Why it works: Lime and cranberry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 100 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Maui Margarita
Ingredients
Directions
Make the margarita
Combine the limeade, tequila and triple sec.
Squeeze the juice from the lime wedges into the mix and throw one squeezed wedge into the batch.
Serve
Moisten the rims of your glasses, then dip them into a plate of margarita salt.
Serve in the salt rimmed glass over crushed ice and with a floater of cranberry juice. Pour gently so its color doesn't blend with the rest of the margarita.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cranberry | 1 cup raw (100g) | 46 |
| Lime | juice of 1 lime (44ml) | 11 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Lime + cranberrytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together100 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Limeade
- Provides the main lime flavor and sweetness, balancing the tequila's sharpness.
- Tequila
- Supplies the base spirit and the main alcoholic strength of the drink.
- Triple sec
- Adds orange sweetness and aroma that rounds out the tequila.
- Cranberry juice
- Adds tartness and color to the floated layer on top.
The step that matters
Pour the cranberry juice gently. Cranberry juice is denser and more pigmented than the base, so pouring slowly over the back of a spoon or down the side lets it float as a distinct layer instead of mixing in. Fast pouring blends the color and ruins the layered look.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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