What the Mexican people drink instead of Margaritas. Personally, when it comes to drinking tequila I figure they know best. The tequila some like to use is a 100 percent agave reposado, which will have spent a couple of months in wood—just long enough to give it a little color but not so long as to mask the tang of the agave. Between the sweetness of the soda, the sourness of the lime, the bitterness of the grapefruit, and the saltiness of the salt, the Paloma covers four of the five things to which the tongue greatly responds.
Recommended brands of grapefruit soda: Jarritos, from Mexico, or Ting, from Jamaica. Failing that, anything.
2 ounces reposado tequila
Juice of 1/2 lime (save the squeezed out shell for garnish)
Pinch of salt
To finish: grapefruit soda
Combine in a “Collins” glass, add ice and the squeezed-out lime half, and top off with grapefruit soda.
