Cantaritos are a popular Mexican cocktail recipe made with tequila, citrus fruits, salt, and bubbly grapefruit soda. Each one is sweet, tangy, and incredibly refreshing!
Table of Contents
📖 About
Closely related to a paloma, a cantarito is a type of tequila-based cocktail from Mexico. Traditionally, cantaritos are served in clay jugs called jarritos de barro, which means "little jugs."
These drinks are popular all over the country, and there are even restaurants that specialize in them. Every great cantarito is served with the juice of multiple different citrus fruits:
- Grapefruit
- Orange
- Lime
- Lemon (sometimes)
The combination of citrus, a pinch of salt, a generous pour of tequila blanco, and fizzy grapefruit soda makes for a drink you're guaranteed to love!
Note: If you google jarritos, you will find the popular Mexican soda brand. Their logo is a drawing of 3 jarritos sitting together.
History
Cantaritos are known to have originated in the state of Jalisco, which is no surprise as this is the birthplace of tequila.
In fact, Tequila is actually a little town located just North West of Guadalajara. It was here that the first large-scale tequila distillery was built (all the way back in the 1600s!).
If you're ever in the area, make sure you check out Cantaritos el Güero! They are a roadside bar that specializes in this delicious drink.
If you're able to get through the "extragrande" cantarito cup (more like bucket), a massive kudos to you!
🏺 More on cantarito cups
Cantarito cups (jarritos de barro) come in many different sizes and add a unique drinking experience. Plus, they keep your drink extra cold and refreshing.
Since jarritos are made of clay, it's best to cure them before making a cantarito recipe. This helps to clean the insides and prevent the cups from sweating. Follow these quick steps:
- Rinse. Before you use the cups, rinse them with water.
- Submerge. Place the cups in a large pot or basin of cool water, making sure they're fully covered.
- Soak. Keep the cups in the water for about 15 minutes or so.
- Rinse. When you're finished, rinse your cups once more with water.
- Repeat. The next time you make cantaritos, start at step 1.
Buying tip: If you live in Mexico, most places that sell ceramics or pottery will have these cups. If you're not in Mexico, you can buy jarritos online. Just check that they're made with natural clay.
🍲 Ingredients & substitutions
For complete ingredient measurements and instructions, see our recipe card.
- Tequila: We prefer tequila blanco in our cantarito drinks for a milder flavor. Choose any brand you like, or replace tequila with white rum, vodka, or gin.
- Citrus: Add lime, orange, grapefruit, and lemon. We prefer using all four fruits, but use at least orange and lime.
- Grapefruit soda: Most cantarito recipes are served with Squirt soda. If you can't find it, use Fresca or Jarritos Grapefruit. If you can't find any grapefruit soda, just use extra grapefruit juice, club soda, and a touch of simple syrup.
- Salt: Salt brings out the other flavors and pairs extremely well with tequila. Don't skip it unless you're trying to limit your salt intake.
🔪 Instructions
If you have questions about this cantarito recipe, check out our FAQs or leave a comment.
Step 1: If you’re using jarritos, cure them in a basin of water while you prep the rest of the ingredients. If you don't have jarritos, fill your glasses with ice cubes and water.
Step 2: Squeeze the orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit into a cocktail shaker or cup. Mix in the tequila and a pinch of salt.
Step 3: Fill your cup about halfway up with ice and pour the citrus mixture over top. Fill the rest of the cup with grapefruit soda.
Step 4: Serve with a pinch more salt on top and a wedge of lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit. This cantarito drink is tasty with a lime and salt rim or chamoy rim dip. Happy drinking!
🥗 Serving suggestions
Cantaritos have the perfect mix of tangy, sweet, and salty flavors that go exceptionally well with savory antojitos like:
- Tlacoyos: An ancient snack made of blue corn masa topped with cactus salad.
- Huaraches: Oval-shaped corn and bean bases topped with chorizo, pickled onions, and vegan queso.
- Panuchos: Yucatecan specialty of freshly made corn tortillas stuffed with refried black beans.
- Picaditas: Tender corn cakes topped with green or red salsa, fresh onion, and crumbled queso.
🌡️ Storage
Cantaritos are the hit of every party or gathering! Here are a few suggestions on preparation and storage times:
- Prep ahead: If you're making a big batch, press all the citrus fruits beforehand and keep them in your fridge. When you're ready to serve, you'll just have to add the ice, salt, tequila, and soda.
- Freeze: Try freezing the remaining liquid in ice cube trays and use them to chill your next batch of cantaritos.
♻️ Variations
- Change the soda: If you don't have grapefruit soda, you can try using other flavors like orange, blood orange, lime, or pomegranate.
