Salt, Citrus, Glassware: The Small Details of a Great Margarita

Salt: use a flaky salt, not fine table salt, and only rim half the glass. It gives the drinker a choice of salt or no salt on every sip rather than forcing it.

Citrus: fresh lime juice only, squeezed the same day. Bottled lime juice loses its brightness within hours and it shows in the glass.

Glassware and ice: a coupe or rocks glass both work; what matters more is shaking hard enough to properly chill and slightly dilute the drink before straining, or building it over fresh, hard ice if serving on the rocks.