Chili’s Presidente Margarita Copycat Recipe

By Karl Hirsch · TacoTuesday.com · Prep 5 min · Total 5 min · Serves 1

The Presidente is the margarita Chili’s built its reputation on, and it’s the copycat margarita people search for more than any other on the internet. It’s also the one home cooks get wrong most often – usually by skipping the brandy, or worse, swapping in a big oaky brandy that flattens the whole drink.

The most reliable published clone comes from Todd Wilbur at Top Secret Recipes, who has a long track record of reverse-engineering chain recipes. Some sites have a slightly different version that uses Patrón Citronge instead of Cointreau, but every current and former Chili’s bartender who has talked about this drink on Reddit confirms the base spec is Wilbur’s. That’s the one below, with Cointreau as the orange liqueur.

Ingredients

• 1¼ oz Sauza Conmemorativo Añejo tequila (or another 100% agave añejo)
• ½ oz Cointreau
• ½ oz Presidente brandy (a light Dominican brandy – don’t sub a heavy oaked one)
• 4 oz sweet-and-sour mix (see notes)
• Splash of Rose’s sweetened lime juice
• Kosher salt or margarita salt, for the rim
• Lime wedge, for garnish
• Ice – cubed for the shaker, extra for the glass

Equipment

• Boston shaker or cocktail shaker
• Martini glass (or a rocks glass if you don’t have one)
• Small plate for salt
• Jigger

Method

• Rim the glass. Cut a lime into wedges. Rub one wedge around the rim of a martini glass to moisten it, then dip the rim into a plate of kosher salt. Rotate to coat evenly. Fill the glass with fresh ice.
• Build the drink. Fill a cocktail shaker about halfway with ice. Add the tequila, Cointreau, brandy, sweet-and-sour mix, and a splash of Rose’s lime juice.
• Shake. Cap the shaker and shake hard for 10–15 seconds. You want the outside of the shaker to feel very cold – if it’s just cool, keep going.
• Pour. Strain the drink into the salted, ice-filled glass, filling it about two-thirds of the way. Garnish with a lime wedge on the rim.
• Serve the shaker on the side. Leave the remaining drink in the shaker next to the glass – this is the whole point of a Presidente. Top yourself off as you go.

Bartender’s notes

Three things almost every home version gets wrong:

• Presidente brandy is the right brandy. It’s a light, clean, slightly sweet Dominican brandy that plays with the tequila instead of fighting it. If you can’t find it, use E&J or another light American brandy — do not use cognac, do not use a big oaky Spanish brandy. Both will bulldoze the drink.
• Don’t skip the shaker-on-the-side move. It’s not just showmanship. Pouring the drink into a smaller amount of ice keeps it colder longer, and topping off from the shaker as you drink means the last sip is as cold as the first.
• Rose’s lime juice is a splash, not a shot. It’s syrupy and sweet — a quarter-ounce is plenty. Overshoot and the whole drink turns into candy.

Scaling for a pitcher

For a pitcher that serves 6:

• 7½ oz tequila
• 3 oz Cointreau
• 3 oz Presidente brandy
• 24 oz sweet-and-sour mix
• 1½ oz Rose’s lime juice

Stir all ingredients together in a pitcher without ice. Refrigerate until cold. Shake individual servings with ice as you pour, one glass at a time – do not add ice directly to the pitcher, it’ll water the whole batch down within 20 minutes.

Homemade sweet-and-sour mix

Bottled sour mix is fine. Homemade is markedly better. Makes about 2 cups:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup fresh lime juice

Heat water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon and lime juice, and let cool completely. Refrigerate in a sealed container up to one week.

Frequently asked

Can I use a different tequila? Yes. Any 100% agave añejo will work. Sauza Conmemorativo is what Chili’s uses, but Milagro, Espolòn, or Herradura Añejo are all solid substitutes. Avoid gold tequilas that aren’t 100% agave – the sugar-added versions taste sharp against the brandy.

What if I can’t find Presidente brandy? E&J VSOP is the closest widely available substitute. Any light, unaged or lightly aged American brandy will get you 90% of the way there. Do not use cognac – it’s too heavy and too oaky for this drink.

Do I have to serve it in a martini glass? No. A rocks glass works fine. The martini glass is a Chili’s presentation thing, not a taste thing.

Can I make it frozen? The Presidente is a shaken drink by design – the brandy is meant to shine, and freezing dulls it. If you want a frozen Chili’s marg, make an El Niño instead.

Is this drink strong? It’s about 2¼ oz of liquor in one glass – stronger than a house margarita, on par with a top-shelf one. Two of these and you’ll feel Tuesday.

This recipe is part of TacoTuesday.com’s round-up of the 10 Best Copycat Restaurant Margaritas, Ranked