Paloma

This week’s cocktail is brought to you by the life of the party: tequila. I chose to make a Paloma because I already had tequila on hand, and the rest of the ingredients were easy (and cheap) to obtain – no specialty bitters or liqueurs required. Several of the recipes I read described the Paloma as an alternative to a margarita, but the two drinks are actually quite different. In a margarita, the lime and the tequila flavors are equally strong, but in a Paloma, the grapefruit takes a backseat and serves to showcase the flavor of the tequila. Supposedly, Palomas are more popular in Mexico than margaritas – and all this time we’ve been doing Cinco de Mayo wrong!

The recipe I used is from Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen and calls for fresh grapefruit juice and club soda, but you could also use grapefruit soda like Squirt or Jarritos:

Kosher salt
¼ cup 100% agave reposado tequila (I used Sauza Blue)
¼ c fresh grapefruit juice
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. sugar
¼ c club soda
Grapefruit wedges, for garnish

Pour some kosher salt on a plate. Dip the rim of a glass in grapefruit juice or water and then into the salt. (Lots of recipes called for a Collins glass, but I just used cheap wine glasses.) Combine tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and sugar in a shaker and shake enthusiastically (but remember last week’s lesson). Strain into the salt-rimmed glass and top with club soda. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge. Look how pretty!

Anyone who likes tequila will enjoy how smoothly it goes down in a Paloma — and if you love grapefruit, you’ll enjoy eating all the leftovers, or stealing everyone’s garnishes when they’re not looking. Enjoy!