The Cantarito: Jalisco Citrus in a Taller Tequila Serve

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The Cantarito is often described as a relative of the Paloma, but that undersells it. Where the Paloma tends to focus on grapefruit and lift, the Cantarito broadens the picture with orange and lime, creating a tequila highball that feels fuller, juicier, and more regional in character.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces reposado tequila
• 1 1/2 ounces orange juice
• 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice
• 1/2 ounce lime juice
• Top off with grapefruit soda
• Garnish with a lime wedge
• Garnish with a tajín seasoning

Directions

• Soak the cantaritos clay pot in water for 5 to 10 minutes to prevent it from absorbing the cocktail.
• Rim a cantaritos clay pot with a lime wedge and dip it in Tajín seasoning.
• Add the tequila, orange juice, grapefruit juice and lime juice to a cantaritos clay pot filled with ice.
• Briefly stir to combine, then top with chilled grapefruit soda.
• Stir gently to combine.
• Garnish with a lime wedge.

A Drink Rooted in Jalisco

The Cantarito is strongly associated with Jalisco, the home state of tequila. It is often served in a small clay cup, the cantarito itself, which helps explain both the drink's name and part of its identity. Like many regional drinks, its exact historical timeline is less clear than its geographic association.

What is clearer is its cultural setting: roadside stops, cantinas, and warm-weather drinking where tequila and citrus naturally belong together.

More Than a Paloma Variation

The key difference is range. Grapefruit still matters, but orange and lime widen the drink and make it feel less linear than a standard Paloma. Reposado tequila also works especially well here because its mild barrel notes sit comfortably under the citrus without becoming too heavy.

That structure gives the Cantarito a little more depth while keeping it refreshingly direct.

Why It Travels Well

Even outside Jalisco, the drink has spread because it offers something familiar and distinctive at once. It belongs to the same tequila-and-citrus world most drinkers already understand, but its broader juice profile gives it a more layered, almost festive feeling.

Served ice-cold, it lands as a highly practical cocktail: bright, sociable, and easy to revisit.

Best in warm weather, daytime service, and casual gatherings where a long tequila drink makes more sense than a sharper, shorter sour.