Smoothest Tequila Cocktails

Stop shooting And Start Enjoying Mexico’s Trademark Spirit.

Tequila has long been the party-animal of the liquor world. Tossing back a shot with a lick of salt and a lime wedge certainly gets the job done. But eventually, most of us want a bit more from our nights out. As you get older, you appreciate taking things a bit slower. Or maybe you’d just like to remember the evening the next day.

Tequila wasn’t made to be slammed. Sure, it goes down easy, but Mexico’s favorite spirit deserves to be enjoyed. And we take it even further than that. We believe that tequila deserves to be experienced, not taken like bad medicine. So, to find out how to drink tequila like an adult, read on.

 

What Do I Need to Drink Tequila Like An Adult?

You don’t need anything fancy. And you don’t need to spend a bunch on accoutrements. You likely only need to make a few simple purchases to change the way you feel about tequila. Here's what it's going to take. (Save the salt and lime wedges for taco night).

  • Proper Tequila: You can’t experience good tequila without having, believe it or not...good tequila. Look for bottles that indicate they are made with 100 percent blue agave. We’ll dive a bit deeper on this angle in a moment.
  • Proper Glassware: This time, we’re skipping the shot glass. The glassware that you use for sipping tequila can actually have a significant impact on your experience. Trust us; it’s kind of our thing. Whether it’s traditional tequila glasses, snifters, flutes, or even wine glasses, they all have their place.

We told you it wouldn’t take much. So, let’s get into it. We’ve talked about what you need, now let’s talk about how to do it.

Proper Tequila: How To Pick A Great Bottle

The great thing about good tequila is that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a fantastic bottle. Here’s what to look for.

The bottle must say somewhere on the label, “100 percent blue agave.” Look for some form of that phrase. Pro-tip: It might be in Spanish, which reads “Hecho con 100% de agave azul.”  Any tequila bearing this labeling is sure to be of a decent quality.

Perfect tequila is just distilled water and blue agave. The others are called mixtos or “mixtures,” and they can have any manner of other ingredients.

These can be sweeteners, artificial colorings and flavors, inferior agave, and other spirits. Not only do these not taste as great as the real deal, but they are infamous for delivering a head-splitting hangover due to all the extra sugar and artificial bunk.

Part of tequila’s beauty lies in its simplicity. High-quality agave goes a long way towards producing a great spirit. For an in-depth look at why you might be drinking tequila wrong, departures.com has a great article here.

 

Does The Type of Glass Really Make a Difference?

When you take a shot of alcohol from a shot glass, you don’t really taste much. That’s the point. A shot glass has no room for anything other than the 1.5 ounces of liquid, so only a tiny percentage of the alcohol is exposed to oxygen.

That, and the glass makes the liquid pour in a narrow stream, quickly, straight into the back of the mouth. These two effects do a lot to help mask the taste and the burn of alcohol.

When you want to truly taste tequila, you need it to open up by exposing the spirit to oxygen. This helps to activate aromatics in the alcohol, so you’re not only tasting but also smelling all that the drink has to offer.

This is where the shape of a glass comes in. With a wine glass, for example, the tulip shape is more than just a traditional design. The wide bowl and tall, angled sides help add oxygen into the liquid and trap the fragrant, blooming aromatics in the glass.

This style of glass also lets the alcohol pool in a wide, shallow area. This allows the alcohol in the glass to warm, either by the environment or by the drinker’s hand, further releasing aromatics and making it easier to taste.

Optimal tasting temp, most agree, is at or around room temperature, about 68 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. So before you go adding ice to that glass of tequila, let it open up and taste it before you cool it down.

 

Best Glasses for Tequila

Believe it or not, different styles of glasses can significantly alter the flavors and aromas in tequila. If you don’t believe us, we can only suggest that you give it a try yourself. And who doesn’t love a little experimentation when it involves tequila?

So, which glasses should you use? Let’s take a look.

