You would think the margarita would be simple to explain. A pour of tequila, a splash of orange liqueur, a squirt of lime juice and a salted rim.

Done. Well, not really.

Luis Morales, owner of Tacos & Tequila, explains that while there’s no disputing the cocktail’s popularity, it’s make up is a bit more complex.

The age and brand of tequila can deliver background notes from earthy to bright and fruity. Some triple secs are cloying or medicinal. Too much Grand Marnier and the brandy takes over. One can order a house mix, top shelf or ditch the lime in favor of other fruits.

We haven’t even broached the question of neat or rocks. Morales points out that the frozen margarita is his restaurant’s best seller.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect margarita,” he said. “There is a personal margarita.”

Most cocktails are subject to whims. Bartenders and restaurants are prone to experiment, to put their own touch to a drink. It’s common to find margaritas with agave nectar, orange juice, chile or sugar on the rims, a dose of soda.

Morales suggests starting off with a good blanco or reposado tequila, the latter aged for around six months in barrels for a more nuanced tone. Throwing an anejo -- which spends more time in wood -- into a cocktail amounts to “a waste of a good tequila,” he added.

Purists cringe at the thought of frozen margaritas, much less mango, strawberry or peach. Yet the traditional margarita never inspired a hit song. The frozen margarita machine, invented in 1971, is preserved by the Smithsonian. And flavored versions are popular.

Tacos & Tequila offers four varieties. Mi Casa lists three. Dos Arcos serves up six, along with a margarona.

If you must, it’s a frozen margarita supporting an upended Corona.

The nation’s number one cocktail was unknown until the 1940s. That much cocktail experts agree upon.

Attempts to pin down its origins, however, have proven elusive. One tale commonly told has Mexican restaurateur Carlos Herrera topping tequila with lime and salt to the taste of show girl Marjorie King in 1938. Another claims it was a nod to Rita Hayworth by a Tijuana bartender in the 1940s.

A story that perhaps held more sway involved Margaret Sames, a monied socialite from Dallas who claimed to have served the cocktail during a stay in Mexico to party guests in 1948. Further details from this version have a member of the Hilton family at her do, and he introduced the margarita to hotel menus.

But cocktail historian Anthony Dias Blue points out in his The Complete Book of Spirits that Jose Cuervo advertised their product with the slogan “Margarita: it’s more than a girl’s name” a few years earlier.

The author of Imbibe, David Wondrich, traced the margarita to The Daisy, an icy favorite in the 1930s and ‘40s. The Daisy could be mixed from different spirits, but the tequila version called for orange liqueur, lime and soda.

It helps his case that daisy translates as margarita in Spanish.

What is not up for debate is the cocktail’s appeal. When Tacos & Tequila updates its menu later this summer, Morales plans a line of “craft” margaritas, reaching beyond top shelf.

“I like that you get both sweet and sour,” he said. “It’s such a popular drink.”