Tequila isn’t just for Margaritas: 10 cocktails worth mixing at home
Content 18+. Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health.
Updated
I’ll be honest: I feel more sorry for tequila than any other bottle behind the bar. It has the worst reputation of all — 'salt, lick, drink, lemon, grimace.' That’s how in the 2000s we drank cheap mixtures where agave was just over half, and the rest was sugar spirit and caramel; it really couldn’t be drunk without salt. But if the label says '100% agave,' you have a different drink in front of you: herbal, peppery, with a light sweetness of roasted agave. Such tequila isn’t chased with a chaser — it’s mixed, and it holds up beautifully.
Two words you need to know are blanco and reposado. Blanco (also known as silver) is unaged, clear, and the most honest: you can only hear the agave and pepper in it, and it’s perfect for anything with citrus and soda. Reposado 'rests' in oak for two months to a year and becomes smoother, with notes of vanilla and caramel — it works well with vermouth, liqueurs, and bitters. There’s also añejo, but for a home bar, two bottles are more than enough.
The starting point for everyone is the Margarita. I’m intentionally leaving it out of the selection: you already know it, and below is its 'proper' version from San Francisco, which is better than the original. The other nine are what people actually drink in Mexico and Texas, and what bartenders order from each other after their shifts. I take the recipes and proportions from the catalog 24cocktails.com exactly as they are written there. We’re moving from three ingredients to serious bar stuff.
1. Paloma (Paloma)
Ask a Mexican what they drink at home, and they’ll say not 'Margarita,' but 'Paloma': it’s considered the most popular cocktail in the country. Tequila, grapefruit soda, ice — that’s it, forty seconds from bottle to first sip. The slightly bitter grapefruit pairs perfectly with the peppery blanco, and the bubbles do their job. The strength is about 11%, a drink for the heat and a long evening. On the site, the soda is listed as 'grape soda' — don’t be alarmed, it’s specifically grapefruit soda, usually Squirt or Jarritos in Mexico.
Ingredients
- Grape soda (grapefruit soda) — 90 ml
- Tequila — 45 ml
How to make
- Fill a Collins glass with ice.
- Pour in the tequila.
- Top up with grapefruit soda.
- Stir gently.
- Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Tip: if you can't find grapefruit soda — mix fresh grapefruit juice with regular sparkling water half and half, it’ll be even more honest. And a pinch of salt on the ice before the tequila: it doesn’t make the drink salty, but it pulls out all the bitter sweetness from the grapefruit. That’s how they serve it in Guadalajara, and it’s not just for show.
2. Ranch Water
A drink from West Texas, invented by folks who were hot and lazy. The classic formula is tequila, lime, and icy Topo Chico mineral water, a Mexican water with some seriously mean bubbles; on the ranch, they drank it straight from the bottle, pouring a bit out and topping it off with tequila. The catalog version is a bit richer — with a splash of Cointreau and agave — but in spirit, it’s still the same ‘Texas gin and tonic’. The strength is laughable, around 9%, and it goes down like lemonade.
Ingredients
- Tequila Blanco (100% agave) — 45 ml
- Fresh lime juice — 30 ml
- Cointreau triple sec liqueur — 15 ml
- Agave syrup — 15 ml
- Sparkling mineral water Topo Chico — 90 ml
How to prepare
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Add tequila, lime juice, Cointreau, and agave syrup.
- Stir and top with mineral water.
Tip: the essence of Ranch Water is in the bubbles, so the water should be as fizzy and cold as possible. Topo Chico is a rarity for us, so look for any strongly carbonated mineral water with a neutral taste. Want it just like in Texas — skip the Cointreau and agave, just keep the tequila, lime, and water.
3. Batanga (Batanga)
Tequila and cola sounds like a college prank, but this drink has a name, a date, and an author. In 1961, Don Javier Delgado Corona, the owner of La Capilla bar in the town of Tequila, poured tequila, lime, and cola into a glass with a salted rim for a guest — thus, Batanga was born. The main twist is that Don Javier stirred it not with a spoon, but with the same knife he used to cut the lime. The bar is still open, and they make the cocktail exactly the same way. Simple, honest, about 12% ABV.
Ingredients
- Salt — a pinch
- Freshly squeezed lime juice — 12.5 ml
- Patrón Silver blanco tequila — 60 ml
- Cola (like Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola) — 105 ml
How to make it
- In the bottom of the glass, mix the salt with the lime juice until the salt dissolves.
- Add ice and the remaining ingredients.
- Stir briefly.
