The Simple Yet Tangy Ingredients In A Classic Mexican Paloma Cocktail
A fresh Paloma just may be the best cocktail you could drink on a warm day. The tequila-based refresher is the perfect blend of subtle sweetness, zingy tartness, and just enough of an alcohol punch to let you know you're enjoying a grown-up beverage. Whereas a margarita can be overly sweet and flashy with mini bottles of beer sticking out of the top or served in glasses the size of fishbowls, Palomas are a cool, simple, and sophisticated option for someone who just wants a good Mexican drink. Thankfully, making it is also pretty uncomplicated.
They don't involve many ingredients or anything that is hard to find at any given time of the year. Most recipes for a homemade Paloma will include tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, a sweetener, and club soda for topping. All this makes for a clean, tasty cocktail that's put together in seconds. What many people are surprised to find out is that a traditional Paloma is even more simple than this. In fact, a classic Paloma comes together with just tequila and grapefruit soda.
When tequila meets soda pop
To make the kind of Paloma you'd likely receive south of the border, simply mix together tequila and a grapefruit soda, like Squirt. Serve it over ice and you're done. The soda gives you everything you'd get in a homemade version — the grapefruit flavor, the tang you'd get from lime juice, the sugar, and the effervescence that would otherwise come from club soda. If you can't find Squirt soda, Jarritos, IZZE, and several other beverage companies make grapefruit-flavored soda pop.
These Palomas are perfect for a party since they come together so quickly. In fact, setting out bottles of tequila and grapefruit soda and letting guests create their own really isn't a big chore to ask. You could always jazz things up a little with salted rims and lime circles on the glasses but it's totally unnecessary. We'll take these over having to create something like a Ramos Gin Fizz any day. Keep these Paloma ingredients on hand all year long and you'll never be wanting for a fast, delicious cocktail.