Paloma Cocktail Recipe
Tequila with grapefruit soda and lime — Mexico's most popular tequila drink.
- Category: New Era Drinks
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 12%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Tequila50 ml (1.7 oz)
- Fresh lime juice15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Grapefruit soda120 ml (4.1 oz)
- Pinch of salt1 pinch
How to Make It
- Add salt and lime juice to a highball glass.
- Fill with ice and add tequila.
- Top with grapefruit soda.
- Stir gently and garnish.
Garnish
Grapefruit or lime wedge
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel, it is carbonated and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
The Story
A modern Mexican staple, more widely drunk there than the Margarita.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Paloma mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Paloma?
- Roughly 12% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Paloma be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Paloma hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.