Fresh-Squeezed Paloma with Chile-Lime Salt

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The Paloma is Mexico's real everyday tequila drink — brighter and less fussy than a Margarita. This version skips the bottled grapefruit soda in favor of juice squeezed from a ruby red grapefruit, a spoonful of honey syrup to round out the bitterness, and a hard pour of ice-cold sparkling mineral water for the fizz. A chile-lime salt rim and a pinch of salt in the shaker do what they do at any good cantina: pull the grapefruit forward and knock the edge off the tequila. Two drinks, about ten minutes, no special equipment beyond a citrus squeezer.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp flaky or coarse kosher salt
• 1 tsp chile-lime seasoning (such as Tajín) or 1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
• 1/4 tsp finely grated lime zest
• 1 wedge lime, for wetting the rims

• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp hot water

• 4 oz blanco tequila (100% agave)
• 6 oz fresh ruby red grapefruit juice (from about 1 large grapefruit)
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 oz honey syrup, from above
• 2 pinches fine sea salt
• 5 oz cold sparkling mineral water (Topo Chico or club soda)
• ice cubes, for shaking and serving
• 2 grapefruit wedges or wide peel twists, for garnish

Instructions

1. Make the honey syrup: stir 3 tablespoons honey into 2 tablespoons hot water in a small cup until completely dissolved and pourable, about 30 seconds. Set aside to cool — you'll use 1 oz and have a little left over.
2. Make the rim salt: on a small plate, combine 1 tablespoon coarse salt, 1 teaspoon chile-lime seasoning, and 1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest. Rub it together with your fingertips for a few seconds so the zest perfumes the salt.
3. Rim the glasses: run a lime wedge around the outer edge of the top inch of two tall glasses (highball or Collins, 12–14 oz). Roll the outside of each rim through the salt at a 45-degree angle so the salt sticks to the outside only, not the inside — that way it seasons each sip instead of dumping into the drink. Fill both glasses to the top with ice and put them in the freezer while you build the drinks.
4. Juice the citrus: halve the grapefruit and squeeze it, straining through a fine-mesh sieve to catch pulp and seeds — you want 6 oz (3/4 cup). Squeeze 1 oz lime juice. Taste the grapefruit juice; if it's very tart, you'll lean on the full 1 oz of honey syrup, and if it's sweet and mild, start with 3/4 oz.
5. Shake: combine the tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, honey syrup, and 2 pinches of fine sea salt in a cocktail shaker. Add 1 cup of ice, seal, and shake hard for 10 seconds — just long enough to chill and lightly aerate. Do not over-shake; you want the drink cold, not watery.
6. Strain the mixture evenly into the two prepared ice-filled glasses, leaving about 2 inches of headroom in each.
7. Top each glass slowly with about 2 1/2 oz cold sparkling mineral water, pouring down the side of the glass to preserve the bubbles. Give each drink one gentle lift with a bar spoon — from the bottom straight up — to combine without knocking out the fizz.
8. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge or a wide twist of peel (squeeze the peel over the drink skin-side down first to release its oils). Serve immediately, while the head of bubbles is still lively.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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