A delicious and refreshing cocktail for summer! Made with grapefruit juice, lime juice, tequila, and jalapeño is sweet, spicy, and tangy. Perfect for enjoying summer nights with snacks.

This is the first cocktail I have ever done on the blog! We are making Plantifully Based history today. Here’s the deal my cocktail knowledge is somewhat limited. My go to drinks are White-claws (don’t judge me). Anything with tequila but especially spicy margaritas, and an occasional glass of rosé or beer. I don’t like most liquors and I really don’t drink all that often. However, in the summer I really do love a cocktail so I wanted to give you one that is easy to make and delicious. And thus The Spicy Grapefruit was born.

I didn’t quite know what to call this. I don’t think it can be considered a paloma because a paloma has grapefruit soda in it or some sort of a fizzy element, which this doesn’t. However, I don’t think it can be entirely considered a margarita either (although closer to that) since it doesn’t have some type or orange liqueur. Being that it has elements of both I would just consider this the child of paloma and a margarita, maybe a palmargarita? Well, now we are just being silly but if someone who does have a bit more knowledge of cocktails would like to let me know what they consider this I would love to hear. In my opinion, all that matters is that it is delicious.

One Tequila, Two Tequila…

Tequila is my go to choice of drink. In my early 20s everyone knew I was always drinking tequila ginger ales, it is just my favorite type of alcohol. For this I would suggest using a silver tequila/blanco tequila, any brand you like will work fine. In my experience, most (if not all) tequila is vegan friendly. There is a great website called barnivore.com, that has a huge database and you can search up alcohols to find out if they are vegan friendly or not. This is usually more of a problem in the filtering of wine and beer but it can never hurt to check. If you prefer to use a different kind of tequila you can of course do that as well, drinks are easy to customize. If you don’t like tequila you can always use vodka or gin.

Fresh Squeezed or Store-bought Juice

Here’s the deal… I am all about efficiency, but I am also all about quality. I find that store-bought grapefruit juice works fine here. If you want to take the time to squeeze the juice of a grapefruit out that is your decision. But if you get a good grapefruit juice that is 100% grapefruit juice I promise it will be delicious. I really like the one from the brand Simply, it’s great and a brand I like.

Now, for our limes that’s a different story. Fresh lime juice is the way to go here, anytime I have used a prepackaged lime juice I feel like it just tastes like cleaner. The fresh limes taste so much better and add the right amount of tang and flavor. Just get yourself a juicer if you don’t have one, they are cheap and make it easier to squeeze the limes plus no pits!

Tips for Making a Pitcher/Make Ahead

Depending on your crowd and vibe you may not want to be making drinks one by one. When I have company I actually like to just make a giant pitcher of the drink without the tequila, then everyone can add in the tequila to their preference. This will also help if people don’t want to use tequila and want a different alcohol. If everyone is on board to drink tequila then go forth with a pitcher.

Keep in mind that if you make the pitcher and let it sit for a while (3-4 hours) in the fridge it will continue to get spicier as the jalapeño infuse in the drink. Again, I would still suggest even if everyone is on board to drink the tequila to just wait until 20-30 minutes before serving to add the tequila. I would also suggest rimming the glasses only about an hour before serving. The mixture of the coarse sea salt and Tajin is just perfect.

Do I Really Need a Shaker?

Whenever I make drinks I don’t actually get out shakers and measuring devices. I start pouring, taste as I go (don’t double dip a spoon if you are sharing), and adjust from there. So, if you don’t have all the fancy stuff to make drinks don’t worry it’s not entirely necessary. Was it fun to make a cocktail this way? Definitely but just as easy to pour it in a glass and give it a mix. Also, of course if you are making a pitcher you are just going to pour it all in there and then mix it anyway. If you don’t have a shaker, you can always use a jar with a lid or just stir it.

Always adjust the drinks to your preference. I used 1.5 ounces of tequila in these drinks, the tequila was light. It’s better to add less than have too strong of a drink. My sister and mother both said they would’ve liked a little more tequila in it so we just add an extra splash or two not a problem!

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