Outside Mexico the Margarita gets the attention, but inside it the Paloma is the tequila drink people actually pour. Tequila, fresh lime, and grapefruit soda over ice, in a salt-rimmed glass — long, tart, faintly bitter, and effortlessly refreshing.
Grapefruit Is the Point
Grapefruit gives the Paloma its character: a tart, lightly bitter citrus that flatters the earthy, vegetal side of tequila far better than the straight sweetness of orange.
The easy, traditional route is a good grapefruit soda, which brings the fruit, the sugar, and the fizz in one bottle. For a sharper, more grown-up version, use fresh grapefruit juice, a touch of syrup, and plain soda water.
Built, Salted, Long
There is no shaking — the Paloma is built straight in a tall glass over ice. Use a reposado tequila for a rounder drink or a blanco for a crisper one; both work.
Salt the rim before you build — it sharpens the citrus and tames the grapefruit's bitter edge, exactly as it does on a Margarita. A lime wedge finishes it.
Variations
The Paloma gone smoky — mezcal for the tequila, woodsmoke through the grapefruit.
- 2 ozMezcal
- 1/2 ozLime juice
- TopGrapefruit soda
The Paloma with a kick — fresh chilli muddled into the grapefruit and lime.
- 2 ozTequila
- 1/2 ozLime juice
- 3 slicesFresh jalapeño
Jalisco's clay-cup Paloma — tequila with orange, lime, and grapefruit, in terracotta.
- 2 ozTequila
- 1/2 ozOrange juice
- 1/2 ozGrapefruit juice