Friday Cocktail: The Paloma

Two things that might surprise you: One, the most popular type of tequila in Mexico is reposado, which makes up over 50% of the market. In fact, at some places in Jalisco, like around Puerto Vallarta, reposado is about 80% of the market—or more. In fact, when I’m shopping at my favorite tequila store in Bucerias, I might find 30 or 40 different reposado tequilas compared to five different brands of blanco. The rest is anejo. What I’m told, by people in the tequila industry, is that older people like blanco tequila because they like the “rustic” taste of the agave while younger consumers prefer reposado which, for the most part, they dump into cocktails.

Which brings us to the second surprise: The most popular Mexican cocktail, for the younger crowd, isn’t a Margarita but a Paloma. This is particularly true with women. So what the hell is a Paloma? Well, at most restaurants in Mexico if you order a Paloma what you’ll get is a tall glass filled with ice, a shot of reposado tequila, and then topped up with Squirt. That’s a down and dirty Paloma. But we can do better.

Ingredients for a Paloma cocktail.

You can improve this drink tremendously by doing a couple of things. First of all, only fill the glass half-up with ice. Then sprinkle a pinch of salt on the ice cubes. This seasons the drink. Then give yourself a good pour of tequila (I usually do two ounces). Now squeeze half a Mexican lime in there, fill the glass with more ice, and top it up with some sort of grapefruit soda (I prefer Jarritos Toronja to Squirt, but that’s not always available).

This is a pretty damn good Paloma. But if you want to make it perfect, let’s do one other thing. Instead of using grapefruit soda, use half-a-cup of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and then top it up with club soda. Now that’s a Paloma that could stand up to a perfectly made Margarita.