What to Mix With Tequila When the Margarita Gets Old

We’ll let you in on the worst-kept secret in Mexico: at the tables where tequila is an everyday thing rather than an event, nobody is making margaritas. They’re pouring tequila over ice and topping it with grapefruit soda. That drink, the Paloma, outsells the margarita in tequila’s own homeland by a distance.

That’s the spirit of this list. The margarita is wonderful and you already know it; what else the bottle wants turns out to be a long conversation, and this is the short version.

Grapefruit, first and always

Two ounces of blanco, grapefruit soda to fill, pinch of salt, squeeze of lime. Squirt is traditional; Jarritos toronja is better; fresh grapefruit juice with a little soda water and agave syrup is the deluxe cut. The salt isn’t garnish theater; it bridges the agave and the citrus pith, and the drink goes noticeably flat without it.

We’ve served Palomas to committed margarita people and watched the conversion happen in real time. The 1800 Silver Dog strips the idea to tequila, grapefruit, and lime if you want it without bubbles.

The juice aisle, ranked

Pineapple. Tequila’s second-best friend. The sweetness rounds the pepper in a blanco, and with a splash of pomegranate liqueur you arrive at the 1800 Pineapple Pomegranate, which drinks like a sunset.

Orange. Not just for sunrises, though the grenadine trick never stops being pretty. Fresh orange with a squeeze of lime keeps it adult.

Cranberry. The sleeper. Tart cranberry against agave works the way it works with vodka but with more to say — the 1800 Cosmolito is a full tequila Cosmo, and it belongs on the short list of cranberry’s best work.

Apple cider. Reposado plus cider, as the 1800 Manzana Cider shows with a currant-liqueur accent, is tequila’s ticket into fall. We make ours warm once the leaves turn.

The sodas

Beyond grapefruit: ginger beer makes a “Mexican Mule” that’s arguably better than the vodka original, since ginger and agave have real chemistry. Plain soda water with lots of lime is the ranch water move — the lightest drink on this page and the one we reach for most in July. Cola works better than its reputation (a Batanga, with a salted rim, is a real drink with a real history). Lemon-lime soda, as covered elsewhere, mostly makes tequila taste like a teenager’s decision.

Which bottle for mixing

Blanco for anything with citrus or soda; its pepper and brightness are the point. Reposado for the apple, pineapple, and cola end of the list, where a little barrel roundness helps. Añejo stays out of the mixing glass entirely; at that price it earned a slow sip.

And a word on the flavored shelf: tequila rose and its strawberry-cream cousins are their own category — dessert liqueurs that happen to mention tequila — and they follow cream rules, not tequila rules.

If you’re stocking to mix, one honest blanco under thirty dollars beats a dusty premium bottle at twice the price; “100% agave” on the label is the only phrase that matters.

Start with the grapefruit. Mexico already graded that homework.

Last modified on August 30, 2026