The Hornitos Lau takes its name from Hornitos reposado tequila and pairs it with Licor 43, the vanilla-and-citrus Spanish liqueur, muddled mint, and lime. Difford's Guide credits it to Jaspar Eyears at a bar called Bar Tiki in Mexico City in 2005 — this site could not find that name, bar, or story corroborated anywhere else, so the attribution should be read as reported rather than verified. It's a plausible mid-2000s bar creation, but Difford's own listing is, as far as this research turned up, the only place it survives.
A floral, bittersweet, and warming riff on a Margarita.
One Source, One Story
Unlike the Tapa Punch or the Vogler Hawaiian in this same batch, the Hornitos Lau doesn't have a second source to check the story against — no trade press mention, no bar-history retrospective, nothing beyond Difford's Guide's own page. That doesn't mean the story is false; a 2005 Mexico City bar drink is exactly the kind of thing that could easily go undocumented outside one database. It just means this site can't independently vouch for the bartender, the bar, or the date.
What's not in question is the drink's logic: reposado tequila's oak-and-agave backbone plays well against Licor 43's vanilla sweetness, with mint and lime keeping the whole thing from turning into dessert.
The Spec
Muddled mint, a substantial reposado tequila pour, a nearly equal measure of Licor 43, and a small, sharp hit of lime — built to be churned over crushed ice rather than shaken and served up.
Why Licor 43, not orange liqueur
A standard margarita leans on triple sec for its sweetness; this drink swaps that out for Licor 43's vanilla-and-citrus profile, which reads warmer and more dessert-adjacent. That's the whole personality shift that separates this from a mint margarita.
Mint as backbone, not garnish
The mint is muddled into the drink itself, not just perched on top — it needs to actually flavor the tequila-and-Licor-43 base rather than just perfume the nose.
Bottom Line
A well-balanced, low-effort tequila-and-mint sipper that earns its spot regardless of how solid the paper trail behind its name turns out to be.