How to Make a Perfect Tequila Cocktail—Plus 24 Recipes to Inspire You

Female-founded 21 Seeds is on a mission to prove tequila can be just as approachable as wine with its stellar fruit-infused beverage. Aromatic notes of jalapeño spice up this tea-based cocktail while cooling cucumber makes for an ultrarefreshing drinking experience.

Ingredients:

• 1½ ounces 21 Seeds Cucumber Jalapeño
• 1 ounce hibiscus tea
• 1 ounce pineapple juice
• ½ ounce simple syrup (1-to-1 sugar to water)
• 3 slices jalapeño
• Fresh mint and candied pineapple, for garnish

Steps:

1. Mix ingredients together in a shaker.
2. Pour over ice and add mint and candied pineapple.

When the warm weather comes crashing in, there's nothing queen Martha Stewart loves more than mixing up her signature "Martha-Rita" in a Baccarat goblet. Fresh lime juice and orange liqueur bring the right amount of zing for a simple yet balanced tequila cocktail.

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Aged in American oak barrels for 12–14 months, Milagro's Añejo tequila gives off an oaky aroma with decadent tasting notes of butterscotch and agave. Paired with tart apple and sweet-and-sour tamarind, you're in for a juicy treat.

Ingredients:

• 1½ parts Milagro Añejo
• ½ part fresh lime juice
• 1 barspoon tamarind concentrate
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 3 parts Sidral Mundet apple soda
• 1 thinly sliced red apple, for garnish

Steps:

1. Pour all ingredients, except apple soda, into a Boston shaker with ice.
2. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice.
3. Top with apple soda.
4. Garnish with thinly sliced red apple.

Los Arango uses timeless traditions dating back to the Mexican Revolution to craft an elevated tequila from ancient blue weber agave. The herby and toasty notes of the brand's blanco tequila lend themselves nicely to spicier combinations such as this habanero and pineapple drink.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces Los Arango Blanco tequila
• ¼ ounce roasted pineapple & habanero agave nectar
• 4 dashes cilantro tincture
• 2 drops saline
• Rocks ice
• Tajín rim, pineapple wedge, habanero pepper, or lime oil or lime zest (optional), for garnish
  

Steps:

1. Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake thoroughly.
2. Rim a rocks glass with Tajín and add fresh ice.
3. Strain the cocktail into the glass, then top off with a few drops of lime oil or lime zest, a torched pineapple wedge, and a habanero pepper slice.

Inspired by Alex Michaelides’s The Maidens, Ian Palmer, VERANDA's visual editor and resident mixologist, riffs on the classic El Diablo for a much punchier tequila cocktail. Rich black currant liqueur and spicy chile liqueur cleverly balance the effervescent qualities of ginger beer and citrus.

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Volcán de mi Tierra aims to celebrate its heritage and community while delivering a complex tequila made from blue agave grown in the rich volcanic soils of Mexico's Jalisco state. The brand's signature margarita perfectly highlights its blanco tequila's citrus and black pepper notes with a fruity twist.

Ingredients:

• 1½ ounces Volcán de mi Tierra Blanco
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• ⅔ ounce simple syrup
• ⅔ ounce fruity red wine

Steps:

1. Pour tequila, lime juice, and simple syrup into a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously.
2. Strain into a glass and slowly pour the red wine into the drink using a barspoon.

Lutie's Garden Restaurant at Austin, Texas's Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection, has become a local hotspot, thanks to Ken Fulk's dreamy interiors and the culinary talents of Executive Chef Bradley Nicholson and Executive Pastry Chef Susana Querejazu. The restaurant's cocktail menu is full of botanical-inspired libations, and the Garden Ranch Water is sure to become a summertime favorite.

Ingredients:

• Cilantro salt (see recipe below)
• 2 ounces coconut water
• 2 ounces Topo Chico
• 1½ ounces Lalo tequila
• ½ ounce lime juice
• Lime wedge, for garnish

Steps:

1. Salt the rim of a collins glass with cilantro salt.
2. Add all remaining ingredients into the glass over ice and stir.
3. Garnish with lime wedge.

Cilantro Salt

Ingredients:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• ¾ cup cilantro leaves

Steps:

Run salt and cilantro leaves through a food processor until mixture is bright green.

Created for VERANDA's Sip & Read Book Club, the Lightning Storm hits all the sweet notes of a traditional tiki cocktail—but with an unexpected kick. Ancho chile liqueur gives the drink a spicy and earthy finish that keeps drawing you in for another sip.

