2020 might not be the summer you thought it was going to be, but you can still have your fun on National Tequila Day this Friday, July 24! To celebrate the big day, we’ve listed some of our favorite tequila recipes and straight tequilas! From spicy margaritas to refreshing palomas, to some of the best tequila in the world that deserves to be sipped straight, there’s something for everyone here!
Cincoro Blueberry Margarita
2 oz Cincoro Blanco Tequila
10-15 Blueberries
½ oz Fresh lime juice
¼ oz Cointreau
¼ oz agave nectar
Mix and shake all ingredients vigorously. Strain over fresh ice into half sugar rimmed Double Old-Fashioned glass. Garnish with fresh blueberries.
Spicy Cucumber Margarita
2 Parts Avión Silver
1 Fresh Lime Juice
1 Part Agave Nectar
Slices of Cucumber & Jalapeño
Muddle 1-2 thin slices of jalapeño pepper in the bottom of a cocktail shaker with the lime and agave nectar juices. Add the tequila and a handful of ice. Shake and strain into a glass over ice. Garnish with thinly sliced cucumbers and jalapeños.
The Code
.75 oz Código 1530 Blanco Tequila
.5 oz Peach Liqueur
1 oz Blood Orange Juice
.25 oz Lemon Juice
.75 oz Sage Infused Simple Syrup
In a shaker filled with ice, add tequila, peach liquer, blood orange juice, lemon juice, and sage infused simple syrup. Shake and strain over ice into a Rocks glass. Garnish with rosemary.
Casa Mint Lemonade
2 oz. Casamigos Blanco Tequila
.5 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
.5 oz. Simple Syrup
8-10 Mint Leaves
Top off with Lemonade
Garnish with Lemon Wheel (inside glass) and Mint Sprig (tucked behind lemon wheel)
Combine all ingredients, except lemonade into tin shaker. Muddle mint, add ice and shake vigorously, then fine strain into collins glass. Add fresh ice, top off with lemonade and garnish.
Agave Swizzle
2 oz. Camarena Reposado
.75 oz. Agave Nectar
.75 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
4 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
8 to 10 Mint Leaves
Place mint leaves at the bottom of the glass. Gently muddle the leaves with a muddler. Add remaining ingredients (except bitters) into a collins glass and fill with crushed ice. Take a bar spoon and “swizzle” holding the spoon in the palm of your hands and twirl until the glass frosts. Top with the bitters. Garnish with a bouquet of mint.
Mana Paloma
2 oz. Teremana Blanco
.25 oz. Lime Juice
3 oz. Grapefruit Juice
Add Ice and top with Soda
Pinch of Salt
Build in a high ball glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
JAJA Pink Panther
2 parts JAJA Tequila Blanco
3.5 parts Watermelon Juice (or 3 chunks of muddled watermelon)
1 small slice of Jalapeño (can be omitted)
0.5 part Simple Syrup
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake hard. Strain into a glass over fresh ice and garnish with a slice of watermelon and a lime.
Tequila Herradura Rosemary Paloma
1.5 oz. Tequila Herradura Silver
½ oz. Giffard Pamplemousse
1 oz. Grapefruit Juice
½ – ¾ oz. Fresh Lime Juice
½ oz. Agave Nectar (to taste)
Pinch of Salt
Sparkling Water
Add Tequila Herradura, Pamplemousse, grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave nectar and pinch of salt to a shake with ice and shake vigorously. Pour into a tall glass and add more ice. Top with sparkling water and garnish with a rosemary sprig and grapefruit peel.
AVOrita by barman Geoffrey Liebert
2-ounces Patrón Reposado Tequila
1 Lime
1-ounce Homemade Avocado Cordial
Smoked with hickory wood
In a cocktail shaker, muddle avocado, cilantro and lime juice until avocado is thoroughly mashed. Add tequila, Cointreau, agave nectar and ice, and shake until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Salt rim and garnish.
Pineapple Mule
2 oz Sesión Blanco
⅓ oz Absinthe
½ oz Pineapple Reduction (juice reduced over heat by half)
¼ oz Lime Juice
⅓ oz Simple Syrup
Shake & strain over ice. Garnish with dehydrated pineapple, fennel frond and lime leaves.
