Tequila cocktails
Here are recipes for some terrific Tequila cocktails, so you can learn how to make the classics, and some new hits.
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Tequila has character – that’s part of what makes it such a wonderful ingredient in cocktails. It holds its own alongside punchy flavours, with the creamy agave and herbaceous notes offsetting all sorts of citrus, as well as herbs, and chilli pepper heat. Its distinctive flavour profile is also what makes Tequila such a good substitute as a base spirit in classic cocktails: Old Fashioneds, Manhattans, Martinis, Bloody Marys, Negronis. You name it, and someone’s probably done a version with Tequila.
When it comes to mixing up Tequila cocktails, a blanco Tequila should cover you for most recipes, although it never hurts to have a reposado to hand. Just make sure it’s good quality Tequila, and you’re halfway there.
Tequila Sunrise Recipe
A retro classic that’s having a bit of a revival, the Tequila Sunrise is a tale of two cocktails. There’s the original recipe created around the 1930s in Tijuana, which uses lime juice and crème de cassis. Then there’s the recipe using Tequila and orange juice, with grenadine sunk to the bottom giving the cocktail its classic theatrical hue. Created by Bobby Lozoff at the Trident bar in California, and which shot to popularity in the 1970s thanks in part to the Rolling Stones. Here’s a recipe for a Tequila Sunrise that’s closer to the original.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
45ml Blanco Tequila
20ml Fresh lime juice
20ml Crème de cassis
150ml Soda water
Garnish: lime wheel
Method:
Combine all the ingredients apart from the soda water in a highball glass. Fill the glass with ice and gently top with soda water. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Classic Margarita Recipe
There are multiple Margarita origin stories, but however the drink came about, the combination of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice has landed it firmly in the cocktail hall of fame. Straight up, on the rocks, or frozen, the Margarita lends itself to endless riffs. It’s hard to go wrong with this easy cocktail – just make sure your Tequila is good and your lime juice is fresh!
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
25ml Fresh lime juice
25ml Triple sec (we like Cointreau)
Garnish: flaky sea salt, lime slice
Method:
For a Margarita on the rocks, shake all the ingredients together with ice and strain into a salt-rimmed, ice-filled tumbler. Garnish with a slice of lime.
Tommy's Margarita Recipe
Created by Julio Bermejo at Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, the Tommy’s Margarita has become a modern classic. Similar to a standard Margarita, it drops the triple sec with the aim being for the Tequila to shine through, making it a hit with Tequila purists.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
60ml Blanco Tequila (Olmeca Altos Plata is a good shout)
30ml Lime juice
15ml Agave syrup (1:1 mixture of agave syrup:water)
Garnish: flaky sea salt and a lime wheel (optional)
Method:
Shake the ingredients together with ice and strain into an ice-filled, salt rimmed tumbler. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Paloma Recipe
Grapefruit and Tequila are the stars of the show in the Paloma, which is fast catching up to the Margarita as the go-to Tequila cocktail. There’s a sliding scale of complexity and faff with a Paloma. At its most simple, it’s Tequila topped with grapefruit soda – and you can forget about exact measurements. Variations with lime juice, grapefruit juice, and sparkling water have sprung up, but here we’re going for a middleground and skipping the extra effort of juicing grapefruit.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
60ml Blanco Tequila
25ml Fresh lime juice
A pinch of salt
Grapefruit soda (we used Two Keys)
Garnish: lime wheel
Method:
In a highball glass, stir the Tequila, lime, salt, and a handful of ice. Add more ice and top with grapefruit soda. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Ranch Water Recipe
A lot more delicious than it first sounds, Ranch Water is a refreshing and simple cocktail made with only three ingredients: blanco Tequila, lime juice, and sparkling water. Big in Texas where it originated, this highball-style drink isn’t pinned down by rigorous measurements. Here’s a recipe as a starting point, but it’s very much an adjust-to-taste affair, so make sure to make it your own.
Prep time: 3 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
60ml Blanco Tequila
15ml Fresh lime juice
Sparkling water (Topo-Chico if you're sticking to the Ranch Water roots)
Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice and garnish with a lime. Top up with sparkling water as you go to keep the drink going for longer.
Picante de la Casa (Soho House Tonic) Recipe
Created at the trendy Soho House LA by Chris Ojeda, the Picante has been a star on drinks menus at its members’ clubs across the world. As the name suggests, it’s got a fiery kick, with a surprise twist coming from aromatic coriander.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
1 Slice of red chilli pepper (more or less depending how spicy you like it)
1 Sprig of coriander (about 10 leaves)
50ml Reposado Tequila
20ml Agave nectar
25ml Lime juice
Garnish: chilli slice
Method:
In a shaker, gently muddle the chilli pepper and coriander. Add the rest of the ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled tumbler and garnish with a slice of chilli.
Toreador Recipe
Before the Margarita there was the Toreador. That’s right. This apricot brandy liqueur-based Tequila cocktail is often called a twist on a Margarita, but the Toreador actually arrived on the scene over a decade before any written mention of its salt-rimmed cousin. Shocking. The recipe for a Toreador appeared in William J. Tarling’s 1937 Cafe Royale Cocktail Book, and what caused the Toreador to be sidelined while the Margarita hogged the limelight we’ll never know. But do yourself a favour while righting a historic wrong and shake up one of these.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
50ml Blanco Tequila (like this one from Cascahuín)
25ml Fresh lemon or lime juice
Method:
Shake everything together with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Siesta Recipe
Created by New York-based mixologist Katie Stipe at the Flatiron Lounge in 2006, the Siesta cocktail sets Tequila against a background of balanced, bittersweet components.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
50ml Blanco Tequila (try this one from Cazcabel)
25ml Lime juice
25ml Simple syrup
15ml Grapefruit juice
10ml Campari
Garnish: lime wheel
Method:
Shake everything together with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Sangrita Recipe
Why do we do the whole salt-lime thing when there’s been the Sangrita all along? You might find yourself asking this question if you give this classic Mexican chaser a try. When you’re next sipping Tequila, grab another glass and pour yourself a shot of this savoury, sweet, spicy goodness that means ‘little blood’ in Spanish. Although you can shot it, alternating little sips of quality Tequila with Sangrita is a smart move. Recipes vary, but here’s a template to tweak at your leisure.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 20
Ingredients:
750ml Tomato juice
250ml Orange juice
250ml Lime juice
80ml Grenadine
15ml Worcestershire sauce
15ml Hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Make this ahead by combining everything together and chilling in the refrigerator until needed. Adjust all the seasonings to taste and dial up the hot sauce if you like it spicy.
Verdita Recipe
The fresh, hulk-green sequel to the Sangrita. If you weren’t sipping this alongside Tequila, it reads something almost like a healthy juice, with tropical sweetness from the pineapple, alongside fiery jalapeño, and a whole lot of coriander and mint. But it is simply wonderful enjoyed side by side with quality Tequila or mezcal.
Prep time: 5 min
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
1 Slice of red chilli pepper (more or less depending how spicy you like it)
750ml Pineapple juice
30g Mint leaves
30g Coriander
1 Jalapeño (or to taste)
Pinch of salt
Method:
Blend all the ingredients and fine strain into a suitable container. Refrigerate until needed.
Your Tequila cocktail toolkit
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