The Paloma is already one of the more underrated tequila drinks — tart, effervescent, easy to build. But it doesn’t ask much of you, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need. The Tequila Twilight started there and added two things that earn their place: a half-ounce of Aperol for a soft bitter backbone, and a couple dashes of orange bitters that pull the citrus into something rounder and more layered.
This drink came out of the Spritz World Cup series, a batch of recipes built around the tournament — each one tied to a country, each one trying to say something about what that country brings to the glass. The Mexico slot needed something that felt native to tequila and citrus without being a straight Paloma reprint. The Aperol was the move that made it its own thing.
The salted rim is not optional here. It’s doing real work — it bridges the grapefruit’s tartness and softens the Aperol’s bitterness before the drink even hits your palate. Don’t skip it, and don’t go heavy with it. A light, even coat around the top half of the rim is what you want.
The orange bitters don’t announce themselves, but without them the drink is flatter. Two dashes is the right number.
Aperol and grapefruit are natural partners — both are citrus-forward and bitter in a gentle way. The lime juice adds a sharper edge that keeps the whole thing from going soft, and the tequila blanco underneath stays bright and present rather than getting buried. The result is a Paloma that tastes like it’s been to a few more bars.
Why this works
Blanco tequila is the right call here — reposado would add barrel warmth that competes with the Aperol rather than complementing it. The grapefruit soda does double duty as sweetener and carbonation, so you don’t need simple syrup and the drink stays refreshing rather than cloying. Aperol’s low ABV means it adds color and bitterness without throwing off the balance. The orange bitters are the quiet ingredient that ties everything together — they’re the reason the drink tastes cohesive rather than like four things in a glass.
Tips & variations
- Campari instead of Aperol: Untested, but the logic is sound — Campari is drier and more intensely bitter, which would push the drink in a more assertive direction. Start at 1/4 oz rather than 1/2 oz and taste from there. A different drink, but probably a good one.
- The rim: Use flaky sea salt over fine-grain table salt. Kosher salt works too. Whatever you use, run a lime wedge around the rim first and keep the salt coat light.
- Scaling it: This builds easily for a crowd — pre-mix the tequila, Aperol, and lime juice in a pitcher, then pour over ice and top each glass individually with grapefruit soda. Don’t batch the soda.
Make it in Spritz
The Tequila Twilight is saved in the app with the full recipe already dialed in. Scale it to however many you’re making, check it against your bar to see if you have everything (or what you’re missing), and save it to your collection for next time. If you want to riff further — swap the base spirit, adjust the bitterness, try it with something other than grapefruit — Fritz can build you a variation from whatever you actually have on hand.
Open this recipe in Spritz →
