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What to do on a sunny, 107 degree day in Phoenix? Well, Margaritas, of course! Pere was in the mood for a margarita, so when I went to gather up the ingredients and noticed I was out of cheap tequila (read Cuervo), I was hit with a bit of inspiration.

After searching my liquor cabinet, I came up with a bottle of 1800 Reposado (still fairly cheap) that had been sitting there for at least 5 years, but that's not the inspired part. What was inspiring was what came next. I'm not fond of margaritas made from pre-made sweet and sour, or other margarita mixers. When at all possible, I like to make my margaritas from fresh lime juice, tequila, and triple-sec - sometimes with a splash of Gran Marnier floated on top for good measure. I started to wonder, though, if triple-sec really made for the best margarita or not. Looking through my cabinet some more, I decided to find out. I decided a tasting was in order, pitting triple-sec against Gran Mariner and Cointreau.

The rules were simple. Each margarita would be made using the following recipe:

• 2 oz tequila
• 1 ½ oz Cointreau/Gran Marnier/Triple-sec
• 1 oz fresh lime juice

Add to a shaker with ice, shake for 30 seconds and serve.

First up was the margarita made with Cointreau. My first reaction was that it was a bit tart. You could taste the orange of the Cointreau, but it was very subtle. It lacked the sweet balance that you expect in a margarita.

The second margarita was made with Gran Marnier. It was a little sweeter than the Cointreau version, but it was still overpowered by the fresh lime juice. I decided to experiment a bit by adding more Gran Mariner. That made things better, but it required quite a bit more of the Gran Mariner (3 oz total) to really balance the drink. By that point, the taste of the tequila was completely lost.

For the final margarita, I used triple-sec. Both Pere and I agreed that this was the best margarita. It had just the right balance of sweet and tart while retaining enough of the tequila's essence.

To take things a step further, I decided to try the triple-sec version with both Gran Marnier and Cointreau floated on top. While both versions were good, the triple-sec margarita with Gran Marnier won us over in the end.