At LA’s Newest Margarita Bar, This Frozen Cocktail Doubles as Guacamole for the Table

Each year, it seems the line between food and beverage continues to blur a little more. What started with drinks like the Cold Pizza cocktail at Double Chicken Please has evolved into even more culinary-inspired menu items (Sip & Guzzle’s Mirepoix Gibson and the Oreo Negroni at Happy Accidents are two such examples).

Even though more bars and restaurants are leaning into the savory side of cocktails, it’s rare that a drink might actually be confused for a food item. That is until Daisy — the new Los Angeles Margarita bar from the team behind the acclaimed Mírate — debuted the Guacamole Margarita, which, yes, bears a striking resemblance to the avocado-based snack. The frozen drink’s thick texture makes it wonderfully scoopable, and the cheeky tortilla chip poking out of the top feels like an invitation for dipping.

Maxwell Reis, the talent behind the beverage programs at both spots, shares that while the cocktails at Mírate are presented in a more minimalist style, meant to show off the ingredients and technique, he wanted the drinks at Daisy to bring more of a playful energy. This comes across in the menu’s “salsa bar” section, featuring items like the Baja Slaw Margarita made with purple cabbage, radish, and fish sauce; the Salsa Verde Margarita with charred tomatillos and green chiles; the Salsa Macha Infante Margarita; and the Guacamole Frozen Margarita, each representing a food item that might be found on a real taco bar menu.

“The salsa bar started when I was looking at one of my favorite cocktails at Mírate that I had a fun time R&D-ing, like our al pastor taco cocktail,” Reis says. “We were deciding which elements of Mírate we should bring over to the fun-loving concept of Daisy, and we wanted to introduce something less austere and more tongue-in-cheek.”

Though the concept is amusing, a lot of trial and error went into developing a guac-like drink with the right flavor profile and consistency. Reis says that making cocktails with avocados poses a unique set of challenges. Specifically, when the avocados get cold, the fat congeals into little pellets, which does not lead to an attractive cocktail. To avoid this, Reis uses an ultrasonic homogenizer rather than a run-of-the-mill blender to mix the avocados with methyl cellulose and xanthan gum (common ingredients in modern frozen cocktails) to completely pulverize them, ensuring the fat will never separate out and also giving the avocados a perfectly creamy texture.

Another important consideration of a proper frozen cocktail is the dilution. But instead of just adding water to the mix, Reis wanted to use this component of the drink to introduce accessory flavors often found in an Americanized version of guacamole like tomatoes, onions, and garlic. And what better to bring in those flavors than Clamato, the commercialized mix of tomato juice, clam broth, and spices? Reis clarifies the juice in a centrifuge, making what’s essentially a flavored water that he calls “clearmato.” This introduces the savory components of the drink without tampering with its bright green color.

The homogenized avocados and clearmato are combined with fresh lime, Damiana (an herb-based liqueur that Reis says was likely included in Margaritas before the advent of Cointreau), and El Tesoro Blanco tequila. The result is remarkably similar to guacamole, while still maintaining its Margarita-like character.

“The avocado doesn’t have a huge flavor, but brings more of a creamy nuttiness. The clarified Clamato adds that savory element that intrigues people. Then you get acidity from lime and a herbaceousness and minerality from the tequila, but the biggest thing is the savory umami,” Reis says. “People are surprised that it has all the flavors that they’ve anticipated.”

Though the flavors are all present and accounted for, Reis reiterates that the drink is not treated as a food item like guacamole itself would be, but rather a guacamole-themed drink. “I reorganized the flavors in order of intensity to better balance the cocktail,” he adds. “It’s not balanced to be food, it’s balanced to be a cocktail.”

It’s not surprising that the food-inspired cocktails in the salsa bar section are the most popular on Daisy’s menu. Reis says that many are intrigued by the concept of the Frozen Guacamole Margarita, often ordering one just to see what’s in store. Many are surprised by how much they like it, and, according to Reis, some groups have even asked for extra chips to dip in it.