Wine Glasses

The glass we used in our previous explanation is an excellent vessel for tasting nearly any alcohol. Whether it's stemmed or stemless, the tulip-shaped glass lets you swirl the drink around to open things up.

Any wine glass will do, but our favorite is a white wine glass. It's slightly smaller and shorter, so it keeps the alcohol kick a little higher while still allowing the spirit to bloom. (Give it a shot with whiskey, as well.)

Rocks Glasses

Where the wine glass has angled sides to keep aromatics in the glass, a rocks glass has straight sides. With straight sides, the flow of alcohol is flattened out to an even greater extent as it hits your tongue.

The flavors and body take on a smooth texture in a rocks glass. But, without the trapping effect of the angled sides, the alcohol’s heat remains a bit stronger. Our Diamond Whiskey Glasses give the best of both worlds with steeply angled sides and angular fluting paired with the tilted base. For casual sipping, they are hard to beat.

Traditional Tequila Glasses

A traditional tequila glass likely looks different than any other glass in your cabinet. This conventional style is short, only holding about four to five ounces of liquid, but it is wide, with sides that angle outward like a martini glass. It's sort of like a heavy, small bowl.

Our Bond Stemless Martini Glasses make a great stand-in for this very old-school design. This design keeps the tequila closer to your nostrils as you lift it to your lips. It lets the spirit open up beautifully while giving you a nose-full of the tequila’s aromatics.

This is one of the best ways to truly experience a tequila, whether you're drinking a crisp Blanco or an Anejo with some decent aging to it.

Flutes

Lastly, we have the flute. It’s a familiar shape made all the more elegant with the addition of sparkling wine. But the fancy flute isn’t just for sparkling beverages. The flute has tall steep sides, yet it allows very little oxygen to become involved with the alcohol.

This does two things. First, it keeps the aromas finely condensed in the glass, allowing for a concentration of the smells and flavors in your tequila of choice.

Secondly, the tall sides form a long, fine stream of alcohol as it hits your tongue. This can subdue some of the harsher notes and enable you to taste notes you otherwise would have missed.

This is one of our favorite ways to enjoy a good Tequila. It allows for oh-so-slow sipping and can make even the hottest tequila mellowed and relaxed. Plus, everyone just looks fancier with a flute in their hand.

 

It Isn’t Rocket Science, Folks.

That’s really all there is to it. Hide the shot glasses, the salt, and the limes. Break out the nice barware. And make sure you pick a tequila (or three) made with 100 percent blue agave.

We’ve told you how, now it's up to you to host your own tequila tasting event. Sure, you can do it alone, but more is merrier. And that’s especially true when tequila is involved. Check out this article from architecturaldigest.com for some festive tequila tasting ideas.

And Now, A Cocktail

Though we’ve been preaching the virtues of drinking tequila on its own, we are still fans of a great cocktail.

Since Saint Patrick’s Day is today, we thought we’d end this article with one of our favorite tequila cocktails that just so happens to be green. The Mercadito is a little sweet, a little sour, and a little spicy. It’s the perfect way to start your Saint Patrick’s Day off right.

 

The Mercadito

  • 2 ounces tequila blanco
  • 5 tablespoons simple syrup
  • 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 4 thin cucumber slices
  • 1 pinch cilantro
  • 1 thin jalapeño slice

 

  1. Fill a rocks glass ¾ with ice and set aside to chill.
  2. In a shaker, muddle 3 cucumber slices, cilantro, and jalapeno slice.
  3. Add tequila, simple syrup, and lime juice.
  4. Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard until thoroughly chilled.
  5. Strain contents of shaker into the ice-filled rocks glass. Top with more ice if necessary.
  6. Garnish with the last slice of cucumber and a sprig of cilantro.

 

Do you have your own favorite way to enjoy tequila like an adult? Do you have a fabulous tequila-based green cocktail you think we should try? We’d like to hear about it in the comments section below.