🌵 Tequila & Mezcal Cocktails

Agave-forward classics from the Margarita to the Paloma — bold, earthy, irreplaceable. ← All 57 Classics

margarita🌵 Tequila Classic
Easy~20% ABVShake

Classic Margarita

by Carlos Herrera · Tijuana, 1938
Ingredients
  • 60ml Blanco Tequila
  • 30ml Triple Sec or Cointreau
  • 30ml Fresh lime juice
  • Salt rim · Lime wedge
Method

Salt half the rim of a rocks glass. Fill with ice. Shake all with ice 12 seconds. Strain over the ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

paloma🌵 Tequila Mexico
Easy~12% ABVBuild

Paloma

by Don Javier Delgado Corona · Mexico
Ingredients
  • 60ml Blanco Tequila · 30ml Fresh grapefruit juice
  • 15ml Lime juice · 15ml Simple syrup
  • Grapefruit soda to top · Salt rim
Method

Salt the rim. Fill a highball with ice. Combine tequila, juices, and syrup. Top with grapefruit soda. Mexico's most-consumed cocktail — outselling the Margarita in Mexico itself.

tommy's margarita🌵 Tequila Modern
Easy~18% ABVShake

Tommy's Margarita

by Julio Bermejo · Tommy's Restaurant, SF, 1990
Ingredients
  • 60ml 100% Agave Blanco Tequila
  • 30ml Fresh lime juice
  • 15ml Agave nectar (diluted 1:1 with water)
Method

Shake with ice. Strain over ice in a rocks glass. No salt, no triple sec — just three ingredients highlighting pure agave. Julio Bermejo built the 100% agave tequila movement in the USA with this recipe.

naked and famous🌵 Mezcal Modern
Easy~22% ABVShake

Naked and Famous

by Joaquín Simó · Death & Co, New York, 2011
Ingredients
  • 22.5ml Mezcal · 22.5ml Aperol
  • 22.5ml Yellow Chartreuse · 22.5ml Fresh lemon juice
Method

Shake equal parts with ice. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish. A mezcal spin on the Paper Plane — smoke, bitterness, herbal sweetness, and citrus in perfect four-way balance.

tequila sunrise🌵 Tequila Party
Easy~12% ABVBuild

Tequila Sunrise

by Bobby Lozoff & Billy Rice · Trident Hotel, Sausalito, 1972
Ingredients
  • 60ml Blanco Tequila · 120ml Fresh orange juice
  • 15ml Grenadine · Orange slice & cherry
Method

Pour tequila and OJ over ice, stir. Slowly pour grenadine down the side — let it sink. Do not stir. The gradient from red to orange to yellow is the sunrise. The Eagles drank so many on tour in 1972 crew called it "The Tour Drink."

mezcal negroni🌵 Mezcal Craft
Easy~24% ABVStir

Mezcal Negroni

by Phil Ward · Death & Co, New York, 2007
Ingredients
  • 30ml Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
  • 30ml Campari · 30ml Sweet Vermouth
  • Orange peel garnish
Method

Stir with ice 30 seconds. Strain over a large ice cube. Express orange peel. The mezcal's smoke transforms the Negroni into something primal — one of the most copied craft cocktail variations of the 21st century.

oaxacan old fashioned🌵 Mezcal Modern
Easy~30% ABVStir

Oaxacan Old Fashioned

by Phil Ward · Death & Co, New York, 2007
Ingredients
  • 45ml Reposado Tequila · 15ml Mezcal
  • 1 bar spoon Agave syrup · 2 dashes Angostura
  • Flamed orange peel
Method

Stir all with ice 30 seconds. Strain over a large ice cube. Flame an orange peel over the surface. The small mezcal addition lifts the tequila's earthiness with smoke.

spicy margarita🌵 Tequila Modern
Medium~18% ABVMuddle + Shake

Spicy Jalapeño Margarita

by Craft bartenders · USA, 2000s
Ingredients
  • 60ml Blanco Tequila · 30ml Fresh lime juice
  • 22.5ml Cointreau · 3–4 jalapeño slices
  • Tajín rim · Lime wheel
Method

Muddle jalapeño in a shaker. Add tequila, lime, Cointreau, and ice. Shake hard 12 seconds. Double strain. Serve in a Tajín-rimmed rocks glass. For a mezcal version, swap tequila — smoke and heat together is one of the great modern flavour combinations.