Official Post from Mrs. Smith

Monday, July 19, 2010


After the most wonderful wedding and amazing honeymoon, I am making my official return to Shot of Brandi as Mr. Smith! I have some really great things planned, so get excited!

Two weeks ago, Mr. Smith and I spent a relaxing week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I must say that I was disappointed in the overall alcohol to mixer ratio in Mexico. I found myself drinking 3-4 adult beverages at the pool to feel no mind-altering side effects.

The Mr. and I spent our last afternoon on a little bar crawl of downtown Cabo. Browsing the menu of the Giggling Marlin, I was overly excited when I was reminded of a favorite drink – the Paloma!

According to Wikipedia, Paloma is Spanish for “dove.” The easy way to explain the drink is tequila and Squirt. If you can’t find Squirt, then a grapefruit-flavored soda will do. I learned a few years back that the Paloma is the most popular cocktail in Mexico. Yes – read that again. The Paloma is the most popular cocktail in Mexico. Us Gringos in the States think it’s a Margarita!


Upon return from vacation, I was pleasantly surprised to see a recipe for the Paloma on the Everyday Food Blog. While I love Martha, Esquire had a better recipe.

La Paloma

Ingredients
* 2 ounces tequila -- tequila

* 1/2 ounce lime juice

* pinch of salt

* grapefruit soda

Instructions

Combine the tequila (reposado, preferably), lime juice, and salt in a tall glass. Add ice, top off with grapefruit soda, and stir. The soda can be hard to find; we prefer the Mexican Jarritos brand, but anything will do, even, at last resort, lemon-lime soda with a splash of grapefruit juice. Some prefer the salt on the rim of the glass, but we say just throw it in. Others omit it entirely. Don't.