Summer Margarita Mortar & Pestle Bar (San Jose & San Mateo, Calif.)
1 oz Campo Azul Tequila
½ oz Rayu Mezcal
1 oz Lime Citrate
⅓ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Heirloom Creme de Flora
½ oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
1 dash Bittercube Corazón Bitters
1 dash Bittercube Trinity Bitters
3 ¼ oz Water
El Jardin
1 ½ oz Blanco Tequila
1 oz Hella Habanero Margarita
4 basil leaves
5 dashes Hella Smoked Chili Bitters
Grapefruit Soda (we love Alta Palla)
Basil Salt, for glass rim
Wet the edge of a highball glass with your finger and a bit of Hella Habanero Margarita Mix. Dip into a plate of basil salt. Add 3 of the basil leaves to the bottom of a shaker and muddle gently. Fill your shaker with ice and add Tequila, Hella Habanero Margarita Mix and Hella Smoked Chili Bitters. Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is frosted. Double-strain your cocktail over your basil salt-rimmed highball glass filled with fresh ice. Top with your choice of grapefruit soda and stir gently. Garnish with a basil leaf boat.
Root Down by Ivy Mix, Co-Owner of Leyenda
2 oz 100% blanco tequila
1 oz Natalie’s Orange Beet Juice
1 oz Natalie’s Carrot Ginger Juice
.75 oz lime juice
.5 oz honey
pinch cayenne
Add all ingredients into a rocks glass over a large cube (2×2) and stir to dilute. If you have it: thin sliced beet to garnish. If not: Lime wheel.
Coctel Del Barista
1 ½ parts Hornitos® Reposado Tequila
2 parts fresh brewed black tea
¾ parts fresh lemon juice
½ part agave syrup
2 dashes Angostura® bitters
Lemon wheel
Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Bramble Tonic Tradicional
1.5 oz Jose Cuervo® Tradicional® Plata Tequila
.5 oz Simple syrup (one part sugar, one part water)
.5 oz Tonic syrup
3 Lime wedges
4 Blackberries
Soda water
Glass: Collins
Garnish: Blackberries
Add all of the ingredients, except the soda water, to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice. Top with soda water and garnish with blackberries.
Sparkling Paloma
2 parts Altos Plata or Reposado
½ part agave mix/agave honey
½ part lemon or lime juice
Three Cents Pink grapefruit soda
A pinch of salt
Pour ingredients in highball. Stir to dissolve the agave mix. Add ice and top with grapefruit soda. Rim with salt.
Spicy Strawberry Lime Margarita
8 oz PATRÓN Silver
4 oz PATRÓN Citrónge Lime
12 Fresh strawberries
4 oz Fresh lime juice
2 oz Simple syrup
2 cups Ice
Half of a fresh jalapeño
Combine ingredients in a blender pitcher and blend thoroughly. Taste and adjust sweetness or tartness to your liking, as berries and citrus may vary with the season. Pour into frozen mason jars. Garnish with half of a strawberry and a jalapeño coin.
1800 Cilantrita
2 oz 1800 Coconut
1 oz lemon
.75 oz ginger syrup (or 2 slices of ginger muddled in simple syrup)
Small handful of cilantro
Shake and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.
The Bandero “Quarantina” Margarita
2 oz of Bandero Tequila
3/4 oz of Orange Juice (Fresh Squeezed if you have).
1 oz Cointreau, Triple Sec or Another Orange Liqueur (If Available).
Splash of Club Soda
Garnish with 1/2 Orange Wheel
Mix in a Large Glass or add the ingredients to a Cocktail Shaker filled with ice and shake. Strain into a Rocks Glass over ice and add a splash of Club Soda. Garnish with an Orange Wedge!
Mexican Mule
2oz YaVe Blanco Tequila
1oz Ginger Syrup
1oz Lime/Lemon Juice
Lemon Wheel or ginger candy garnish
Begin with filling a glass with crushed ice. Next, pour 2 ounces of YaVe’s award-winning Blanco Tequila over the ice. Squeeze in that lime or lemon juice and add the ginger syrup. Top it all off by garnishing it with a lemon wheel or candy garnish.