Champagne Paloma

A champagne paloma is a tequila-based cocktail with fresh grapefruit and lime juices, as well as a glug-glug of champagne. This cocktail is on the tart side with a slight fizziness from the champagne.

I never feel like doing much of anything in this weird time between Christmas and New Year’s. But beyond a serious amount of TV watching, sweatpants lounging, and leftovers eating, there is a little thing like New Year’s Eve to think about.

We generally keep things low-key and spend the night at home or nearby with friends, and this year is no different. But that doesn’t mean we skimp on fun cocktails and festive eats!

This champagne paloma is a slight variation on a classic cocktail that is tart, ever-so-slightly sweet, and features my favorite liquor (tequila). If you’ve never considered combining tequila and champagne in one drink before, I hope this changes your mind.

The basics

A paloma is a tequila (or mezcal, though it’s less likely we have mezcal on hand) cocktail recipe that features the flavors of grapefruit and lime. I can get down with that. Some versions call for fizzy waters or sweetened, grapefruit-flavored fizzy sodas, but since it’s the holidays and all, how about champagne instead??

Champagne brings the effervescence and a tiny bit of sweetness that pairs so well with the citrus juices here. I usually go with a brut or extra brut champagne as I’m not one for sweet sweet beverages, but something on the sweeter side also works.

Since this tequila champagne cocktail isn’t on the very sweet side, you can add agave nectar or simple syrup to taste if you like. I lean more on the tart side of things so this, as written, works perfectly for me.

Anything champagne and citrus makes me think of mimosas, so this champagne paloma with its grapefruit and lime juices (and tequila) is a fun night cocktail take on a traditional brunch drink. Plus considering this recipe uses just two ounces per cocktail, this tequila champagne cocktail is just the thing to make when you’re left with leftover champagne.

Cin cin!

Cocktail notes

• Brut champagne is my pick here, but if you’re accustomed to sweeter cocktails, a prosecco would work and still bring the bubbles.
• I recommend using blanco (silver) tequila as it doesn’t get in the way of the bright citrus flavors. Mezcal is also great to use if you have that on hand instead.

Champagne Paloma

A champagne paloma is a tequila-based cocktail with fresh grapefruit and lime juices, as well as a glug-glug of champagne. This cocktail is on the tart side with a slight fizziness from the champagne.

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Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Mexican/Fusion

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 1 cocktail

Calories: 180kcal

Author: Alyssa

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (6 tbsp) from about half a grapefruit
• ▢ 0.5 oz fresh lime juice (1 tbsp), from about half a lime
• ▢ 1.5 oz blanco tequila or mezcal
• ▢ Ice
• ▢ 2 oz brut champagne or your preferred variety

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Instructions

• Stir together grapefruit juice, lime juice, and tequila in a glass. Add ice. Pour in champagne and gently stir again.

Notes

Garnish: I garnished each glass with a lime slice and a wedge of grapefruit on which I sprinkled kosher salt. You can salt the rim of the glass if you like, but I kept it simple with just garnishing with fruit.

Scaling Up: If you make two cocktails, you'll use one whole grapefruit and one whole lime for the juices.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cocktail | Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 8.7g | Protein: 0.6g | Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 136mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6.2g | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.2mg

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Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.