How Tommy’s Margarita Helped Fuel the Tequila Boom

The three-ingredient Tommy’s margarita is widely considered a modern classic. But few realize that this simple mix of tequila, agave nectar and fresh lime juice forever altered the course of American cocktail culture—and arguably kickstarted the current craze for agave spirits.

Renowned bartender Tony Abou-Ganim had his first Tommy’s margarita in 1995, a few years after Julio Bermejo created it for his family’s San Francisco restaurant, Tommy’s Mexican. It was the best margarita he’d ever had up until that point. The use of fresh citrus and 100%-agave tequila seemed radical, at the time.

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“Sure, we had Patron, and Herradura, a little El Tesoro, but definitely nowhere close to the selection we have today,” Abou-Ganim says. “Tommy’s was ground zero for 100% agave tequila.”

That’s why many in-the-know mixologists credit the Tommy’s margarita for the rise—and current obsession—with agave spirits in the United States. Here’s everything to know.

What’s the Difference Between a Margarita and a Tommy’s Margarita?

Tommy’s marg notably doesn’t contain orange liqueur, as the restaurant had allegedly cut the essential margarita ingredient from its formula. Losing that element of sweetness, which can easily cover up low-quality ingredients, placed a greater emphasis on the freshness of the citrus and the quality of the tequila. That attention to detail may seem like no big deal today, but was groundbreaking 20-something years ago.

In fact, it was the Tommy’s that inspired Abou-Ganim—one of the pioneers of the modern day cocktail revolution—to use fresh limes. An early adopter of the practice, he brought it to the Bellagio in 1998, and remains ardently committed to doing so everywhere he works. (As the resident master mixologist for Nevada’s Allegiant Stadium, Abou-Ganim’s crew of bartender’s hand-extract lime juice for the 6,000-plus margaritas that are served during every Las Vegas Raiders football game.)

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Though the Tommy’s margarita certainly helped to spread the gospel of fresh citrus, the way it—and Bermejo—evangelized quality tequila was truly game changing. “It highlights the spirit itself and doesn’t detract from that in any way,” says Jonathan Adler, the beverage director at Shinji’s in NYC. “You taste the tequila and only the tequila.”

But back when the drink was first created, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. When bartender Jacques Bezuidenhout first tried Tommy’s margarita, in either 1999 or 2000, he had a pretty low opinion of tequila. He couldn’t stomach the widely-used cheap brands, he says, and hadn’t had a margarita with quality tequila until he walked into Tommy’s Mexican. His perception was forever changed.

“In its simplicity, it really boosts quality 100%-agave tequilas, but can also show the flaws in bad tequilas,” says Bezuidenhout. “The spread of the Tommy’s marg and its story has definitely helped in the agave boom.”

From San Francisco to Across the Globe

Proof of the drink’s impact is in the numbers. The U.S. agave market has skyrocketed over the past few years: In 2022 alone, nearly 30 million nine liter cases of tequila and mezcal were sold, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of America—a 273% volume increase from 2003.

“A lot of its success is due to Julio [Bermejo] traveling and taking his family’s recipe and story on the road with him over the last 25 years,” Bezuidenhout says. “His energy and tequila knowledge and passion for tequila helped to make this drink infectious around the world.” Tommy’s margaritas are now served in cocktail bars across the globe; Bezuidenhout has even seen it on bar menus in small towns in New Zealand and South Africa.

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Dominic Venegas, a bartender turned spirits brand ambassador, says he’s seen a number of variations on the drink sprout up in recent years, including ones with saline, lime juice blends, flavored agave nectar and other sweeteners like honey and molasses. Still, he prefers the original.

“It always seems to start a conversation about its origins, relevance in cocktail evolution, discussions about classics or love for agave,” he says.

Plus, as Adler puts it, Tommy’s margarita is “absolutely crushable.”

How to Make a Tommy’s Margarita

Recipe by Julio Bermejo

Published: January 30, 2024