Gatorade Margaritas Are A Thing But What Exactly Is The Florida-Based Drink?

Unsurprisingly, Gatorade is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about ingredients that could be used to give margaritas a twist. The sports drink is more likely to conjure images of football players swigging it on the sidelines and coolers of it being dumped on winning coaches. However, Gatorade margaritas are a thing and they have lots of fans, particularly at the University of Florida where it's the school's signature drink.

At their most basic, Gatorade margaritas are made by mixing together Gatorade and tequila, generally blanco tequila (which one expert named the best tequila for margaritas). Some recipes stick closer to traditional margaritas by also containing Cointreau and lime juice. Of course, an easy way to alter this cocktail's flavor is by experimenting with different Gatorade products. Some people prefer to substitute Cool Blue Gatorade or Red Fruit Punch Gatorade for the classic Lemon-Lime Gatorade. You can also add different liqueurs, including Chambord, to the drink.

Part of the fun of this cocktail is its bright color. You can enhance those festive hues by coating the rim of the glass with a mixture of colored sanding sugar and kosher salt. (Incidentally, this will also help you avoid a classic margarita rim-salting mistake.)

A big reason why Gatorade margaritas are associated with Florida, and the University of Florida in particular, is because that is where Gatorade was invented. Researchers at the school created the drink after investigating how UF football players were affected by games in the Florida heat. They designed it not only to rehydrate the players, but to replace electrolytes like sodium and potassium that they lost in their sweat. Team members first used it in a 1965 game in sweltering conditions and won. Drinking Gatorade quickly became a regular part of the players' lives. 

There's not much information about where and when Gatorade margaritas themselves were first made, which is perhaps not unexpected considering that even the traditional margarita's origin story is missing some pieces. Mixing Gatorade with alcohol, including tequila, is something college students all over the country have done. That being said, these days the drink is firmly connected with UF. Given that the school's colors are blue and orange, we'd suggest making the cocktail with blue or orange Gatorade. It's probably not a good idea to be drinking a red Gatorade margarita, the color of the University of Georgia Bulldogs, at a UF tailgate.