The classic Paloma is one of those high-reward, minimum-effort cocktail recipes.
It’s one of the reasons it has become ubiquitous in bars around the world.
Pour the ingredients over ice and top with your mixer – it’s as straightforward as it gets. Or is it? Because with one or two additions, and a little bit of preparation, you can take the Paloma to the next level.
But first…
How 321 Cocktails Works
321 Cocktails offers three meaningful alternatives to the world’s most popular classic cocktails, suited to the beginner, the intermediate, and the expert at-home bartender.
The Twist: The easiest of the three, the Twist changes the classic recipe with subtle ingredient swaps and simple additions. Easy to do, with tasty results.
The Upgrade: Often calling for custom ingredients that require a touch of preparation, the Upgrade is suited to the ambitious at-home bartender looking to impress guests.
The Maverick: If you’ve been making cocktails at home for a while and are ready to take them to the next level, try the Maverick. These bar-grade variations may have you hunting for niche ingredients in specialist stores, but the results are spectacular.
What is a Paloma?
The Paloma is a refreshing highball cocktail consisting of tequila and grapefruit. Fresh lime juice is often added, and the drink sits alongside the Margarita in a duologue as the most popular tequila cocktails.
A classic Mexican cocktail, the Paloma is often traced back to the 1950s following the creation of Squirt Grapefruit Soda in Mexico, though this is one of many stories in dispute with one another; just as odd is its name, meaning “dove” in Spanish.
This simple drink is built in the glass and stirred. It goes without saying that the Paloma is tequila-forward, followed by the citrus hit of the grapefruit and balanced by the acidity of the lime. It’s a classic flavor combination.
The Classic Paloma
The traditional Paloma is made with Blanco tequila, fresh lime juice, and topped with pink grapefruit soda (or fresh grapefruit juice, though this is becoming increasingly scarce).
Ingredients
- 2oz (50ml) Blanco tequila
- 0.5oz (12.5ml) fresh lime juice
- Grapefruit soda (top)
- Grapefruit twist (garnish)
Method
Rub a lime wedge around the glass and apply a salt rim. Fill the glass with ice, pour the tequila, then the fresh lime juice, and stir. Top with grapefruit soda and garnish with a grapefruit twist.
The Twist – Paloma Sundowner
The Paloma Sundowner maintains the Paloma’s faff-free preparation but ups the ante with mezcal and a dose of Aperol, which adds a bittersweet, orange-forward depth to the highball. They’re best built individually with the coldest ingredients possible, but this serve also lends itself well to batching for occasions where you’re hosting groups of friends or family.
For those interested in serving this one at your next garden party, multiply the recipe by as many serves as you’d like to have prepared, pour it all in a pitcher filled near to the brim with ice, top with plenty of grapefruit soda, toss in a bunch of grapefruit wheels for visual appeal, and you’ve got yourself one serious party drink.
Ingredients
- 1oz (30ml) mezcal
- 0.5oz (15ml) Aperol
- 0.5oz (15ml) lime juice
- Three Cents Grapefruit Soda (top)
- Grapefruit wheel (half, garnish)
- Sea salt (garnish)
Method
Salt half the rim of a chilled highball glass, remove any excess salt from the inside of the glass, then add ice. Pour the mezcal, Aperol and lime juice over the ice, and briefly stir to chill and dilute. Add more ice to the highball glass, then secure the half grapefruit wheel garnish behind some ice. Top with grapefruit soda and enjoy.
The Upgrade – Equal Parts’ Raw Chilli Paloma
Similar to its close cousin, the Margarita, the grapefruit-forward Paloma also thrives with a dash of spice. At London’s Equal Parts, one of the bar’s best-selling cocktails, the Raw Chilli Paloma, introduces a fresh red pepper cordial and spicy Scotch bonnet chili tincture to the citrusy highball.
Equal Parts takes the pulp from the bell peppers juiced for the cordial and dehydrates it, blending the dried and pulverized pulp with salt, which is used to rim the glass.
