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The Tastiest Mexican Cocktails to Make at Home

Here are our favorite Mexican cocktails to make at home, from the sweet and refreshing to the smoky and robust.

Drinks

The Tastiest Mexican Cocktails to Make at Home

Here are our favorite Mexican cocktails to make at home, from the sweet and refreshing to the smoky and robust.

My love affair with Mexican cocktails began on an inauspicious morning. The face glaring down at me came into focus, along with a black Stetson, thick moustache, and hip holster. “I have a warrant to arrest Bill Carroll for drunk and disorderly conduct,” the cop said. Bill was my cousin, but long experience had taught me to avoid mentioning this. Even as kids, he attracted trouble like flies to stale beer in the Texas sun. My ravaged neurons slowly surfaced scenes from the previous night—Bill’s show, drinking tequila in a cantina near the border afterwards, then a blackout as dark and hazy as a Modelo Negro. 

“This is all a big misunderstanding. I need to get back to the Hilton El Paso.” 

An smirk crossed my interrogator’s face. “This ain’t El Paso, amigo. You’re in Juárez.” Then, an icy chuckle: “Not so funny now, is it, funny guy?”

I fumbled for my wallet and thrust my ID into his hands. “See? You’ve got the wrong guy.” He stared at my driver’s license for a long time. Sighing, I handed him the cash in my wallet. The cell door buzzed open, and I staggered out into the bright morning sun.

Trudging to the border checkpoint, I passed a street cart decked with bottles and remembered I had stashed emergency cash in my shoe. “Un cóctel, señor?” the girl sitting behind the tequila bottles asked. For God’s love, yes, señorita, I need a drink like a spider needs a fly. 

She poured a generous hit of Herradura Silver into a metal shaker, the smell of fine tequila and fresh lime slowly bringing me back to life. “Una paloma, señor,” she said, handing me a plastic cup. Call it the relief of narrowly escaping la cárcel, but it was the best cocktail I had ever tasted.

Nowadays, living in NYC, I whip up a paloma when I’m nostalgic for warmer climes and cowboy hijinks. Over the years, I’ve mastered a repertoire of other tequila and mezcal elixirs, too. Here are my favorite Mexican cocktails to make at home, libations to savor while listening to Maná records, reading Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, or laughing at YouTube videos of my wayward kin, Bill Carroll. 

Photo by Taste Cocktails

Classic Paloma

Vying with the Margarita for the title of Mexico’s unofficial national cocktail, the Paloma is as refreshing as it is simple. The cocktail’s origins remain shrouded in mystery, but La Capilla, a legendary bar in the town of Tequila, has a credible claim for inventing it. I use fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, but grapefruit soda works in a pinch. The pink juice tints the cocktail a gorgeous lavender hue—like the sunrise over the Chihuahuan Desert on the morning I first tasted a paloma. 

Some mixologists use tequila reposado for palomas, but I prefer blanco, without any oak aging. The flavors of agave—black pepper, citrus, and pineapple—are more prominent in tequila blanco, and the clear spirit makes the pinkness pop. I recommend Cazcanes Blanco No. 7, a masterful tequila equally worthy of drinking neat or mixing into cocktails.

Ingredients
  • 2 oz Cazcanes Blanco No. 7
  • 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
  • Pinch of salt
  • 4 oz grapefruit soda

    Jarritos, Squirt, or Fresca, or fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice

  • Ice
  • Grapefruit wedge or lime wheel

    For garnish

Instructions

Rim a highball glass with lime and dip in coarse salt. Add tequila, lime juice, and salt to the glass. Fill with ice, top with grapefruit soda, and stir gently. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge or lime wheel.

Photo by Herradura

The Horseshoe Carajillo 

I drank my first Carajillo, Mexico’s answer to the espresso Martini, at a recent wedding in Monterrey. Around 3 a.m., when anyone still standing was as boiled as an owl, waiters made the rounds with trays filled with a mysterious dark cocktail. I neither needed nor wanted more tequila, but my tablemates assured me that a carajillo was just what the doctor ordered to revive my stamina. It was as uplifting as a Red Bull-vodka—and tasted pinche delicioso to boot. 

Licor 43, Spanish amaro infused with astringent botanicals, adds complexity and balances to the cocktail’s sweetness. The vanilla syrup accentuates the subtle vanillin flavors of reposado, tequila aged for a few months in oak barrels. I have yet to sip a tastier repo than the one from Herradura, a storied distillery from Amatitlan, Jalisco, and I pour it every time I make a Carajillo in my kitchen.

