3 must-try cocktails when in Texas (and how to make them)

As a native Texan, I find the world’s view of what qualifies as a Lone Star State fundamental is either far from the truth or spot-on. For example, do we still ride horses as our primary mode of transportation? No. Is BBQ a culinary staple throughout Texas? Yes. While these questions always give me a chuckle, I especially appreciate being asked what bars to visit and what cocktails are worth a try while traversing Texas.

Texas is ornamented with many distilleries and wineries showcasing the state’s unique terroir. These distinct regions have given bartenders an array of local ingredients, spirits, and wines to experiment with in making distinct craft creations. So, while you could have a margarita just about anywhere on the planet or experience a riff on Ranch Water, a tequila-based and inherently Texas concoction, nothing beats imbibing these drinks while in the state that’s played a significant role in the popularity of these cocktails.

Nico Martini, author of Texas Whiskey and Texas Cocktails, and co-founder of Grayson Whiskey, says: “To me, the quintessential Texas cocktail will always be the Ranch Water. It makes me happy that Ranch Water is having a moment right now because it personifies the Texas craft cocktail scene. And like every good classic cocktail, its origins are hotly contested, and the truth may never be known beyond the fact that it’s absolutely a Texas recipe.”

_{Sign Bar in Austin, Texas. Photo: Chad Wadsworth}

While the past decade’s Texas whiskey boom has undoubtedly impacted local bar programs’ reimagination of classic rye and bourbon-based cocktails such as the Manhattan and old fashioned, many bar professionals acknowledge tequila as being Texans’ most enjoyed spirit. Austin, Texas-based hospitality and beverage consultant Robert Bjorn Taylor says: “Deciding on a definitive cocktail for Texas is always hard. I will say tequila is the spirit of choice in the Lone Star State. Yes, agave is the belle of the Tejas ball.”

Another spirit winning its way onto Texans’ palates is a distilled spirit made from sotol. Sotol isn’t an agave plant. Instead, this desert succulent – native to northern Mexico and western Texas – has flavors comprised of subtly sweet butterscotch, citrusy orange, and herbal notes. I’ve enjoyed Texas-based Desert Door Oak-Aged Sotol in a Sotol’d Fashioned, consisting of the oak-aged sotol, a teaspoon of maple syrup, two dashes of Angostura bitters, and an orange peel.

“Quality and simplicity are the two tenants that cocktails in Texas will always gravitate towards. Looking at cocktail scenes like Dallas, you have a history of innovation through simplicity. It’s remarkable that approachable, high-quality cocktail programs are now the norm and are expected,” Martini adds. “As a side note and a reminder, Texans may not have invented the margarita, but we sure as hell invented the margarita machine – and for that, y’all are welcome.”

Below are recipes for three delicious cocktails created by Texas bartenders, alongside their thoughts on why it’s a must to try while visiting the state (or to recreate at home).

Mayan Weave

_{Chris San Andres at work and the finished Mayan Weave. Photos: Jane Yun}

By Chris San Andres of Ember Kitchen & Subterra Agave Bar, Austin.

Ingredients

1.5 oz/45ml Desert Door Sotol

0.5 oz/15ml blanco tequila

0.75 oz/25ml D'Aristi Xtabentún liqueur

0.75 oz/25ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

One barspoon of honey garlic ginger syrup

Method

• Add one barspoon (roughly 1/8 oz or 5ml) of honey garlic ginger syrup into a small shaker tin.
• Next, add lemon, xtabentún, blanco tequila, and Desert Door Sotol.
• Fill the small tin with ice, combine tins, and shake hard for 5 seconds.
• Rim a chilled Nick and Nora glass with smoked salt before fine straining. Express a lemon swath, discard, and garnish with a dehydrated lemon wheel.

Andres says, “With sotol’s smoky yet vegetal kick as the main feature, the Mayan Weave is a nod to the classic margarita, reimagined with notes of anise, garlic and ginger."

Texas Paloma

By Hospitality & Beverage Consultant Robert Bjorn Taylor.

Ingredients

2 oz/60ml blanco tequila

2 oz/60ml ruby red grapefruit juice

0.5 oz/15ml agave

0.25 oz/7.5ml fresh lime juice

Top S.Pellegrino Sparkling Mineral Water

Garnish grapefruit slice

Tajín rim (optional)

Method

• Add all ingredients excluding soda water to a cocktail shaker with ice.
• Shake well, usually only 10 to 15 seconds.
• Rim desired glassware with Tajín. Add ice to glass.
• Pour cocktail shaker contents into glass. Top with soda and stir with cocktail spoon or straw.
• Garnish with grapefruit half and enjoy!

While Taylor says a spicy marg with a salted rim is the “it” Texas drink, he says he’d opt to introduce cocktail fans to a tall, crisp Paloma. Taylor notes: “It wouldn’t be the traditional version with a grapefruit soda topper, but one showcasing some Texas ruby red grapefruit and soda – a very easy classic that can be made at a hole in the wall to the finest restaurants. It’s definitely a crowd-pleaser as well!”

El Rancho

_{Sign Bar. Photo: Chad Wadsworth}

By Bartender Evan Chew of Sign Bar, Austin. 

Ingredients

1.5 oz/45ml Aguasol Blanco or Aguasol Reposado

0.5 oz/15ml Cointreau

1 oz/30ml hand-squeezed lime juice

Richard's Sparkling Rainwater

Method

• Rim rocks glass with kosher salt. Fill the rocks glass with ice.
• Combine tequila, Cointreau, and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously.
• Strain over fresh ice into salt-rimmed rocks glass.
• Fill with Richard's Sparkling Rainwater. Garnish with lime wedge and serve.

The El Rancho is Texas from start to finish. Aguasol and Richard’s Sparkling Rainwater are both Austin, Texas-based. "The Ranch Water has taken the tequila world by storm in recent years. With only a few ingredients and very quick to make, it’s a bartender’s favorite ‘go-to’ cocktail,” Chew says. “Aguasol is my tequila of choice for a Ranch Water because there are no additives, it’s locally owned, and it’s always a safe bet to drink all night and wake up without that horrible hangover the next day.”