime juice, often served with in a glass with a salted rim. Originally, it was served on the rocks, but it can also be served frozen or straight-up. There are many stories about the origins of the margarita. The most plausible is that it is a variation of a cocktail called a Daisy, which consists of a base spirit (brandy, whiskey, gin, rum or vodka), lemon juice, sugar, and grenadine. Since daisy loosely translates to margarita in Spanish, this is most likely the cocktails origin.

The idea behind the Skinny Girl Margarita was to create a low calorie equivalent to the margarita we all know and love. The creator of the Skinny Girl Margarita, Bethenny Frankel, remarked that I wasn't an expert -- I was just another person bothered by a 700-calorie margarita. Her Skinny Girl formula yields a 100 calorie cocktail per 4 ounce serving. This is quite a few calories less than 700, but what exactly is a calorie?

A calorie is an archaic unit of energy first defined by Nicolas Clement in 1824 as a unit of heat. It has since been replaced by a unit of energy known as the joule, however, many countries still use it as a unit of food energy. There are two types of calories: small and large. Large calories or food calories measure the approximate energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. By now, you should be wondering why this even matters when consuming your favorite alcoholic beverage. Especially, when scientists admit that it's difficult to precisely measure the energy needed to increase the temperature of even 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius because the measurement depends on the starting temperature of the water in question.

Just for fun, let's take another look at the basic recipe for a Margarita: 1 1/2 ounces of tequila, 3/4 ounce of an orange-flavored liqueur, and 3/4 ounce of fresh lemon or lime juice. I like to use Patron Silver and Grand Marnier in my margaritas, so let's look at some numbers. 1 1/2 ounces of Patron Silver contains 69 calories, 3/4 ounce of Grand Marnier contains 57 calories and 3/4 ounce of fresh lime juice contains 6 calories. Salt and ice have absolutely no calories. If the patron who requested the Skinny Girl Margarita had waited to hear my alternative, she would have learned that my suggestion would have contained just 132 calories. This is slightly more than the 100 pre-packaged calories in the Skinny Girl Margarita, but far less than the exaggerated 700.

The point here is that a clever marketing trick has ruined quite a few people's perception of a time honored and classic cocktail. This simple recipe has been modified over the years so that it, at times, barely resembles the original. However, by sticking to the original recipe, you get a low calorie cocktail that tastes great and was invented during a time when no one cared about their caloric intake. This is good news since there are very few people who can explain to you what a calorie is in the first place. If science doesn't use the term calorie anymore, why should we care how many of them are in our cocktails?

So, there you have it, the Skinny Girl Margarita -- uncovered! It's all so simple when you break things down Brian-tifically. The classic Margarita is a simple, yet elegant recipe that has been enjoyed around the world for decades. When made properly, it's delicious, refreshing and low in those antediluvian calories. The lesson here is that when something new hits the market, don't fall for the hype -- do your homework!!! Clever marketing sells a lot things that aren't any better than what we already have. Today's post is a clear example of this tactic. No one knows what a calorie is anymore, but it's somehow gone from a scientific unit of energy to a bad part of our diet. Generally, when science abandons something, it's because they've found a better way to do it. Maybe we should take their lead and abandon the term calorie as well. That way, when we see it on labels, we can just ignore it and feel much better about our choices. As always, no matter what kind of Margarita you enjoy, please do so responsibly. Until next time...prosit!!!

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