Ingredients
  • 1 oz Herradura Reposado
  • 1 oz Licor 43
  • 1.5 oz fresh espresso
  • 0.5 oz vanilla syrup
  • 1 dash orange bitters
Instructions

Shake all ingredients with ice. Fine strain into a glass. Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice and a dusting of nutmeg or cinnamon.

Photo by Pantalones Tequila

The Classic Margarita 

Ah, the Margarita—a tropical tippler so beloved it inspired Jimmy Buffet to write immortal verses in its honor. Like a Japanese highball, the recipe features precious few ingredients. The Margarita’s beauty lies in the way different types of tequila dramatically alter the cocktail. Even if Jimmy Buffet and I never find that lost shaker of salt, a well-made Margarita—the color of golden sunshine on a beach in Jalisco—never fails to make life look a little brighter. 

Recently, my favorite base for Margaritas has been Pantalones Blanco, an organic tequila from Jalisco. Light and crisp, the fragrance of Pantalones Blanco brings to mind honey, orange peel, and fresh begonias tucked into the thick black curls of a Tapatia señorita. For added depth, I combine it with Pantalones Reposado, which lends subtle oak spice to the flavor profile.

Ingredients
  • 1 oz Pantalones Blanco Tequila
  • 1 oz Pantalones Reposado Tequila
  • 1 oz orange liqueur
  • 1 oz lime juice
  • 0.5 oz agave nectar
  • Lime wheel

    For garnish

Instructions

Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a rocks glass. Dip the rim in salt for a beachy, refreshing touch and set the glass aside.

In a shaker, combine the Blanco tequila, Reposado tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, and agave nectar. Add ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain the mixture over fresh ice into the prepared glass. Garnish with a lime wheel for a touch of tropical flair.

Photo by Manojo

Mezcal Negroni 

Bitter soul that I am, I have a natural affinity for libations laced with amari, bitter Italian liqueurs. While the classic Negroni features gin, the smoky complexity of mezcal makes for a Negroni with even more depth and oomph. The Mezcal Negroni is my faithful amigo at the end of the night when I need a bold cocktail to revive my moribund palate. 

Crafted with a dazzling array of wild and cultivated agaves, mezcal comprises a complex galaxy, one that requires a lifetime to fully explore (too much good alcohol out there, too little time—and too few liver cells). I have a penchant for mezcals without too much smoke and that highlight mineral and herbaceous flavors. The mezcal I always keep stocked on my bar cart is Manojo, an organic mezcal crafted in the Oaxacan village of San Luis del Río. In addition to mixing it into cocktails, I enjoy drinking it neat side by side with tequila blanco to compare the flavors of wild agave against Blue Weber agave.

Ingredients
  • 1 oz Manojo mezcal
  • ¾ oz Campari
  • ¾ oz sweet rosso vermouth
  • ¼ oz crème de cacao
  • 2 dashes chocolate bitters
Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir until well-chilled, then strain into a tumbler over a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange wedge and a light grating of dark chocolate.

Photo by Mezcal Union

Mezcal Apium

From the Latin word for celery, the Apium is clean, fresh, and dare I say, maybe even healthy with all that green garnish. This cocktail is an excellent introduction to the joys of mezcal, that smoky nectar that always teleports me to a beach in Oaxaca. With just a few ingredients, the Apium highlights mezcal’s peppery bite and citrusy aromas, complemented by celery’s herbaceous brightness. For this cocktail, I prefer Unión Uno from Mezcal Unión, cactus ambrosia with a citrusy bouquet of lemon, orange, and grapefruit.

Ingredients
  • 2 oz Mezcal Unión Uno
  • 0.5 oz simple syrup
  • 1 oz lime juice
  • 4 dashes celery bitters
  • Celery microgreens and celery salt

    For garnish

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and double strain into a glass over ice. Garnish with celery microgreens and a pinch of celery salt.

Photo by Dos Hombres

Death to El Gusano 

The coolest ingredient I keep in my pantry is sal de gusano, smoked salt mixed with pulverized agave worms. The traditional seasoning harkens back to Aztec cuisine, and packs umami goodness in spades, and I sprinkle it atop cocktails every chance I get (only telling my friends what it is after their first sip). 

It requires a bit of legwork to make the rosemary-jalapeno syrup, but it stores well in the fridge, and I typically batch enough to last for weeks. Either rim the glass with sal de gusano, or sprinkle it on top of the cocktail as a final step. Choose a mezcal bold enough to stand up to the robust flavors of the sal de gusano and the jalapeño. Dos Hombres is a smokey heavy-hitter that sparkles with nuanced fruit and floral notes—think of it as the Laphroaig of Mexico.

