Margarita Makers - Mix Up Your Favorite Drink at Home

Wouldn't it be great if you could whiz up a batch margaritas at home, just like they do at your favorite Mexican restaurant. Well, its possible. Margarita makers are the hottest new kitchen gadget on the market. Part ice shaver, part blender and a whole lot of fun, they help create frozen margaritas with the touch of a button.

Margaritas are a popular alcoholic cocktail made with tequila, triple sec and lemon or lime juice. It can be drank straight, over rocks or blended. The blended version is also know as a frozen margarita. The ice is mushy and soft and the blended with the other ingredients. Restaurants use specialized ice crushing machines to produce a perfect frozen margarita. It's not so easy to do at home.

The biggest problem to making frozen margaritas at home is getting the right consistency with the ice. Instead of that smooth, slushy ice you get with a restaurant quality margaritas, at home you get chunky ice and a drink that is generally watered down. That's where margarita makers come in. They make it easy to create your favorite frozen margarita in your own home.The best margarita makers shave the ice to ensure a smooth consistency that blends well with the rest of the ingredients.

The truth is, no one really knows who invented the margarita. According to Wikipedia, a lot a people have taken credit for the popular tequila drink. One story tells of the margarita created as a wedding gift, while another has a bartender creating the drink to woo a lady and the most enduring is a Texas socialite invented the popular drink. All of them could be true or not.

More than likely, at sometime or another, in some Mexican state (or maybe Texas) someone decided take the most favored way to drink tequila and put in in a glass. Tequila lovers know the best way to enjoy the juice of the agave plant is with a lick of salt, a shot of tequila and a bite of lime.

Margaritaville DM0500

You might call this intro model of margarita makers. It's the simplest and smallest of the Margaritaville products and while it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, it's still is one awesome frozen drink maker. And making your favorite margarita (or other drink) couldn't be easier. You start by adding ice into the top reservoir and then pour the rest of your the drink ingredients into the jar. With the touch of a button you can create a 36-ounce pitcher of margaritas.

A lot of Amazon buyers think the DM0500 is is one of best margarita makers. 88% of respondents gave it a 4-star or better (and most of those were 5-star). Here's just a sampling of what actual buyers had to say:

"Perfect Margarita Consistency"

"Good product for frequent Margarita drinkers"

"Great features and value"

" LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!"

The perfect margarita is also the simpliest margarita using a 1:1:1 ratio. Easy to make and just as easy to drink, make sure you use the best ingredients when making a margarita -- good tequila and triple sec and fresh limes. This recipe make one drink.

• 1 oz. tequila
• 1 oz. triple sec
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup ice

Blend together in a margarita maker until perfect.

Margaritaville DM900

You can take this margarita maker anywhere... backyard, tailgate party and even to the beach. It operates battery power. When the 18-volt Ni-Cd battery pack is fully charges, expect to blend up to 801 drink that are as good as anything you can get in a restaurant.

It's earned a solid 5-star rating on Amazon.Buyers who left feedback on the site use words like "awesome" and "fun."

You'll notice that all of the margarita makers I have listed are from Margaritaville. There's a reason for that. Simply, this brand had the best response from real buyers on Amazon. What you'll also notice with the Margaritaville products is they don't bill themselves exclusively as margarita makers. They call themselves concoction makers. Sure they make margaritas, but they can also blend a variety of beverages. Just take a look at the top-of-the-line Margaritaville DM3000 Tahiti Frozen Concoction Maker to the right. It's capable of creating six different types of drinks -- margarita, colada, mudslide, daiquiri, mojito, smoothie -- alcoholic or non alcoholic, your choice.

There's more to margaritas then just... well, margaritas. Make sure to check out the extras that go with margarita makers, like margarita glasses and pitchers, salt and lime rimmers and even specialized salts and sugars.