It has the flair of a salsa dancer and the crowd-pleasing flavor that’ll leave you ready for round two.
Ingredients
- 1oz (30ml) Blanco tequila
- 0.75oz (25ml) lime juice
- 0.75oz (25ml) red pepper cordial*
- 1 barspoon (3ml)
- Amaro Braulio ½ tsp (2.5ml) spicy tincture**
- Three Cents Grapefruit Soda (top)
- Red pepper salt (garnish)***
Method
First, use a lime wedge to wet the side of a highball glass and apply the red pepper salt. Set the glass aside. Add all ingredients (except soda) to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain over ice in a highball glass. Top with the soda and give a quick stir to integrate.
Custom Ingredients
Red pepper cordial*
- 400ml red pepper juice
- 400g sugar
- 2g malic acid
Method: De-stem and de-seed red bell peppers, then juice them. Filter the juice through a cheesecloth-lined fine strainer, keeping the pulp for the pepper salt. Combine all ingredients until the sugar is fully dissolved, then bottle and store for up to two weeks.
Spicy tincture**
- 10g Scotch bonnet peppers, chopped
- 70ml vodka
Method: Combine the peppers and vodka in a non-reactive container and infuse at room temperature for 24 hours. Fine-strain to filter, then bottle for use.
Red pepper salt***
- 1 part dehydrated red pepper pulp, from juicing
- 2 parts sea salt
Method: Space out the pepper pulp on some parchment paper and put it into the dehydrator between 52°C and 57°C. Once completely dried – this can take up to 24 hours – add the dehydrated pulp into a grinder and blitz into a powder. Add twice as much salt and gently blitz to combine. Bottle and store in a cool, dry place.
The Maverick – Athenian Paloma
They may be 7,000 miles apart, but Athenians have embraced Mexico’s Paloma like it’s their own. Its rise to ubiquity can be traced to legendary Athens bar Dos Agaves, an agaveria that closed in 2016 but has recently been revived.
There, bartenders Dimitris Dafopoulos and George Bagos were researching grapefruit soda recipes to create the absolute best Paloma for their guests. The unlikely result was the birth of Three Cents Grapefruit Soda – now the benchmark soda for Palomas worldwide.
My Athenian Paloma is a homage to this snapshot of contemporary Greek bartending history. Using a resinous, dry Mastiha that’s washed with coconut oil and a Greek herb-flavored acid for complexity, it’s as contemplative as it is thirst-quenching.
Ingredients
- 1.5oz (40ml) coconut oil-washed Axia Mastiha*
- 0.5oz (15ml) Greek green seasoning**
- 0.375oz (10ml) Suze Three Cents
- Grapefruit Soda (top)
- Black lava salt (garnish)
Method and build
Salt half the rim of a chilled highball glass with black lava salt, remove any excess salt from the inside of the glass, then add ice (preferably a clear ice spear). Pour the ingredients over the ice and briefly stir to chill and dilute. Add more ice to the highball glass, then top with grapefruit soda and enjoy.
Custom ingredients
Coconut oil-washed Axia Mastiha*
- 500ml Axia Mastiha
- 8% (40g) organic coconut oil (tempered)
Method: Heat coconut oil in a saucepan or microwave to melt the fat. Then pour the melted coconut oil into a food-safe bag with the Axia Mastiha and allow to infuse at room temperature for four hours. Put the sealed bag in the freezer overnight, then filter the contents through a coffee filter-lined funnel and bottle.
Greek Green Seasoning**
- 10g fresh oregano
- 5g fresh rosemary
- 5g fresh mint
- 5g fresh thyme
- 7g lime peel
- 18g citric acid powder
- 12g malic acid powder
- 300ml water (ice-cold)
Method: Weigh all ingredients, then combine in a blender and blend for one minute. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes to infuse with the blended solids, then filter through a cheesecloth-lined chinois or fine strainer and bottle.