Ingredients
  • 1.5 oz Dos Hombres mezcal
  • 1 oz jalapeño-rosemary simple syrup
  • 2 dashes Teapot Bitters
  • ¾ oz fresh lime juice
  • Sal de gusano

    For rimming or garnishing

For the Rosemary-Jalapeño Simple Syrup

Combine ½ cup sugar, ½ cup water, 2 jalapeños (quartered or split), and a sprig of fresh rosemary (about 4 inches) in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. 

Let it steep for 24 hours to develop flavor and a touch of heat. Remove the solids and store the syrup in a sealed container in the fridge.

Instructions

Rub a lime wedge around the edge of a glass and dip it in sal de gusano.  Add the mezcal, jalapeño-rosemary syrup, bitters, and lime juice to a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously to combine and chill.

Strain the cocktail into the prepared rocks glass over fresh ice. Sprinkle a pinch of sal de gusano on top as a finishing touch.

Photo by Ilegal Mezcal

El Poblano

The more I learn about Mexican gastronomy and mixology, the more I find myself astounded by the variety of regional chiles, each with subtly varying Scoville heat scores and flavors. El Poblano, a cocktail as bold and spicy as the season finale of a telenovela, highlights two of my favorite Mexican chilis: poblano and chipotle. These peppers add tantalizing spice but also layers of smoky, herbaceous flavor that shine in every sip. 

For the base spirit in El Poblano, I recommend Ilegal Mezcal Joven, a mezcal showcasing the flavor profile of espadín agave, a Oaxacan agave coveted for natural sweetness and notes of eucalyptus and cinnamon.

Ingredients
  • 2 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven
  • 2 slices fresh poblano pepper
  • 1 oz fresh lime juice
  • 0.5 oz agave nectar
  • Chipotle salt
Instructions

Run a lime wedge around the rim of a glass and dip it in the chipotle salt. Add the mezcal, poblano slices, lime juice, and agave nectar to a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously to release the flavors of the poblano. Double strain into the prepared glass, and garnish with a poblano slice.

Photo by Dulce Vida

Cantarito

The Cantarito is a more elaborate cousin of the Paloma and is traditionally served in a small clay vessel, a cantarito, in lieu of glassware. With freshly squeezed fruit juice as a base, the Cantarito is an effective hangover tonic—I’ll admit to occasionally pairing it with an Advil at breakfast after a big night. After living in Texas, I put Tajin on everything that touches my lips save toothpaste and my girlfriend, and I keep a shaker of it handy to continuously touch up my Cantaritos as I drink them. Dulce Vida Blanco, a tequila with well-articulated lemon and orange notes, harmonizes well with the medley of citrus juices in the Cantarito.

Ingredients
  • 2 oz Dulce Vida Organic Blanco Tequila
  • ½ oz fresh orange juice
  • ¾ oz fresh grapefruit juice
  • ½ oz fresh lime juice
  • Pinch of Tajín
  • Grapefruit soda
  • Lime wheel and orange wheel

    For garnish

Instructions

Rim a traditional cantarito clay vessel or a Collins glass with lime juice and dip it into Tajín. Add the tequila, orange juice, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and a pinch of Tajín to the glass.

Fill with ice and gently stir to combine. Top with a splash of grapefruit soda, and garnish with a lime wheel and an orange wheel.

Photo by Mijenta

Jalisco Punch

While Mexico City’s cocktail bars often steal the spotlight, Guadalajara—Jalisco’s vibrant capital—might quietly be Mexico’s best city for drinking. On my last visit, Amairani Maya, a celebrity bartender at El Gallo Alterno, a fixture on the World’s 50 Best list, crafted this cocktail for me as an off-menu treat. It was love at first sip. The Demerara syrup, made from lightly processed brown sugar, layers a silky mouthful into the drink, and the chamomile tea adds soft floral notes and a delightful tannic grip. 

I whip up a Jalisco Punch for my friends when I want to show off by making a complex, unorthodox cocktail. For a superb, affordable repo, go with Mijenta Reposado, an archetypical highlands tequila bursting with a fruity bouquet of orange, pineapple, and raspberry.

