Cory Booker is running for president, which means he’s dealing with the intense scrutiny that comes with being in the national spotlight. The Democratic senator from New Jersey has already had an eventful couple of months as a White House hopeful, but perhaps the funniest moment in his campaign so far arrived on Thursday when the team behind BuzzFeed’s AM to DM morning show asked him if he knew how to make a margarita.
Spoiler alert: He does not. “Um, so, a margarita… There’s fruit, and there is ice, and there is, uh, vodka,” Booker guessed.
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.@CoryBooker thinks you need vodka to make a margarita 🤦🏽♂️😂 pic.twitter.com/nyYCsUACpi
— AM2DM by BuzzFeed (BZFD) News (@AM2DM) February 28, 2019
Unfortunately, ice is the only active ingredient in a margarita that Booker managed to mention. In Booker’s defense, he is a teetotaler who abstains from alcohol completely (he also follows a vegan diet and by all accounts keeps himself in tip-top shape). This is an admirable (and sometimes tricky) thing, especially considering how integral drinking and meat are to many Americans’ social lives. However, c’mon, Cory, margaritas are an incredibly popular drink with very simple and obvious ingredients, so it feels like maybe you should have been able to catch this one?
For the record, a basic margarita recipe is as follows: tequila, agave nectar, lime juice. That’s it! Salt on the rim is optional (though highly recommended). However, if Booker wants to get a bit fancier—you know, if he’s entertaining and has invited a bunch of cool people over—there are also dozens of variations on the classic combination that he could try.
For example, given that Booker assumed there’s fruit in a margarita, perhaps he’d be interested in the Berry Bell Margarita. All the presidential hopeful has to do is combine one ounce of Cointreau, two ounces of blanco tequila, two slices of red bell pepper, two raspberries and one bar spoon of raspberry preserves. He then just needs to muddle the raspberries with the bell peppers in a shaker, add the remaining ingredients with ice, shake vigorously and strain it all into a chilled cocktail glass. We can’t imagine Rosario Dawson not loving it.
