Ingredients
Drink
- 60 mlblanco tequila
- juice of 1 lime
- 60 mlfresh orange juice
- 60 mlfresh grapefruit juice
- a pinch of fine salt
- grapefruit soda, to top
Rim and garnish
- coarse salt
- 1lime wedge
- 1lime wheel
- 1orange slice
Equipment
- an unglazed clay cantarito cup
Directions
- Soak a new clay cantarito in water for an hour before its first use, and afterwards rinse it in plain water only. Unglazed clay is porous and takes up detergent, which then leaches into every drink you make in it.
- Rub a lime wedge around the rim and roll it through coarse salt spread on a saucer.
- Fill the cup to the top with ice.
- Add the lime, orange and grapefruit juices and the pinch of fine salt straight onto the ice, and stir. Salt in the drink itself, not only on the rim, is what makes a cantarito taste different from a paloma.
- Pour in the tequila and stir again to combine.
- Top with grapefruit soda and give it one gentle turn with a spoon, no more.
- Garnish with a lime wheel and a slice of orange, and drink it straight from the clay.
- The cup is genuinely the point. Unglazed clay holds the cold far longer than glass and lends the drink a faint earthy mineral note that nothing else reproduces.
Technique
- Fresh juice throughout. Three citrus juices from cartons make a flat, sweet drink with none of the tension this one depends on.
- It comes from Jalisco, the tequila country, where the cups are sold at roadside stands alongside the drink.
- The clay cup can be rinsed and reused indefinitely and gets better with age.
Substitutions
- A tall glass if you have no cantarito, accepting that you lose the mineral note entirely.
- Any grapefruit soda, or soda water with an extra squeeze of grapefruit and a little sugar.
Variations
- Made with mezcal instead of tequila, for a smoky version.
- With chamoy and Tajín around the rim.
- The paloma, which is the same idea without the orange juice.
History
From Jalisco, where the unglazed clay cantarito cup keeps the drink cold and lends it an earthy mineral taste.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cantarito?
Cantarito is a cocktail from Mexico: tequila with lime, orange and grapefruit juice, salt and grapefruit soda in clay. From Jalisco, where the unglazed clay cantarito cup keeps the drink cold and lends it an earthy mineral taste.
How long does Cantarito take to make?
Cantarito takes 5 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 1 drink. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Cantarito?
Yes, within limits. A tall glass if you have no cantarito, accepting that you lose the mineral note entirely. Any grapefruit soda, or soda water with an extra squeeze of grapefruit and a little sugar.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cantarito?
The cup is genuinely the point. Unglazed clay holds the cold far longer than glass and lends the drink a faint earthy mineral note that nothing else reproduces.
