Where’s me Vera?

Tijuana Tonic.

It seems like a very long time since I wrote about a long drink. So here we go. The Tijuana Tonic is what they like to sip on just over the border from San Diego. Either that or it’s some European blogger’s fantasy of what they might drink there. I forget which. Either way, it’s a great refreshing summer drink and yet summer is still a long way off so let’s just say this one is for my sweltering antipodean readers: G’day mates! Somewhat similar to the Paloma, the Tijuana Tonic sidesteps the problem of finding grapefruit soda (and that really is a problem in northern Europe) by substituting tonic water of which there are about a zillion varieties of these days. I particularly like this drink with Fever Tree Aromatic Tonic but if you can’t find that (it’s relatively new) just use a regular tonic with a dash of Angostura bitters. The way that bitter flavours bring out the tang in a decent tequila works just as well with tonic as it does with more traditional options such as lime or grapefruit and in this case using all three comes up trumps. Assuming you use either fresh white/yellow grapefruit juice or a good quality bottled variety just half an ounce (15ml) of simple syrup will balance the drink nicely. If you have to use the sweeter pink or (God forbid) ruby grapefruit juice then dial back the syrup accordingly. You could very easily scale this drink up to pitcher size for a barbie or picnic. Is it summer yet? Sigh.

Tijuana Tonic.

2oz / 60ml tequila – blanco or reposado as long as it’s 100% agave.

1oz / 30ml white/yellow grapefruit juice (see text).

0.5oz / 15ml simple syrup (see text).

4-5oz / 120-150 tonic water.

1 dash of Angostura bitters (optional – see text).

Build in a Collins glass over ice.

Garnish with a slice of lime – fresh or dehydrated.

Toast Tijuanans – real and imaginary.