Ingredients
  • 2 part Mijenta Tequila Reposado
  • 0.5 part Demerara syrup
  • 1.5 part apple cider
  • 0.5 part fresh lemon juice
  • 0.75 part chamomile tea
Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan or pot, warming gently over low heat (do not boil). Pour the punch into a coffee mug or heatproof glass. Add a lemon wheel and an apple slice for brightness. Finish with a light dusting of nutmeg for warmth and spice.

Photo by Hacienda de Chihuahua

The Heartbreaker

Lest you conclude Mexican spirits are limited to mezcal and tequila, our two final cocktails showcase lesser-known agave spirits. The Heartbreaker features sotol, a northern Mexican spirit distilled from a shrub called desert spoon. I first tasted sotol, along with many other rare cactus spirits, at the Agave Heritage Festival in Tucson, and I have been seeking it out ever since. It has yet to gain the international renown of mezcal or tequila, but it’s an emblematic spirit of the Sonoran Desert, traditionally crafted by farmers. Sotol is the Wild West of Mexican spirits, with flavors ranging from black pepper and herbs to fresh cheese and raw meat. 

Hacienda de Chihuahua is widely available across the U.S. and is one of the finest sotols I have tasted. The distillers harvest wild cacti to make their sotol, and it tastes like a dewy morning in the desert—astringency balanced with herbaceousness and a minerality that brings to mind sun-hardened sand. The strawberry jam adds a sweet zip, but you’ll still taste the unmistakable minerality of sotol in this cocktail.

Ingredients
  • 1.5 oz Sotol Plata
  • .5 oz strawberry creme
  • .5 oz Aperol
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 4 tsp of strawberry jam
  • Strawberry or cherry

    For garnish

Instructions

Pour all ingredients except the garnish into a shaker. Shake vigorously to emulsify the foam. Pour over ice in Collins glass, and garnish with cherries or sliced strawberry on a toothpick.

Photo by Alta Calidad

Tamarindo Margarita 

As much as I relish the glittering smorgasbord that is New York City dining, the Texan in me suffers acute pangs of nostalgia for good Mexican food. (And, please, don’t get me started on what passes for “barbecue” up here.) When the cravings hit for cumin, handmade tortillas, and fresh guacamole, I book a table at Alta Calidad, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Brooklyn. No matter my entrée—be it fish tacos or a sizzling platter of carne asada—I always pair it with a Tamarindo Margarita.

This recipe makes about five cups and is perfect for celebrating Cinco de Mayo or for brightening up a cold winter evening with tropical vibes. The key ingredient is tamarind puree, which you can usually find at most Mexican grocery stores. It’s important to choose a tequila blanco bold enough to complement the drink’s robust flavors. For my version, I prefer Lalo Tequila, an affordable and assertive blanco.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup tequila blanco

    e.g., Lalo Tequila

  • ½ cup agave syrup
  • ½ cup lime juice
  • ½ cup tamarind puree
  • 1 cup milk
Instructions

In a large pitcher, combine the tequila, agave syrup, lime juice, and tamarind puree. Slowly pour in the milk. (Don’t worry—it will curdle as part of the process.)

Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 2 hours to allow the flavors to meld and the solids to separate. Line a fine-mesh strainer with a coffee filter or layered cheesecloth. Pour the mixture through the strainer into a clean pitcher. (This step may take about an hour.)

Chill the strained margarita thoroughly before serving. Serve over ice and garnish with a lime wedge, if desired.

Photo by Killanga Bacanora

Kilinga Espresso Martini 

Bacanora is an agave spirit from Sonora, Mexico, made from the yaquiana agave. Distillation of bacanora dates back centuries, but the spirit was illegal until 1992. The ban was officially due to concerns about over-harvesting yaquiana, but lobbying from large tequila producers likely played a larger role in its contraband status.

Classic bacanora tasting notes include minerality, pepper spice, and a brininess reminiscent of good Albariño wines. Espresso cocktails remain as trendy as ever, and the Kilinga Espresso Martini offers a fresh twist on the classic, substituting vodka with Kilinga Silvestre bacanora. A dark espresso roast—the depth of roast you’d find in classic NYC deli coffee—enhances the smoky, campfire-like aromas of the bacanora.

Ingredients
  • 1 ½ oz Kilinga Silvestre
  • ½ oz triple sec
  • 2 oz espresso

    Freshly brewed is best

  • ¼ oz simple syrup
  • 2 slices fresh orange
Instructions

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the bacanora, triple sec, espresso, simple syrup, and two slices of fresh orange. Shake vigorously for about 15–20 seconds to chill and combine.

Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a light dusting of cinnamon and a twist of orange peel for aromatics.