- Make it virgin: If alcohol isn't for you, just leave out the tequila for an equally delicious and refreshing virgin cocktail.
- Reduced sugar: To lower the sugar content, use a stevia-sweetened grapefruit Zevia instead.
- Choose your rim: There are a few optional rim styles to choose from — lime and salt, chamoy and Tajin, or chamoy rim paste. We can't decide which one is our favorite, but try them all and let us know yours!
- Mezcal: Instead of tequila, try mezcal for a smoky cantarito recipe.
🧑🍳 Top tips
- Use Squirt. The best brand of grapefruit juice for cantarito drinks is Squirt, but Jarritos and Fresca work too.
- Quadruple the recipe. If you're making this for a party, quadruple this recipe and serve it out of a big punch bowl or jug.
- Don't skip the salt. Just like margaritas, tequila shots, and other cocktails, salt enhances the citrus flavors and makes cantaritos taste 10x better.
- Use fresh fruits. You may be tempted to use store-bought juice, but freshly squeezed citrus is what makes this drink so tasty!
- Don't forget to stir. Make sure you stir your drink vigorously to incorporate the juices and tequila.
💬 FAQ
Each cantarito varies in strength based on the total volume, alcohol, and quantity. A cantarito with 7-8 ounces of mix and 1 ½ ounces of 80% proof tequila is about 9-10% ABV.
Most cantarito recipes in Mexico contain tequila blanco, but you can use tequila reposado for a stronger flavor if you prefer.
Curing jarritos isn't entirely necessary. It helps clean the inside and form a barrier to prevent the drink from sweating so it stays cold.
A paloma is made up of grapefruit, lime, soda water, and tequila. A cantarito contains grapefruit, lime, orange, lemon (sometimes), grapefruit soda, and tequila.
📋 Recipe
Best Cantaritos Recipe
Equipment
- Jarrito (clay cup)
- Cocktail shaker
Ingredients
Drink
- 1 ounce orange juice ($0.10)
- 1 ½ ounces grapefruit juice ($0.15)
- ¼ ounce lemon juice ($0.05)
- ¼ ounce lime juice ($0.05)
- 2 ounces tequila blanco ($0.61)
- A pinch of salt ($0.01)
- Grapefruit soda* ($0.07)
- Ice
Garnishes optional
- Lime, lemon, or grapefruit wedge
- Lime & salt rim
- Chamoy & Tajin rim
Instructions
- If you’re using a jarritos, submerge them in water while you prep the rest of the ingredients. If you're using regular glasses, fill them with ice and water.
- Squeeze orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit juice into a cocktail shaker or cup. Add in the tequila and salt, then stir.
- Remove the jarritos from the water or empty out your glasses. Fill ½ way with ice and pour the citrus mixture over top. Fill the rest with grapefruit soda.
Video
Notes
- Use Squirt. The best brand of grapefruit juice for cantarito drinks is Squirt, but Jarritos and Fresca work too.
- Quadruple the recipe. If you're making this for a party, quadruple this recipe and serve it out of a big punch bowl or jug.
- Don't skip the salt. Just like margaritas, tequila shots, and other cocktails, salt enhances the citrus flavors and makes cantaritos taste 10x better.
- Use fresh fruits. You may be tempted to use store-bought juice, but freshly squeezed citrus is what makes this drink so tasty!
- Don't forget to stir. Make sure you stir your drink vigorously to incorporate the juices and tequila.
- Optional ingredients are not reflected in the price or calories of our recipes.
- We calculate nutritional information for our recipes with Cronometer.
- Recipe cost calculations are based on ingredients local to us and may vary from recipe to recipe. All prices are in USD.
Nutrition
🍴 Similar recipes
If you enjoyed this cantarito recipe, you might want to take a look at these other refreshing drinks:
- Mangonada: Frozen mango slushie drizzled with chamoy and served with a tamarind straw.
- Agua de piña: Sweet pineapple-infused drink perfect for summer barbecues.
- Agua de sandia: Refreshing and delicious way to enjoy watermelon.
- Agua de tamarindo: Tart, sweet, and unique agua fresca made from tamarind pods.
- Chelada: Beer cocktail made with ice-cold cervezas, salt, and lime juice.
- Grapefruit mezcalini: A smoky mezcal-based cocktail infused with citrus and basil.
Josh
"...a little town located just south of Guadalajara..."
Tequila is NW of Guadalajara, but nice recipe!
Mitch and Justine
Hey Josh!
Pardon our map-reading abilities 😅 — great catch! Should be corrected now. Glad you like the recipe!