Tip: The salt here isn’t for the rim, but for inside — it dissolves in the lime and acts as a flavor enhancer, cutting the sweetness of the cola. Don’t overdo it: a pinch, not a spoonful. And stir with a knife if you really want to: it doesn’t change the taste, but your guests will remember it.
4. Tequila Sunrise
The prettiest cocktail in the collection and the most 'disco'. It's said that the current version — with orange juice and grenadine — was born in San Francisco in the early 1970s, and it spread around the world thanks to the Rolling Stones tour: the musicians tried it, fell in love, and ordered it in every city. The taste is simple, almost childlike — orange and pomegranate sweetness — but the gradient from red at the bottom to orange at the top does half the work. About 12%, a party cocktail where you need to quickly pour something pretty.
Ingredients
- Tequila — 2 measures (about 60 ml)
- Orange juice — top up to the brim
- Grenadine — a little, for the layer
How to make
- Fill the highball with ice.
- Pour in the tequila.
- Add the orange juice.
- Carefully pour in the grenadine syrup so it sinks to the bottom.
- Gently stir, literally just one movement, to create the rising effect.
- Garnish with a slice of orange and a cherry.
- Serve.
Tip: Pour the grenadine using a bar spoon or down the side — it's heavier than the juice and will sink on its own. The main mistake is to stir 'properly': you'll end up with a uniform pink mush. One movement of the spoon from bottom to top, and that's enough. Freshly squeezed juice is better; packaged juice makes the drink flat.
5. Cantaritos
‘Cantarito’ in Spanish means ‘little pitcher’: in the state of Jalisco, this cocktail is served in clay pots that are soaked in water before serving — the clay evaporates moisture and cools the drink itself. Inside, there’s tequila and three citrus fruits: orange, grapefruit, and lime, plus grapefruit soda and salt. It’s a Paloma that went to the market and came back with full bags. About 10% alcohol, lots of liquid, and plenty of vitamins — a drink for a hot day in the yard.
Ingredients
- Patrón Reposado Tequila — 60 ml
- Freshly squeezed orange juice — 45 ml
- Grapefruit juice (pink) — 22.5 ml
- Lime juice (freshly squeezed) — 15 ml
- Salt — a pinch
- Thomas Henry Pink Grapefruit soda — 60 ml
How to prepare
- If you're using a clay pot, soak it in cold water beforehand.
- Fill the pot or Collins glass with ice and pour in all the ingredients.
- Stir. It's easier to serve with a straw.
Tip: the clay pot isn't mandatory, a Collins will do just fine. But the juices should be fresh, all three: in a drink where there's only 60 ml of tequila in a large glass, the juices are the flavor. Squeeze them right before serving: after an hour, orange juice oxidizes and starts to taste bitter.
6. Mexican Mule
Everyone knows the Moscow Mule with vodka, but the switch to tequila should have happened a long time ago. The ginger beer burns, the reposado responds with soft caramel, the lime ties it all together — and it becomes clear why copper mugs are even needed. The Mule is one of the most forgiving long drinks for home: nothing needs to be shaken or strained, it's hard to mess it up. It's the one I most often recommend to people who say they 'don't drink tequila.'
Ingredients
- Patrón Reposado Tequila — 60 ml
- Lime juice (freshly squeezed) — 15 ml
- Simple syrup — 10 ml
- Thomas Henry Ginger Beer — 90 ml
How to make it
- Pour the tequila, lime juice, and syrup into a mug or glass and stir.
- Fill the glass with ice up to two-thirds.
- Top it off with ginger beer and fill the glass to the brim with crushed ice.
Tip: Ginger beer and ginger ale are different things. Ale is a sweet soda with a hint of ginger, while beer is spicy, with real root. For a mule, you need beer; otherwise, you'll end up with a sweet compote. And don't skimp on the ice: warm ginger is nobody's favorite.
7. Tommy's Margarita
This is the ‘right Margarita’. In the 1990s, Julio Bermejo from the family restaurant Tommy's in San Francisco tossed the orange liqueur from the recipe and replaced it with agave syrup. The logic is solid: why drown out the agave with orange when you can highlight the agave with agave? The result is a cocktail that's cleaner than the classic, and today in good bars, when you say ‘Margarita’, there's a good chance they'll make you a Tommy. The strength is about 18%, three ingredients, zero fluff. Bitters for the Margarita in the recipe are an optional touch; it all works without them.
Ingredients
- Patrón Reposado Tequila — 60 ml
- Freshly squeezed lime juice — 30 ml
- Agave syrup — 15 ml
- Bitters for the margarita — a couple of dashes (optional)
How to prepare
- Shake all the ingredients in a shaker with ice.
