Recipes

27 Drink Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

Frozen margarita? Uh, no thanks. Drink these instead.
Image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage and Mojito
Linda Xiao

We love eating all the tacos on Cinco de Mayo, but let's be real: This "holiday" is all about the drinks. There's no way we're passing up a margarita. Or a Paloma. Or anything with tequila in it. Here are 27 of our favorites.

  • A saltrimmed paloma cocktail garnished with two triangles of grapefruit.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Micah Morton
    1/27

    Paloma

    On a blazing summer day, nothing hits quite like a sweet, sour, and lightly salty paloma cocktail that comes together in just a moment.

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  • Image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Food Ketchup and Plant
    Peden + Munk
    2/27

    Especiado Cocktail

    Find dried hibiscus flowers at Mexican grocery stores, or buy tea bags at the supermarket.

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  • This image may contain Drink Lemonade Beverage Cocktail and Alcohol
    Ben Dewey
    3/27

    Pineapple and Mezcal Tonic

    Mezcal: trending! Like tequila, mezcal is made from the agave plant, but it’s got an inherent smokiness, too. If you haven’t had it before, this cocktail recipe is a great place to start.

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal and Plant
    Keirnan Monaghan & Theo Vamvounakis
    4/27

    Red Sangria With Herbs and Citrus

    Just because this is an infused mixture of wine, brandy, and orange liqueur doesn’t mean you can just throw anything in there and expect it to taste good. Use spirits you’d be happy to sip on their own. This recipe is from Morcilla, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

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  • Mezcal Paloma cocktail recipe
    Marcus Nilsson
    7/27

    Mezcal Paloma

    If you use mezcal, choose a mild one that is not too smoky, like Amarás.

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  • Image may contain Glass Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Wine Wine Glass Food and Ketchup
    Alex Lau
    8/27

    Blood Orange Sangria

    RockSugar uses the juice of calamansi, a delicious but hard-to-find citrus fruit. We approximated its flavor with a mix of other citrus.

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  • Image may contain Plant Fruit Food Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Glass and Ketchup
    Alex Lau
    15/27

    Watermelon Margarita

    Out of tequila? Never fear: Using vodka instead makes this watermelon margarita recipe just as delicious.

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  • This image may contain Potted Plant Vase Plant Pottery Jar Herbs Planter Mint Drink Cocktail Alcohol and Beverage
    Photo by Wynn Myers
    16/27

    Common Lily

    In the fall, make this drink with a fresh fig instead of blackberries.

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  • Image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage and Glass
    Alex Lau
    21/27

    Tepache Highball

    This stiff drink, lightly sweetened with agave nectar (of course), could easily replace scotch and soda as your regular nightcap.

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  • Image may contain Drink Cocktail Alcohol Beverage Juice Food and Ketchup
    Alex Lau
    22/27

    El Coco

    This recipe uses tepache, a fermented pineapple liquor commonly sold by street vendors in parts of Mexico. But we show you how to make your own!

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