The Best Cantarito Cocktail

You may not be familiar with this traditional Mexican Drink! A Cantarito is similar to a paloma cocktail in that it is a tequila based cocktail made with grapefruit soda and citrus juices. But this drink has a more complex citrus base of fresh squeezed lime, grapefruit and orange juice. The fun part is that it is served in a clay cup that helps keep your drink nice and cold!

This is truly a deliciously balanced cocktail. You get the tartness of lime and grapefruit, sweetness of the grapefruit soda and orange juice and a little salty earthiness from the tequila and kosher salt.

If you love tequila cocktails and are ready for something other than a margarita you should check out this Tequila Cobbler, Tequila Mojito or Tequila Lemonade!

Cantarito Clay Cups

If you notice in the picture above these cocktails are traditionally served in clay cups. They look like a terra cotta or clay pot that you would plant a small cactus in!

In Mexico these cups are traditionally used for Cantaritos. They are called Jarrito or Jarrito de Barro. Jarrito is translated as “little jug” and Barro is translated as “clay”, so it literally means little clay jug, which is perfect!

You can find these clay cups on Amazon or more artisan options on Etsy. These are the Jarritos I purchased on Amazon.

You can buy them unglazed or glazed.

• UNGLAZED cups will need to be soaked in ice cold water for about 10-15 minutes before you drink from them. This has two purposes; to chill the glass for a really nice cold drink, and to saturate the clay so it doesn’t absorb your cocktail. You will also want to make sure you don’t use soap on these cups, they are meant to only be rinsed with water.
• GLAZED cups are raw clay on the outside and glazed on the inside so your drink won’t soak into the cup. These can also be soaked in ice water but it isn’t totally necessary. They are also generally dishwasher safe.

Drinking Experience

You can absolutely make this Cantarito Cocktail in a normal highball glass BUT I highly recommend purchasing the Traditional Clay Cups!! The drinking experience is equivalent to drinking a Mule out of a copper glass.

The drink stays super cold because of the clay. If you are a tactile person you are going to LOVE the hand feel of the clay cup, it is super cold and slightly wet/sweaty. It’s just unique all around… when have you ever drank out of clay cups!

Ingredients

You need a silver tequila, fresh grapefruit, orange, and lime, and grapefruit soda to make your Cantarito.

Tequila: a silver or tequila blanco works best in this Mexican cocktail. I like Jose Cuervo Traditional ($), Espolon ($$), Cazadores ($$), or Casa Migos ($$$).

Grapefruit Soda: There are a few options for the soda added. You can grab any of these brands: Jarritos, Squirt, Fever Tree, Q Mixers. Use Fresca for less sugar but it will change the flavor of the drink.

Optional Garnish

Garnishing this Cantarito Cocktail with lime, grapefruit or orange cocktails is perfect. But some people like to rim the clay jug with a little Tajin Seasoning, just like you would garnish a margarita glass with kosher salt.

Tajin is classically used for fruits, veggies and meat. It has a semi salty flavor with herbs and spices: dried chilies and dehydrated lime juice.

Make It a Pitcher

If you want to make a pitcher of Cantaritos for a larger group, pop down to the recipe card and follow these instructions:

1. Hover your cursor or finger over the “servings” section in the recipe card.
2. Move the cursor that appears up to the amount of drinks you wish to make.
3. That will change the ingredient amounts in the recipe card.
4. Serve from a pitcher into glasses filled with ice.

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