Floral, tart, and not too sweet, this pretty-in-pink cousin to the margarita gets a kick from fresh ginger and vibrant hibiscus.
Happy Cinco de Mayo! To celebrate Margarita Week, hosted by the lovely Kate of Hola Jalapeño, we’re drinking a whole lot of these palomas – and not just because I made way too many of them during this shoot. Also because YUM.
I’ve been hooked on palomas ever since discovering their existence at my favorite Marin restaurant, Marinitas. Although traditionally made with grapefruit soda, Marinitas makes their paloma with fresh grapefruit juice, good tequila, and housemade lime soda. They go down way too easy, especially with warm tortilla chips and a trio of salsas.
This paloma gets a pretty-in-pink hue from dried hibiscus flowers and a floral kick from freshly grated ginger. Pink grapefruits are sweet as candy right now in California. In addition to the sweet-tart juice, I love the bitter and floral notes in the peel, so I add it to the syrup along with hibiscus flowers to punch up the flavor: think really classy grapefruit soda. And since I love the bite of fresh ginger, I grate a whole bunch to steep with the syrup.
Tequila always tastes a bit salty to me, almost vegetal, making it the perfect spirit for hot climates. When mixed with ginger hibiscus syrup, a good pour of grapefruit juice, and a squeeze of lime, the result is a tart, not-too-sweet refresher that, as Jay put it, “Looks like Kool-aid but tastes a whole lot better.” The man has a way with words.
I hope you love these as much as we do! If you make them, take a photo and tag me on instagram (@The_Bojon_Gourmet and #BojonGourmet). And be sure to check out all the margarita goodness over at Hola Jalapeño.
Hibiscus Ginger Palomas
Print Recipe / Pin RecipeIngredients
Hibiscus Ginger Grapefruit Syrup: (makes ½ cup, enough for 4 drinks)
- ¾ cup water (175 ml)
- ¼ cup dried whole hibiscus flowers (8 g)
- ¼ cup organic granulated cane sugar (25 g)
- 1 medium grapefruit
- ¼ cup lightly packed coarsely grated fresh ginger (30 g)
Paloma:
- ¼ cup strained pink grapefruit juice (60 ml)
- 3 tablespoons reposado tequila (45 ml)
- 2 tablespoons hibiscus ginger syrup, above (30 ml)
- 1-2 teaspoons lime juice, to taste (5-10 ml)
- ice
- sparkling water
- lime slices or grapefruit wedges, for garnish
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, hibiscus, and sugar. Use a vegetable peeler to pare away the colorful part of the grapefruit skin in long strips. Add these to the pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the grated ginger, cover, and steep for 10-20 minutes. Strain through a sieve, reserving the liquid and pressing on the solids to extract all the good stuff. Discard the solids and chill the syrup until cold.
- To make a paloma, combine the grapefruit juice, tequila, syrup, and the smaller amount of lime juice. Pour into a glass filled partway with ice cubes, and top with a splash of sparkling water. Add more lime if you feel the drink needs it. Garnish with a lime slice or grapefruit wedge if you like, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Ahhh, your drink photos are always so stunning and these drinks look fabulous! I can see that my Cinco de Mayo needs to have some of these!
These look so refreshing! I’m making my grocery list now so I can have these tonight. Beautiful pictures as always.
These photos are gorgeous and make me want to jump right in! Palomas are a drink that I kind of forget about, but they have tequila so I don’t know why I’m not making more of them!
Your photos make me swoon!! This homemade grapefruit soda business is fantastic. Thanks so much for joining in the tequila-loving fun!
Aw, thanks lovely!!
I can picture it now…you, me, Catamus, Jay and Fiona, sipping hibiscus ginger palomas in the middle of the public square. Fabuloso!!
Catamus would love that!
The prettiest pink! Stunning! <3
This sounds SO GOOD. I would like a million of them, please.
Can’t wait to make this over the weekend!
This sounds and looks so refreshing. Bookmarked!
I would like this to flow from a hose directly to my mouth…
I’m loving the flavors here! I recently made a paloma with basil and jalapeno. Grapefruit goes well with so many flavors. I’m making one of these this weekend :)
This sounds so good Alanna, especially the home made soda. Your cocktail pictures are dreamy.
Cheers hun.
xoxo
That color is simply stunning! Pretty-in-pink, indeed!
This sounds absolutely amazing. I’ve been wanting to make a hibiscus infused vodka and will have to add simple syrup to that list. Can’t wait to try this.
Xoxo, Jacque
http://Www.mixplorology.com
Awesome cocktail, the pictures look really tempting. I should give this a try very soon, thanks for sharing :)