Margarita
50 ml Tequila blanco, 20 ml Triple sec, 25 ml Lime juice, 1 pinch Salt, 1 Lime wedge
Photo: TequilaPaloma · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 300 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 300 ml line. Tequila blanco
- 360 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 360 ml line. Grapefruit juice - Pink is sweeter, white is sharper
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Lime juice
- 60 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) of a standard jigger, plus two teaspoons. Simple syrup - Leave it out if your grapefruit is sweet
- 360 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 360 ml line. Soda water
- 6 pinches Salt - For a salted rim, if you like (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Build over ice with the juices, top with soda, and stir once.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 1.17 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- If you want a salted rim, rub the rim of the glass with a lime wedge and dip it in salt.
- Fill the glass with ice, then pour in the tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice and syrup.
- Top with soda water and stir once, gently.
- Add a wedge of grapefruit on the rim.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Paloma
In Mexico this is probably drunk more often than the Margarita, which will surprise anybody who has only met it in a bar in another country - it is the everyday drink of a hot afternoon, made with grapefruit soda from a corner shop and drunk in the shade. The name means dove, and nobody is entirely sure why.
Getting it right
Grapefruit soda - Squirt, Jarritos, or whatever you can find - makes the most authentic version, and a grapefruit juice and soda mix is the more grown-up one. If you go the juice route, taste before you sweeten: a good pink grapefruit needs no syrup at all, and the drink is better slightly bitter. The salt rim is traditional but genuinely optional; if you are sceptical, leave it off and salt just one side.
Tasting notes
Dry, bitter and grapefruity, with the agave coming through the middle and the soda lifting it all up. The most refreshing long drink in the book, and the one to make when the sun is finally out.
More Tequila blanco cocktails
Tequila Sunrise
45 ml Tequila blanco, 90 ml Orange juice, 15 ml Grenadine, 1 Orange slice, 1 Maraschino cherry
Tommy's Margarita
60 ml Tequila blanco, 30 ml Lime juice, 15 ml Agave syrup, 1 pinch Salt, 1 wheel Lime