Many of our friends are well-acquainted with our passion for margaritas. We’ve been both celebrated and reviled for our parties that feature margaritas by the bucket.
The recipe is a near-match to the famous Rio Grande margaritas. The Rio Grande Restaurant started as a hole-in-the-wall in my hometown of Ft. Collins, Colorado. From there it spread to Boulder, Denver, Steamboat Springs, a much bigger restaurant in Ft. Collins, and now apparently, Austin, Texas.
The Rio margarita uses a particular lime juice, which is manufactured in Denver. The exact juice they use (Beich’s) is actually a proprietary product not available to the public – or so I’m told.
HOWEVER, an enterprising group called Royal Products uses the same manufacturer to produce Duffy’s Lime Juice – a very similar juice (a little greener, basically). So, since it’s available to the public, that’s what we use. The results are splendid.
Unfortunately for most people in the world, it ain’t all that easy to find. We know of two liquor stores that carry it regularly – Liquor Mart in Boulder, and Applejack Liquor in Lakewood (Denver). For those of us on the Western Slope, it’s been tough to find.
Until today. I spoke with the distributor of Duffy’s, one Innermountain Distributing out of New Castle. I’m told I can go into my local liquor store here in Paonia and arrange a special order of the stuff. I haven’t verified that yet with the local folks, but you can bet I will. For anyone else on this side of the hill looking for Duffy’s, you should also be able to do the same since Innermountain serves a huge portion of the Western Slope.
For those of you not fortunate enough to live in Colorado, let me know if you’d like me to start my own interstate shipping business. 
Tags: duffy's lime juice, margaritas, rio grande
September 9th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Yummy. Thanks for the tip (or sip) on this very important matter of margaritas.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Of course you must bring some on your next trip to California, I’ll put my order in now!
In the spirit of sharing here is another variation in the Margarita family. This is a two to a customer concoction and requires a fully stocked bar but worth the effort. This is known as the ‘award winning Margarita’ from a bar on SLO CA known as GiGi’s.
Assuming you have a pour spout the measures are in counts (like 1 Mississippi)
(3) 100% Agave Tequilla
(2) Grand Marnie
1/2 fresh lime – maybe this secret lime juice will bump it up a notch
(2) sweet & sour
pour over ice and shake the sh*t out of it
salt the rim (outside of rim only)
strain and pour over ice
(1/2) Chambord poured over Cherry
Garnish with lime
Straw
note: double the sweet and sour to cut down on the octane level.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Thanks for the recipe Scott. I still have the printout from Gigi’s “Top Shelf Margarita,” which you kindly provided as well.
Real lime juice – from a lime – is quite dissimilar to what the Rio uses in their margs. Duffy’s lime juice is an abomination and does not occur in nature. I believe the original formulators chose this lime juice because 1) it’s cheap, and 2) its tartness helps to mask the bite of the Cuervo and balance the sweetness of the tiple-sec. In that order.
I’ve had great margaritas from all kinds of recipes. Traditionalists and purists will probably want to stick to real lime juice. We like these Rio Grande margaritas because of all the fun we had drinking them and trying to reverse-engineer them.
January 10th, 2009 at 7:59 am
I too have been one in search of the Rio recipe as an x-Pat of Coloardo. I am a long-time friend of the Rio and visit it everytime I am back, even been to the one in Austin.
I am living in AZ now and would love to get my hands on some Duffy’s. Have you started your distribution business yet?
January 10th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Mark G – You’re the first to inquire! I doubt I’ll ever turn this into a business for a wide array of reasons (not the least of which are legal questions), but I may be able to do a favor for a fellow marg-lover. I’ll contact you by email to follow up.
July 29th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Hi All,
I too am a long time Rio margarita fanatic and had the good fortune to go to the original Rio the third day it was open (on College in ’87 or ’88?). Anyway, I like Mike, spent a lot of time on reverse engineering their margs. The closest I have come, and it is CLOSE is the following:
Equal parts-
Cuervo Gold Tequila
Island House Lime Juice
Juarez Triple Sec
Island House Lime Juice is available at most Colorado liquor stores and I believe it is manufactuered by Beichs (don’t have a bottle here right now to check).
Try it – they are very, very CLOSE.
Stay thirsty my friends.
July 29th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Thanks, Cory. We’ll definitely look into Island House lime juice!
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 pm
If Duffy’s is the closest approximation of the lime juice that Rio Grand
uses, you can find it at Unionjack liquor here in Louisville.
November 25th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Cory is close but the “Real” secret in the apple juice.
When you mix this margarita it should be a golden clear liquid not cloudy.
Equal parts-
Cuervo Gold Tequila
Island House Lime Juice
Juarez Triple Sec
Any 100% apple jucie (golden)
This is the closest you can get to the “real” Rio’s Margs., without the owner’s telling you. They and a hand full of people are the only one’s that mix up the “money” in 5 gallon buckets daily and/or weekliy.
Try this recipe you will not be disappointed.
January 4th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
My brother-in-law, who lives in Boulder, has worked to reverse engineer the Rio margarita for years. He’s done scientific taste tests with different levels of different ingredients and has come up essentially the same recipe as above, but in slightly different proportions and the addition of water:
1 part Cuervo Gold Tequila
1 part water
1 part Juarez Triple Sec
1 part Island House lime juice
1/4 part apple juice
It’s a very yellow margarita, which might throw some people off, but it’s tart and delicious. I only regret that I can’t find Island House here in San Antonio. Need to search for local substitutes – you’d think I would be able to find them here!
August 2nd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
I’ve been packing a copy of the Rio Marg recipe for about 15 years now, gotten second-hand from a former cook at the Rio Grande, rather than being reverse-engineered. It’s quite specific about the ingredients.
RIO GRANDE 3-DRINK-MAX MARGARITA
——————————–
1 part Cuervo Gold
1 part Suaza Commemorativo
1 part Triple Sec
1 part Beich’s lime juice
1½ to 2 parts apple juice
DO NOT SUBSTITUTE!
1. Mix everything.
2. Pour over crushed ice in salt-rimmed glasses.
3. Don DOT-approved helmet, and enjoy.
==================
I’ve never been able to find Beich’s lime juice (found this blog entry in a search for it), but I’ve always substituted half Rose’s and half fresh lime juice. It’s not quite the same.
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Arex, it is a widely known fact since the beginning of the Rio days in Ft. Fun that they use Cuervo Gold and there is even stuff out there on the net now of how the Rio is one of the largest buyers of CG. I am not buying the Sauza Commemorativo part, but otherwise your recipe looks like the others (assuming 2 parts CG instead of the SC).
I just ordered some Duffy’s. I’m curious the difference between Duffy’s and Island House and will try them out.
November 4th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Julia,
Interested in your taste test of the lime juices. I agree, I believe it is all Cuervo.
June 19th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Where in the Denver metro area can one find Island House? I’ve called Davidsons, Applejack and Tipsys, as well as some smaller stores and no one has heard of it!
January 26th, 2012 at 10:07 pm
The lime juice is the key. Columbine Beverage in Denver is the firm that makes the blend for the Rio. And the others are correct it used to be Beich’s. There is another supplier that is very close, Haystack from Louisville. Anyway one 1.75 L bottle of Cuervo Gold, 1 Liter of Juarez Tripple Sec, 1/2 gallon of the lime juice, this is very close to 2 L of the lime Juice. I have found that adding 20 ml of Apple Juice to the Lime juice gets very close to the special blend the Rio uses.