Paloma - the drink in the sunset

Hi Friends,

Hope you are doing well, in this summer. Some of you may be enjoying the Monsoon. Since I am away from the home country and the Monsoon is not visiting here, everyday I enjoy sunset from a small garden in my backyard. While mesmerized with the colors of the sunset, I got a request from one of our friends to create a new cocktail. I don't know much about cocktails or wines. But my friends praise my spicy bhaja masala (dry roasted spice blended ) margarita, which, I will share in another post. Anyway when I started searching for a new cocktail to try and my eyes captured the one with the sunset hue. Well, this peach sunset hued drink also has a beautiful name Paloma (meaning Dove, peaceful). Paloma is real an easy cocktail with two simple ingredients - grapefruit juice and tequila usually served in a tumbler glass. You can't go wrong with it.
So, lets get tipsy.

Recipe for one serving

Ingredients
1. 2 ounces of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
2. 2 ounces of tequila
3. 1 ounce of honey syrup
4. 5-6 ice cubes
5. 2 ounces of soda
6. 1 tbsp lemon juice
7. 1 tbsp coarse sea salt
8. 1 tsp mixture of lemon zest and grapefruit zest
9. 1 lemon slice to rim the glass
10. Some slices of lime and lemon for garnish

(Note:  Here the measurement for the ingredients is mentioned for one serving. Adjust the measurement according to the number of serves)

Ingredients for honey syrup
1. 1/4 cup of honey
2. 3/4 cup of water


Methods
1. Make the honey syrup by adding the honey and the water in a bowl. Heat it till the honey melts and dissolves in water. Let it cool. (Note: You don't need to wait for the mixture to come to a boil)
2. In a plate add the sea salt, zest of lemon and grapefruit and spread them in one layer. Now apply the juice of lemon slice on the rim of the glass tumbler. Then quickly coat the rim of the glass with the sea salt and citrus zest mixture. Add 3-4 cubes of ice in the well rimmed tumbler.
3. Now in a shaker add 2 cubes of ice, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, tequila, honey syrup and shake it well. Now pour the mixture form the shaker to the tumbler carefully so that it doesn't hamper the salty rim.
4. Finally pour the soda and garnish the tumbler with some lime and lemon slices.

Serve the drink with some sweet and salty cheese crackers or chips. This drink has a unique aroma of citrus grapefruit. The wild floral smell of the honey complements the drink very well. Try the recipe with friends by adjusting the measurement of servings. Let me know in the comment section how it turns out.

Thanks,
Moumita