Happy Belated World Paloma Day and Patio Blooms

May 22 was World Paloma Day. I'm not much of a drinker (and when I say that I mean that the last tequila I had was in a Tequila Sunrise back in the 70s when I was in college). I had never heard of the Paloma, but I did a bit of research and decided to observe the day. I had to do some preparation, as I had no alcohol at all in the house. As a matter of fact I had none of the ingredients. You may remember that this, for us, is the year of frugality and cutting back, but I do still have some disposable monies, and I decided to use some of it towards this as a splurge.

Here's the recipe I used:

2 ounces tequila (blanco or reposado) (I used Jose Cuervo Tradicional Silver)
1/2 ounce lime juice (I used fresh limes)
7 ounces grapefruit soda (or enough to top off the glass) (I used Squirt)

Fill the glass with ice and add the tequila and lime juice.

Top it off with grapefruit soda.

Now is that easy or what?! And tasty. It made a tall glass, and I can't drink that much soda at one sitting. Next time I do this I'll halve the recipe and use a shorter glass.

I'll give you a moment to make your own, and then you can enjoy it while you read about the history of tequila. According to Wikipedia: Tequila "was first produced in the 16th century near the location of the city of Tequila". "When the Spanish conquistadors ran out of their own brandy, they began to distill agave to produce one of North America's first indigenous distilled spirits." "Don Cenobio Sauza, founder of Sauza Tequila and Municipal President of the Village of Tequila from 1884–1885, was the first to export tequila to the United States, and shortened the name from "Tequila Extract" to just "Tequila" for the American markets."

I did a lot of research into tequilas before I decided which one to get. Price is a factor, after all, and I wanted to get the best bang for my buck. After poring over sites reviewing all the many different brands (I mean who knew there were so many?!), I picked the Jose Cuervo Tradicional Silver. Wikipedia says it "is the best-selling tequila in the world, with a 35.1% market share of the tequila sector worldwide and a 33.66% share of the US tequila sector as of July 2013. As of 2012, Jose Cuervo sells 3.5 million cases of tequila in the US annually, and a fifth of the world's tequila by volume." It is quite the family tradition. "Jose Cuervo is family-owned and is run today by the Beckmann family of Mexico, descendants of Don Jose Antonio de Cuervo. Juan-Domingo Beckmann, son of Juan Beckmann, is the sixth-generation leader of the company."

The Paloma is said to be favored over the Margarita in Mexico.

And now I have a bottle of tequila in the fridge along with the rest of the 12-pack of Squirt (can't you buy single bottles of soft drinks any more?), and I'm wishing you could get half-bottles of liquor. Maybe I'll see if there's a Tequila Sunrise Day.... Nope, no day for that.

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Just a quick look at the current state of the patio blooms: