A non-alcoholic margarita that keeps the lime, the agave, and the orange.

A margarita is lime, agave, orange, salt, and bite. Keep those and the tequila becomes optional. Here is how the options compare, how to judge one, and how to serve it. Then the one Casamara Club makes: Superclasico Margarita, coming soon in 8oz cans.

What makes a margarita a margarita

Lime, agave, orange, and salt, with something sharp holding it together.

The classic build is tequila, fresh lime juice, orange liqueur (triple sec, Cointreau, or curacao), often a spoon of agave syrup, and salt on the rim. Each part has a job. Lime brings the acid. Agave brings sweetness and body. Orange liqueur brings aromatic sweetness and a little bitterness from the peel. Salt sharpens the citrus and cuts the sugar. Tequila brings a peppery, vegetal bite and weight in the glass.

A margarita alternative has to carry the bite and the orange aromatics on its own. Skip that and you get sweet limeade with a salt rim, which is the drink most people searching this phrase are trying to get away from.

Your options, compared

Five ways to put a margarita on the table with the tequila optional. They trade effort for consistency.

Approach	What it is	Effort	Consistency	Sugar control	Best for
Non-alcoholic agave spirit + your own mix	A tequila stand-in with fresh lime, agave syrup, and orange (juice or a non-alcoholic liqueur)	High	Depends on the spirit	You set it	The cocktail ritual, one drink at a time
Ready-to-drink non-alcoholic margarita	A finished drink in a can or bottle; open and pour	None	High	On the label	Hosting, the fridge, the cooler
Margarita mix + soda water	Shelf-stable mix lengthened with sparkling water	Low	High	Usually very sweet, little control	Volume on a budget
From scratch, no spirit	Lime, agave, orange juice or bitters, soda, salt	Medium	Varies with your limes	You set it	When you have limes and ten minutes
Adjacent drinks	Ranch water (lime and mineral water), a paloma-style grapefruit soda, a lime-forward botanical soda	None to low	High	Varies	Same table, different drink

How to judge one

Read the ingredient list before the front of the can.

Real lime, as juice or peel, and not flavor alone.
The sweetener. Agave or cane sugar does structural work in this drink. Stevia, sucralose, and sugar alcohols read thin and leave an aftertaste, and a sour drink shows it most.
Something for the bite: orange peel, gentian, bitters, salt, or chili. Without one the drink falls flat.
Sugar and calories per serve, on the panel. A bar margarita is not a light drink. A good version built without spirits should land between a soda and the cocktail.
Sparkling or still. The classic is still. Most cans are sparkling, and the bubbles do some of the work the alcohol used to.
Serving size and price per serve.
Whether it takes tequila well, so one base serves the whole table.

How to serve it

Cold. Everything else is optional.

Over ice in a rocks glass, or straight from the can. Salt the rim (run a lime wedge around it, then dip in flaky salt) or salt half of it. Lime wheel. For a crowd, a pitcher, with the ice added at the end. Add tequila for whoever wants it; the same base serves both.

Superclasico Margarita label graphic: Superior Non-Alcoholic, 8 fl oz, coming soon

Superclasico Margarita, from Casamara Club

Our non-alcoholic margarita is Superclasico Margarita: a non-alcoholic cocktail built on blue agave and dry curacao, in 8oz cans, coming soon.

A non-alcoholic margarita that is no imitation. A celebration of dry curacao and blue agave: lime peel and Seville orange up front, Valencia orange and apricot through the middle, gentian and Ceylon cinnamon on the finish.

Against the checklist above: lime juice and lime peel are both in it. The sweetener is blue agave syrup, real sugar, no stevia. The bite comes from gentian and Seville orange. It is sparkling; sparkling water is the first ingredient. 40 calories per 8oz can. It mixes; we think it goes particularly well with blanco tequila. It's not just like a real margarita. It's better.

Ingredients: Sparkling Water, Lime Juice, Blue Agave Syrup, with Extracts of Blue Agave, Lime Peel, Gentian, Valencia Orange, Seville Orange, Apricot, Peppermint, Orange Blossom, and Ceylon Cinnamon.

Coming soon. Sold online in 12-can packs and up. Tap Notify Me on the product page and we'll let you know when it's available.

Just over the Rio Grande. Doors propped open, neon buzzing.

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Questions worth asking

Is a non-alcoholic margarita just limeade?

Not if it carries orange aromatics, agave, and some bitterness. Ours runs lime peel and Seville orange up front and gentian on the finish, with blue agave doing the sweetening.

Does Superclasico Margarita have sugar?

Yes. Blue agave syrup: real sugar, no stevia. 40 calories per 8oz can. The full panel is on the product page.

Can I add tequila to it?

Yes. Start with tequila and ice, then pour the Margarita down the wall of the glass. Salt the rim if you go that way, and garnish with a lime wheel. Blanco is our pick.

What is the difference between a virgin margarita and a non-alcoholic margarita?

Same idea. "Virgin" usually means built from scratch with no spirit. "Non-alcoholic" usually means a packaged drink, made to be complete as poured.

Is it sparkling?

Yes. Sparkling water is the first ingredient.

When can I buy it?

It's coming soon. Tap Notify Me on the product page and we'll let you know when it's available.