Your heard it right….a 44 oz Margarita!!  Zowie!   If you’re going to have a couple of drinks, a couple of margaritas, it makes financial sense to order one of the Double Eagle Grandes!  Plus, to comply with New Mexico Liquor Laws, the concoction is actually equal to two cocktails alcohol-wise. 

Win Ritter, Assistant General Manager and Beverage Guru, felt the call to a giant margarita several months ago.  “I wanted to give our Margarita Menu some pizzazz, some omph, some weight.  So, that got me to thinking about big, big glasses.  I had seen them on the east and west coasts and there are rumors a couple of places in El Paso has them.  But, this will be a first for Las Cruces!!”  Win said.   And his search for the perfect vessel, the perfect prsentations….the perfect glass began!  Catalogs, the internet, contacts in the industry were all checked for just the right glass.   “It took a long time to track down the right glass but I didn’t get discouraged.  I knew it was out there.” said Win.  And finally, in a warehouse in Albuquerque, there it was.  Win knew this was the perfect glass and made the buy!

Of course, there was the experimentation phase.  Testing the recipes for such a large drink….for quality control purposes, of course!!  Hard work but someone had to do it.

So, now Win had the glass and had the recipe, now the training phase began.  Teaching the bartenders who to make a giant drink.  It went surprisingly smoothly and the bartenders picked up on the combinations very quickly.

That meant picking a date to introduce the drink.  Labor Day was approaching so the choice seemed obvious. 

Friday, September 3 was chosen for the auspicious date.   The giant glasses were brought to the bar and immediately caused comments and interest.  One lady said,”Whatever you are serving in that, I want one!”   Our first order!! It was so easy!!  With excitment, we crowded the bar and the bartender began the process.  Matt quickly produced a wonderful looking mixture in the giant glass and presented it with pride to the lady.  She squealed with delight and seemed excited herself!!  She picked up the glass and sipped.  She smiled and said,”Wonderful!”   She went to place the glass back on the bar, dropped it, it bounced, the 43 oz of Margarita sloshed over the rim, the glass tipped and rolled, bounced on the beer cooler, then flew in a lovely arc to the concrete floor where it shattered into several thousand pieces.  Talk about letting the air out of the balloon. 

Of course, we smiled through gritted teeth.  The lady was very apologetic.  We spoke through gritted teeth – “No problem.  No problem.  No frickin problem.”   OK we said the last one to ourselves.

After that first encounter, though, things went much smoother and no one else has shattered a glass yet….come on in and try one. Two is the limit!

Enjoy

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