Irish Margarita Recipe: A Green Margarita With A Whiskey Kick

An Irish Margarita (aka a ‘Green Margarita’ or a ‘Jameson Margarita’) is one of the more popular Irish whiskey cocktails.

Easy to whip up, this cocktail looks the part if you add a little bit of food colouring to give it a bold green appearance.

In the guide below, we’ll present you with a very straightforward Green Margarita recipe to help you mix up this classic Irish cocktail at home.

Some quick need-to-knows before you make the Irish Margarita

Before you look at how to make it, take 20 seconds to read the points below, as they’ll make your life a whole lot easier.

1. Pick a good whiskey

There’s some excellent Irish whiskey brands out there. But there’s some terrible ones too. Try and grab a decent one, as it’ll make all the difference. If you don’t fancy forking out on an expensive or mid-range bottle, see our guide to the best cheap Irish whiskey.

2. No cocktail shaker?! No worries!

Here’s a tip – if you don’t have a cocktail shaker at home, you can always use protein shaker. It’s a little bit cleaner and you’ll be able to pick one up nice and cheap.

3. How you serve is optional

You can serve up an Irish Margarita in a dainty Margarita glass, like the one on the left in the photo below, or you can serve it in a regular glass. You can also make the mixture very green, or you can just tint it with a dash of green.

Our Green Margarita ingredients

Right – on to the ingredients for our Green Margarita. Most of the ingredients are straightforward, but there are one or two that you may need to order online:

• 2 ounces of Irish whiskey
• The juice from 1 fresh lime
• 1/2 an ounce of an orange-flavored liqueur (e.g. Triple Sec)
• 1/2 ounce of simple syrup (or agave syrup)
• Ice, sugar and green food colouring

How to make an Irish Margarita

Now it’s time to make your Jameson Margarita. This is nice and straightforward, once you have something to shake the mixture:

Step 1: Chill your glass

The first step is optional, but it’s a nice and easy way to keep your Green Margarita chilled for longer. Simply plop some ice in your glass, place the palm of your hand over the top of it and swirl the ice around the glass.

Do this for 15 – 20 seconds and your glass will be nice and chilled.

Step 2: Add the mixture to a shaker with ice and shake, shake, shake

OK, take your lime and place it on a flat surface and then place the palm of your hand on top of it. Then roll the lime 10 – 20 times, or until you feel it getting soft.

Then slice it in half and squeeze the juice from both halves into a shaker, followed by 2 ounces of whiskey, 1/2 an ounce of simple syrup and 1/2 an ounce of your orange liqueur. Add ice and 2 drops of green food colouring and shake like crazy.

Step 3: Prep the glass and pour

Take some kitchen paper and pour out a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Then wet the rim of your glass and roll it along the sugar until it’s coated the entire way around.

When ready, pour the contents of the shaker into your glass and then, if you like, garnish the glass with a thin slice of lime.

Discover more easy Irish cocktail recipes

Looking to sip away on some other cocktails like the Margarita? Here’s some of our most popular drink guides to hop into:

• Best St Patrick’s Day Drinks: 17 Easy + Tasty St Patrick’s Day Cocktails
• 18 Traditional Irish Cocktails That Are Easy To Make (And Very Tasty)
• 14 Delicious Jameson Cocktails To Try This Weekend
• 15 Irish Whiskey Cocktails That’ll Tantalise Your Tastebuds
• 17 Of The Tastiest Irish Drinks (From Irish Beers To Irish Gins)

FAQs about making an Irish Margarita

We’ve had a lot of questions over the years asking about everything from ‘Is a Jameson Margarita worth the effort?’ to ‘What is the best Green Margarita mix?’.

In the section below, we’ve popped in the most FAQs that we’ve received. If you have a question that we haven’t tackled, ask away in the comments section below.