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Bring a little French flair to the classic margarita with St-Germain. The liqueur enhances the lime and tequila with its fruity, floral notes, making this recipe an instant hit.

Ingredients:

• 1½ ounces blanco tequila
• 1 ounce St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• Lime wedge, for garnish

Steps:

1. Vigorously shake all ingredients with ice until nicely chilled, and pour into an ice-filled rocks glass (salted rim optional).
2. Garnish with lime wedge.
   

L.A.'s Polo Lounge is an iconic restaurant known for its delicious cocktails and bites. We're probably all craving the impeccable weather and cuisine of Southern California right now, and what better way to experience them at home than with the Polo Lounge's signature cocktail?

Ingredients:

• 1 prickly pear
  
• 2 ounces Patrón Silver
• ¾ ounce grapefruit juice
• ½ part lime juice
• ½ part agave syrup
• Fever-Tree pink grapefruit soda
• Grapefruit slice and pink Himalayan salt, for garnish

Steps:

1. Peel, clean, and slice the prickly pear into several pieces, and muddle until achieving a puree consistency.
2. Measure out ¾ ounce for use.
3. Add puree and all remaining ingredients, except for the grapefruit soda, to a mixing glass with ice.
4. Shake and strain over ice in a pink Himalayan salt–rimmed highball.
5. Top with grapefruit soda, garnish with a crescent moon grapefruit slice, and serve.

New York City is back, and Salon de Ning, The Peninsula New York's iconic rooftop bar, is currently featuring an exclusive, off-the-menu cocktail made with fresh basil from the hotel garden.

Ingredients:

• 3 cucumber slices
• 1 sprig fresh basil
• 2 ounces tequila
• ¼ tablespoon simple syrup
• ¼ fresh lime

Steps:

1. Muddle cucumber and basil in a cocktail shaker.
2. Add tequila, simple syrup, and lime.
3. Shake and pour in a rocks glass on ice.
4. Garnish with an extra sprig of basil.
   

The new Picobar at Solage, Auberge Resorts Collection, is a fusion of Executive Chef Gustavo Rios's two homes: coastal Ensenada, Mexico, and Northern California. This beverage marries the sweet and spice of both destinations, creating a one-of-a-kind libation.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces La Luna Cupreata Mezcal
• 1 ounce lime juice
• ¾ ounce al pastor syrup (see recipe below)
• ½ ounce pineapple juice
• Dehydrated candied pineapple and Tajín, for garnish
  
  Steps:

1. Combine ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake.
2. Pour into rocks glass with ice with a Tajín rim, and top with a slice of dehydrated candied pineapple.

Al Pastor Syrup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup vodka
• ¼ cup cumin
• ¼ cup smoked paprika
• ¼ cup peppercorns
• 3 dried chiles

Steps:

1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan; cook over low heat until sugar dissolves.
2. Remove from heat and add vodka, cumin, smoked paprika, peppercorns, and chiles.
3. Pour into a container and chill until cool (at least 1 hour).

"This fruit-forward and crushable long drink is Mexico City’s signature cocktail," says Darlington in Booze Cruise. "A well-made paloma sings with sourness, sweetness, and a touch of bitterness from grapefruit. And it is a taco’s best friend. It is often made with grapefruit soda, but it’s better with fresh juice. If you like bitter flavor, try an added splash of Aperol or Campari—an addition that helps stimulate the appetite."

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt, to rim the glass (optional; sea salt also works)
• 2 ounces tequila
• 3 ounces fresh grapefruit juice
• ½ ounce fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons simple syrup
• 2–3 ounces club soda
• Lime wheel, for garnish

Steps:

1. Salt the rim of a chilled rocks glass, and fill the glass with ice.
2. Shake tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and simple syrup with ice and strain into prepared glass.
3. Top with soda and garnish with a lime wheel.

Excerpted from Booze Cruise: A Tour of the World's Essential Mixed Drinks by André Darlington. Copyright © 2021. Available from Running Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

While we love a traditional basil smash, this tequila-and-hibiscus version makes a worthwhile twist for summer days by the pool. Cilantro and hibiscus are excellent complements to the reposado tequila used here. Don't forget to double strain the cocktail for extra smoothness.

