A New York City hotel bar has seized the tequila-soaked throne of world’s most expensive margarita by selling a $1,200 version of the happy hour favorite.
The “London NYC Billionaire Margarita” is being shaken up at London Bar inside Manhattan’s London Hotel, where wannabe plutocrats can buy the stunty cocktail featuring pours from a $7,500 bottle of Patron en Lalique tequila and a Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac that goes for $325 per ounce-and-a-half.
Jayson Goldstein, the Food and Beverage Director at London Bar, envisioned the cocktail as “the most luxurious margarita in the world” and is launching it in time for National Margarita Day on February 22.
“We have a lot of guests that have a passion for high-end spirits and are always asking what’s new that we have for them to try,” Goldstein tells Maxim. “We are certainly expecting to sell out of it. We have a very limited supply of Patrón en Lalique Serie 1, as only 500 bottles were created, so when it’s gone, it’s gone.”
But while the $1,200 margarita may indeed be the world’s most expensive, that bizarre distinction was held by another Manhattan swillery just a few years ago, at the exact same price point.
The 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar used to make a $1,200 frozen margarita billed as the world’s priciest, but stopped serving it in 2014 because it was too much of a hassle to stock luxe ingredients like $1,800 bottles of 1800 Coleccion Extra Anejo Tequila 2010 Limited Release and ice made from $450 bottles of Lois Roederer Cristal Champagne.
“We sold six or seven of them,” 230 Fifth Director Sal Rosenberg recalls. “But it was difficult because we needed to have the inventory on hand.”
“It wasn’t always practical—freezing Cristal ice cubes isn’t easy. We also had a $2,300 hot dog that we sold as well, which was pretty popular.”
Alas, that Wagyu beef and black truffle hot dog (also the world’s most expensive) has also since been yanked off the menu, but it seems like exactly the kind of thing you’d eat with the world’s most expensive margarita.
Should you ever have the rarefied ingredients handy, here’s how to make the latest version served at London Bar.
The London NYC Billionaire Margarita:
· 1.5 oz Patrón en Lalique Serie 1
· 1 oz Rémy Martin Louis XIII
· .5 oz Organic Blue Agave Nectar
· .5 oz Fresh Organic Key Lime Juice
· .5 oz Fresh Organic Meyer Lemon Juice
· 10 Dashes House-Made Cara Cara Sour Bitters
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe and garnish with a fresh lime wedge.