If you love margaritas, you'll love this refreshing, floral rose water paloma cocktail. A balanced cocktail with zesty pink grapefruit, fragrant rose syrup, a splash or rose water, sparkling water, and tequila of course. It pays homeage to the classic cocktail, but with a handful of botanical ingredients - you have a gorgeous garden inspired twist.

This Paloma cocktail recipe is a beautiful balance flavor between the distinctive oak flavor in tequila, fresh squeezed sour grapefruit juice, and sweet delicate floral flavors syrup. If you plan to make a delicious and unique tequila cocktail for cinco de mayo, you're in dire need of a lesson in Palomas - and you must give this recipe a try! Don't be surprised if you end up with a new favorite cocktail. And if love rose in your cocktails, you will love our selection of hand picked delicious rose water cocktails.

overhead shot of grapefruit ROSEMARY PALOMA with rose petals and grapefruit

Table of Contents

What is a paloma?

Paloma translates from Spanish to "dove", which is very fitting for this beautiful drink. Traditionally Palomas contain tequilas and grapefruit. If you can find grapefruit sparkling water, like a traditional grapefruit soda it's recommended in this recipe to keep it traditional. Fresca is also a great, easy to find choice.

Our spin on the traditional cocktail

Our recipe can not be considered traditional, as we used grapefruit juice, rose syrup + sparkling water instead of grapefruit soda. These are our variations of this wonderful and popular drink, which adds a refreshing take, and a perfect balance of sweet that make the citrusy flavors pop.

Ingredients

Tequila
Freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
Rose water
Rose simple syrup
Sparkling water or sparkling grapefruit flavored water / soda
Fresh ice

ingredients for rose simple syrup:

Fresh organic rose petals or dried organic rose buds or petals - if whole flowers are inaccessible to you, use rose water. Instructions in recipe card below.
Raw honey (optional - and any honey of choice will do) try rose infused honey for the most beautiful floral rose syrup!
Water
Sugar

Tools:

Citrus juicer
Cocktail shaker
Highball glass

Step by step how to make it:

Step 1: Start by making your rose simple syrup and rose water if you're making them from scratch.

Step 2: Squeeze your grapefruit juice into your mixer. Add your tequila, rose syrup and rose water.

Step 3: Shake and pour into a glass with ice. Leave room for sparkling water or grapefruit soda.

Step 4: Fill your glass with sparkling water or soda. Garnish and serve!

Pro tips:

Make the rose syrup before you want to make this cocktail to give it a change to cool and thicken before using it in your cocktail.
Use freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. It tastes so wonderful and refreshing in comparison to grapefruit concentrate juice from the bottle.

Recommended garnish:

I love a beautiful cocktail garnish. I like to garnish this gorgeous recipe with a slice of candied grapefruit, organic rose buds or a candied rose petal.

Frequently asked questions:

What tequila do you recommend for a rose paloma?:

Chamucos Blanco Tequila - With agave notes - the taste of this spirit is complex and rich, with woodsy flavor with notes that are just right for someone who wants their alcohol intake without being overbearing about it!

Surete Blanco - The Suerte Desert Cocktail is a refreshing and herbal drink that will have you feeling refreshed in no time! The finish has just enough sour to it, making for an enjoyable experience.

Pasote Tequila Blanco- For those who love a little spice in their life, we have the perfect tequila for you. For Palomas is herbaceous and spicy with notes of black pepper from Pasote - ancho chiles that give it authentic flavor!

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