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce hibiscus tea
• Ice
• 2 ounces Santo Reposado tequila
  
• ½ ounce agave syrup
• ¾ ounce lime juice
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems
• Hibiscus leaves, lime wheel, and edible flowers, for garnish

Steps:

1. Brew hibiscus tea and let cool.
2. In a cocktail shaker with ice, add tequila, hibiscus tea, agave, lime juice, and fresh cilantro.
3. Shake for 30 seconds.
4. Double strain into a cocktail glass filled with ice and garnish.

"A staple of the 1970s, but likely created much earlier, the Tequila Sunrise was popularized by Mick Jagger after he was served one at the kickoff party for the Rolling Stones’ U.S. tour," says Adrienne Stillman in Spirited: Cocktails from Around the World. "The grenadine at the bottom makes the drink look like a sunrise." This classic tequila cocktail is thought to have been created in Sausalito, California, sometime between the 1920s and the 1940s and has been a bar-menu staple ever since.

Ingredients:

• ½ ounce grenadine
• 2 ounces tequila
• 3 ounces fresh orange juice
• Orange half-wheel, for garnish

Steps:

1. Add the grenadine to a collins or highball glass.
2. Add ice, tequila, and orange juice.
3. Stir gently to combine.
4. Garnish with an orange half-wheel.
   

Reprinted from Spirited: Cocktails from Around the World by Adrienne Stillman. © 2020 Phaidon

This refreshing tequila drink reminds us of sunny spa days at our favorite weekend retreat and is an excellent option for serving at your next outdoor garden party.

Ingredients:

• 4 mint leaves
• 4 cucumber slices
• ½ ounce agave syrup
• 2 ounces Solento Blanco tequila
• ¾ ounce lime juice
• Ice

Steps:

1. Gently muddle mint leaves, cucumber slices, and agave syrup in a cocktail shaker.
2. Add tequila, lime juice, and ice, then shake and strain into a martini glass.
3. Garnish with extra mint leaves and cucumber slices.

"If you do drink a margarita in Mexico City, let it be this one. Created by bartender José Luis León at Limantour, his version uses chile pepper, cilantro, and pineapple to mimic the classic flavors of tacos al pastor," says Darlington in Booze Cruise.

Ingredients:

• 4 cilantro leaves
• 2 slices serrano pepper
• 2 basil leaves
• 1 pineapple wedge
• 2 ounces blanco tequila
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 ounce fresh pineapple juice
  
• ¾ ounce Cointreau
• Cilantro salt (see recipe below)

Steps:

1. Muddle cilantro, serrano, basil, and pineapple in a shaker.
2. Add remaining ingredients, except for cilantro salt, and ice.
3. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass rimmed with cilan­tro salt.
   

Cilantro Salt

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt

Steps:

1. Combine cilantro leaves and salt in a food processor.
2. Pulse until mixed and store refrigerated in a sealed container.

Excerpted from Booze Cruise: A Tour of the World's Essential Mixed Drinks by André Darlington. Copyright © 2021. Available from Running Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Those looking for an innovative take on a horchata cocktail will adore this stunning option available at Las Ventanas al Paraíso. The addition of St-Germain adds floral undertones to the creamy coconut and smoky cinnamon.

Ingredients:

• 90 milliliters coconut horchata
• 30 milliliters St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 30 milliliters Runneght Essential Dry
• 10 milliliters Tequila Cosmico Añejo Cristalino
• Smoked with cinnamon

Steps:

1. Add ice to an old-fashioned glass to chill it.
2. Add all the ingredients to a shaker.
3. Add ice and proceed to shake.
4. Serve in the previously chilled glass.
5. Smoke the cocktail with a smoking gun while covered.
6. If no smoking gun is at hand, place some cinnamon bits into a small ramekin and burn them up.
7. Cover the cocktail with a glass or container to get the scents infused with the drink.

This refreshing take on a classic margarita was part of the 2021 Margarita Festival hosted at Grand Solmar Land's End Resort & Spa in Cabo San Lucas. Luckily, they showed us how to make it at home.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces aged tequila (tequila añejo)
• 1 ½ ounces triple sec
  
• 1 ounce pomegranate liqueur
  
• 1 ounce watermelon puree
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• ½ ounce simple syrup
• Basil leaves, for garnish

Steps:

1. Pour tequila, triple sec, pomegranate liqueur, and mashed watermelon into cocktail shaker and shake vigorously.
2. Add lemon juice and simple syrup and shake again.
3. Salt the rim of an old-fashioned glass and add ice.
4. Pour in ingredients from cocktail shaker, and garnish with a basil leaf.