Tequila Shots: How to Do It Right, Plus 5 Tequila Shooters

Tequila is a different animal from the creamy, fruity liqueurs people layer into party shooters. Most of the time a “tequila shot” means the straight ritual: salt, shot, lime. But there are a handful of mixed tequila shooters worth knowing too, and a good bottle is worth sipping instead of slamming. (The spirit has a stranger history than its party reputation lets on — see 7 crazy facts about tequila.)

Here’s how to do the classic shot properly, plus eleven tequila shooters and what to pour when a bottle is missing.

How to take a tequila shot

The traditional order is lick, shoot, suck:

Lick the back of your hand and shake a little salt onto the wet spot (or rim a wedge of lime in salt).
Lick the salt.
Knock back the shot of tequila.
Bite into a lime wedge.

The salt softens the bite and the lime chases the burn. It works best with a blanco (silver) tequila, which is sharper and built for shooting. Save aged reposado and añejo for sipping neat, where you’d waste them with salt and lime.

One buying note. “Gold” tequila at the low end of the shelf is usually a mixto, 51% agave topped up with other sugars and tinted with caramel, and it’s the reason the ritual exists at all: the salt and lime were there to cover the burn. A 100% agave blanco costs a few dollars more and needs a lot less covering. Here’s why that label matters.

5 tequila shooters

Mexican Flag

A layered shot of grenadine, melon liqueur, and tequila in red, green, and clear bands, the colors of the Mexican flag. As much a party trick as a drink. See recipe

Pro tip: Pour slowly over the back of a bar spoon, densest first (grenadine), to keep the layers clean.

Blood Test

Just gold tequila and grenadine. Sweet, simple, and a striking deep red. See recipe

Bunny Fucker

Gold tequila, grenadine, a splash of orange juice, and 7-Up. Fizzy, fruity, and easier-going than a straight shot. See recipe

Body Slammer

Cuervo Gold, Goldschläger, and Jack Daniel’s, a half shot each. A serious three-spirit slammer with real cinnamon heat. See recipe

Brave Bull

Tequila and coffee liqueur with a squeeze of lime, the tequila cousin of the Black Russian. More of a small sip than a slam. See recipe

6 more tequila shots for the second round

Flatliner

Sambuca, a few dashes of Tabasco, and silver tequila, layered so the hot sauce hangs as a thin red line between two clear layers. Anise first, then heat, then agave. See recipe

Pro tip: Pour the tequila down the inside of the glass, slowly. Hit the surface and the red line breaks up into pink fog.

Prairie Fire

Tequila and a dash of Tabasco. That’s the whole recipe. The oldest hazing shot in the book, and still the meanest thing here per ounce. See recipe

Pro tip: One dash means one. The tequila is supposed to burn first and the pepper second, not the other way round.

Four Horsemen

Jägermeister, Rumple Minze, 151 rum, and Cuervo Gold, three-quarters of an ounce each, shaken. Three ounces of spirit in a rocks glass; a “shooter” in name only. See recipe

Pro tip: Split it into two glasses. Nothing about this drink improves by being finished alone.

Cucaracha

Tequila and Kahlúa, equal parts, stirred with ice. The Brave Bull without the lime, and a little sweeter for it. See recipe

Pro tip: Bars sometimes set this on fire and hand you a straw. The iced version tastes better and you keep your eyebrows.

Montezuma’s Revenge

A shot of Cuervo Gold dropped into a Corona. Tequila’s answer to the Jäger Bomb, and the only shot here that arrives with its own chaser. See recipe

Pro tip: Drink an inch off the beer before the shot goes in, or it goes over the rim and onto the bar. More drop shots in our bomb shots roundup.

Sangrita

A chaser more than a shot. Cuervo Gold in one glass, Clamato with a dash of Worcestershire and a few drops of Tabasco in the other. Shoot the tequila, chase with the sangrita. See recipe

Pro tip: The Jalisco version is orange, lime, and chile rather than Clamato, and it’s sipped, alternating with the tequila. Try that with a reposado and the salt-and-lime ritual starts to look crude.

If you’re missing a bottle

No gold tequila for the Blood Test or Body Slammer: use blanco. Bottom-shelf gold is mostly blanco with caramel coloring, so the shot comes out a shade paler and otherwise the same.
No blanco for the ritual: reposado shoots fine, it’s just a waste of the two months to a year it spent in oak. Añejo is a bigger waste. Sip that.
No Bacardi 151: it was discontinued in 2016. Don Q 151, Cruzan 151, or Plantation O.F.T.D. at 69% all do the job in the Four Horsemen.
No Kahlúa: Tia Maria or Kamora in the Brave Bull and Cucaracha. Tia Maria is drier, so the shot leans harder on the tequila.
No Midori for the Mexican Flag: the recipe already allows Pisang Ambon, and any green melon liqueur (DeKuyper, Bols) layers the same.
No Tabasco: Cholula or Valentina for the Prairie Fire and Flatliner. Tabasco is thinner and more vinegary, which is part of the point, so add an extra dash of whatever you swap in.

Frequently asked questions

How do you take a tequila shot with salt and lime?

Lick the back of your hand, add salt, lick the salt, take the shot, then bite a lime wedge. The salt and lime soften the bite of the tequila.

What’s the best tequila for shots?

A blanco (silver) tequila. It’s sharper and made for shooting, while aged reposado and añejo are better sipped neat.

Do you sip or shoot tequila?

Cheaper blanco tequila is usually shot with salt and lime. Quality aged tequila is meant to be sipped slowly, neat or with a little lime.

How strong is a tequila shot?

Most tequila is 40% ABV (80 proof), the same as vodka or whiskey, so a single shot carries a standard serving of alcohol.

Why do people take tequila with salt and lime?

The ritual grew up around cheap mixto tequila. Salt dulls the perception of bitterness and the burn, and the lime resets your palate afterward. With a good 100% agave blanco you don’t need either, which is why serious drinkers skip both.

Is gold tequila better for shots than silver?

No. Most bottom-shelf gold is a mixto tinted with caramel color, and it tastes rougher than a 100% agave blanco at a similar price. Gold is fine where a recipe wants its color, like the Blood Test. For the straight shot, buy silver.

What is sangrita?

A non-alcoholic chaser served alongside tequila in Mexico, traditionally made from orange, lime, and chile, though many bars use Clamato with Worcestershire and Tabasco. You sip or shoot the tequila and follow it with the sangrita rather than salt and lime.

Keep it to salt and lime or pour a Mexican Flag for the table; either way, tequila rewards a little technique. When you’d rather sip than shoot, our rundown of what to mix with tequila goes well past the margarita, and there are hundreds more tequila recipes for whatever bottle you’ve got on hand.

Last modified on September 3, 2026