Barsys
Beet Margarita
About
The Beet Margarita is the classic cocktail dressed for the room. It's the same trusted two-one-one of tequila, lime, and agave, with a quarter ounce of beet juice folded in, and that small addition turns a familiar drink into a deep, glowing ruby that stops people mid-conversation. It's the showpiece of the collection, and it knows it.
What's clever is how little the beet changes the drink itself. A quarter ounce brings a striking color and only the faintest earthy sweetness, so underneath the drama it still drinks like the Margarita people already love. That's the right way to do a colored cocktail. The beet earns its place by making the drink beautiful without hijacking the balance that made it worth ordering in the first place.
Closing out the flight, it's the one that photographs, the drink that proves precision and presentation aren't in competition. Same exact base as every other pour in the collection, finished in a color no one expects.
Shaken or Stirred? Shaken. Same as the classic it's built on, and the shake does extra work here. It pulls the beet juice evenly through the drink so the color is uniform and deep rather than streaked, and it combines the lime and agave the way any good Margarita needs. Shaken and strained over fresh ice, it comes out clean, cold, and an even, glowing red. Built, the beet would sit unevenly and lose the effect.
What You'll Need
For one Beet Margarita:
- 2 oz tequila
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 1 oz agave
- 0.25 oz beet juice
- Ice Cubes
Glass: Rocks
Rim: Salt
Garnish: Lime wheel and beetroot slices
Pro tip: Use fresh beet juice and keep it to the quarter ounce. It's tempting to add more for a deeper color, but beet turns muddy and vegetal fast, and a heavier pour drags the drink toward earthy. A quarter ounce is all it takes for a striking red, so let the color come from quality rather than quantity.
How to Make It
Prep time: 3 to 4 minutes
Skill level: Easy
- Rim a rocks glass with salt and fill it with cubed ice.
- Add the tequila, lime juice, agave, and beet juice to a shaker.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake well until cold and evenly colored.
- Strain into the prepared glass over fresh ice.
- Garnish with a lime wheel and beetroot slices, and serve.
Using Barsys Cocktail Machine?
The Beet Margarita is the drink that best shows precision and presentation working together, and it does it off the same load as the rest of the flight. The Shaker Pro drink maker pours the familiar two-one-one from the same tequila, lime, and agave canisters the whole collection uses, then adds the quarter ounce of beet from its own compartment, each measure held to a tenth of an ounce.
That beet measure is the one to trust the machine with. It's the difference between a clean, bright ruby and a muddy, over-earthy drink, and a quarter ounce is exactly the small pour a hand overshoots. The 360 gets it right every time, so the color is consistent and the balance stays intact across a whole tray. Same machine, same load, five distinct drinks: the classic, the spicy, the skinny, the long Paloma, and this showpiece to close. One precise foundation, finished five ways. That's the collection, and the argument, in a single fill.
For the full recipe, download the Barsys App.
Tasting Notes
The Barsys Edge
A colored cocktail lives or dies on restraint. The whole appeal is a drink that looks extraordinary and still tastes like the classic it came from, and that only works if the coloring ingredient is measured with real discipline. Too much beet and the color turns muddy and the flavor turns vegetal, and the drink stops being a Margarita and becomes a novelty. The margin is a quarter ounce, and it's unforgiving.
Barsys holds that quarter ounce exactly, every pour, so the drink stays a glowing ruby and a proper Margarita at the same time. In a serve where the balance between beautiful and overdone is this fine, exact measurement is what keeps it on the right side. The machine makes the showpiece repeatable.
Sip Setting
The Beet Margarita is the closing drink, the one you bring out when you want a moment, the showpiece that ends the flight on something people remember and photograph. It's celebratory and striking without sacrificing the easy, familiar pleasure of a good Margarita underneath. In a room you want to leave an impression on, this is the pour that does it.
Garnish Game
A lime wheel keeps the Margarita cue clear, and the beetroot slices make the drink's color make sense, tying the ruby in the glass to the ingredient behind it. Together they're a confident, considered finish for a drink built to be looked at. Here the garnish plays a real role, completing the visual story rather than just sitting on the rim.
You may also like
FAQs
What is a Beet Margarita?
A classic Margarita made with tequila, fresh lime, and agave, with a quarter ounce of beet juice added for a deep ruby color and a subtle earthy note, served over ice with a salt rim.
Does it taste like beet?
Only faintly. At a quarter ounce, the beet is mostly there for color, adding just a whisper of earthy sweetness. Underneath, it still drinks like a proper Margarita.
Why add beet juice?
Mainly for the color. It turns the drink a striking ruby red, which makes it a showpiece, while the small measure keeps the classic flavor intact.
Can I use more beet for a deeper color?
It's better not to. Beyond a quarter ounce the drink turns muddy and vegetal. Use fresh, good-quality beet juice for a clean, bright color instead of adding more.
Can it be batched for a party?
Yes. Keep the ratio fixed and the beet measured carefully, and it scales cleanly. That precise quarter ounce is exactly what the Barsys Shaker Pro cocktail maker holds steady across a full tray.