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Step aside, Margarita. This summer’s tequila cocktail is the Paloma: a tall, cool glass of tequila, grapefruit soda, lime, salt and ice. No agitator required.
“The Paloma is a truly Mexican cocktail because of its simplicity and flavor: it is 100 percent more Mexican than the Margarita,” says José Luis León, head bartender at Limantour Liquor Store In Mexico City. “It’s easy to make, easy to drink and good for a sunny day.”
La Paloma was popularized by La Capilla, a sawdust bar in Jalisco, where I once saw patron Don Javier Delgado Corona stir a round of drinks with a butcher knife. And despite the best efforts of the craft cocktail movement, the Paloma remains, at its core, a simple recipe; It’s better, León says, “when you don’t complicate it too much.”
In Mexico, Palomas are usually made with Jet – a brand of soft drink that can be difficult to find outside of America. Many American bartenders I know substitute it with the more available Mexican brand. Jarritos either jingle Jamaican grapefruit soda. More recently, the Paloma pink grapefruit is also having its moment, thanks to the excellent Two Keys Pink Grapefruit Soda – a mixer that is bursting with real fruit juiciness but is also not too sweet (another good option in this regard is Pink Grapefruit Soda from The London Essence Company). Fever Tree Blood Orange Soda It’s another good variation on the theme.
Adding fresh grapefruit juice to a Paloma is controversial: Ivy Mix from New York’s best tequila bar Legend he doesn’t want to hear about it: “For me it’s not the real deal.” Personally, I like a little bit of the real thing in the mix. Either way, says Jared Hirsch of Quince restaurant in San Francisco, “always finish your Paloma with a splash of lemon juice; she makes everything stand out.”
pigeon
This recipe is taken from authority. The VO tequila ambassadorby Tomas Estes, edited by Mitch Wilson, Phil Bayly and Jesse Estes, Tomas’s son (Wonk Press, £52)
serve one
50 ml of tequila
20 ml fresh lime juice
1 pinch of salt
Top with Squirt soda (or pink grapefruit soda)
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Fill a tall glass with ice, add the tequila and top off with grapefruit soda.
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Finish with lime juice and decorate with the grapefruit slice and rim with salt.
A few flakes of salt will also help enhance its thirst-quenching ability: Whether mixed into the drink or applied to the rim of the glass as a Margarita-style “rim,” black lava salt adds real drama. Or turn up the heat with a little spice: a Viajante87 in Notting Hill, they garnish the Paloma with an 80/20 mix of salt and paprika-colored Togarashi. In girl and the gift in New York they use Tajín, a mix of Mexican spices with lime, chilies and salt.
“Always use 100 percent agave tequila; anything less is an insult,” say Lydia Friar and Javier Vite of Hotel and Restaurant Tiro de Piedras in Maine. “You can use a reposado to give it more depth, but everyone loves a clean white.” I like Ocho and Mijenta, which have great agave character and a fresh, crisp finish.
The traditional glass option would be a tall glass – Richard Brendon’s new Optic range is wonderfully tactile. But my friend Tara Wigley (Yotam Ottolenghi co-author and incomparable hostess) recently served me a Paloma in a stemless balloon glass, which I also thought was elegant. (Moth makes a good canned pigeon if presentation is not a problem).
Pile on ice and garnish the drink with a fresh slice of pink grapefruit or lime. And give it a quick stir before serving, with or without a butcher knife.