- Strain into a chilled glass.
Tip: Agave syrup can be thick like honey—dilute it with water one to one, otherwise it won't dissolve in the icy shaker and will settle at the bottom. A salted rim is optional; Bermeco served it without. It's better to put one large ice cube in the glass than a handful of small ones: the cocktail will stay a cocktail longer, rather than turning into water.
8. Matador
The first cocktail in the selection that is stirred, not shaken, and the first without a single drop of juice. Tequila, orange curaçao, and dry vermouth in almost equal parts, plus a splash of mezcal for a hint of smoke—essentially, this is a Mexican take on a martini. Dry, spicy, clear, with a hint of lemon zest on top. About 18%—an aperitif, to be sipped slowly, in small gulps, before dinner. Guests who think 'tequila is only for Margaritas' usually break on this one.
Ingredients
- Tequila Patrón Reposado — 25 ml
- Orange Curaçao liqueur — 25 ml
- Martini Extra Dry vermouth — 30 ml
- Del Maguey VIDA mezcal — 2.5 ml
How to make
- Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice.
- Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
- Garnish with lemon zest.
Tip: 2.5 ml of mezcal — that's less than a teaspoon, and it's not a typo: it's needed as a seasoning, not as an ingredient. No mezcal? Just skip it, the Matador will still turn out fine. But the vermouth should be fresh: an opened bottle lasts a month in the fridge, after that it's vinegar, and you can taste it right away in a cocktail without juice.
9. Tequila Sour
Sour is a formula, not a recipe: strong, sour, sweet, shake it up. With whiskey, you get a Whiskey Sour, with tequila — you get this. Lemon works with agave just as well as the usual lime, and powdered sugar instead of syrup gives a slightly denser texture. This is already proper bar work: shaker, ice, strainer. The strength is about 25%, the cocktail is short and serious — just two or three sips, for a slow evening, not for the heat.
Ingredients
- Tequila — 60 ml
- Lemon juice — juice of 1/2 lemon
- Powdered sugar — 5 ml
- Lemon — 1/2 slice (for garnish)
- Cherry — 1 piece
How to prepare
- In a shaker, mix the tequila, lemon juice, and powdered sugar.
- Add ice.
- Shake well.
- Strain into a sour glass.
- Garnish with a lemon half and a cherry.
- Serve immediately.
Tip: Shake it long and hard, about fifteen seconds, until the shaker is frosted: a sour needs both chilling and dilution, plus a light foam on top. Want a thicker foam? Add the white of one egg to the shaker and first shake without ice, then with ice. And '5 ml of powder' is literally a teaspoon, no more needed.
10. Oaxaca Old-Fashioned
The finale and the most serious number. In 2007, Phil Ward from the New York bar Death & Co took the Old Fashioned formula — spirit, sugar, bitters — and swapped the whiskey for reposado tequila mixed with mezcal. This resulted in one of the main cocktails of modern bar classics: the smoke of mezcal, the caramel of aged tequila, chocolate bitters, and burnt orange peel on top. Strong, around 25%, dense, slow — a cocktail for the end of the evening, when guests have left but the bottle is still there. It’s built right in the glass, but it requires patience.
Ingredients
- Patrón Reposado Tequila — 45 ml
- Del Maguey VIDA Mezcal — 15 ml
- Agave syrup — 7.5 ml
- Bob's Chocolate Bitters — 4 dashes
How to prepare
- Pour the tequila into an old-fashioned glass with three ice cubes and stir.
- Add the remaining ingredients, throw in more ice, and stir again.
- Add more ice and stir for a third time.
- Squeeze the oil from the orange peel over the glass (you can do it with a lighter) and place the peel in the glass.
Tip: Three rounds with ice — not a ritual for the sake of ritual: an Old Fashioned is stirred 'to dilute', and each portion of ice gives its few drops of water. About ten seconds for each step, no more. No chocolate bitters — use Angostura, it will be a bit different, but still a proper drink. The flaming peel is about aroma, not fire: squeeze the skin over the flame, the oil will ignite for a split second and settle on the surface.
Ten cocktails — and not a single one with salt on the hand. Start with a Paloma and a Batanga: they’ll forgive any mistake and show you how tequila sounds without any extra noise. Once your hand gets used to the jigger, move on to a Tommy Margarita and a Sour, and save the Oaxaca Old Fashioned for an evening when you don’t have to rush. And the main thing: if tequila needs salt and lime to go down, it’s bad tequila. Good tequila only asks for ice.
Mark the bottles on your shelf — the site will show what you can mix right now →