Mexico City
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 20.6% ABV ∙
The Mexico City is a shaken tequila cocktail built with orange liqueur, lime, sweetened cranberry juice, and sugar syrup, served up in a coupe. Silky and bright, it hits with tart lime up front before a soft, rounded sweetness carries through to a warm, faintly oaky finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Tequila reposado 45 mlCognac orange liqueur (e.g., Grand Marnier) 20 mlLime juice 15 mlCranberry juice 15 mlSugar syrup 10 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a lime wedge
Tips
- Pre-chill the coupe before straining so the drink stays cold without extra dilution from sitting in a warm glass.
- Shake hard and fine-strain to keep pulp and ice shards out, giving a clean, glossy pour into the coupe.
- Taste before adding extra sweetener — the sweetened cranberry juice and sugar syrup together already build a noticeable sweetness against the lime.
History
Mexico City is a tequila-based riff on the Cosmopolitan, swapping citrus vodka for reposado tequila and cognac orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier for plain triple sec, while keeping the Cosmopolitan's signature lime and cranberry. No individual creator or date is documented for this variant itself; it belongs to a family of tequila Cosmopolitan riffs that circulated in cocktail recipe collections from the 2000s onward.
The Cosmopolitan it descends from has a disputed birth story. One account credits bartender Neal Murray with adding cranberry juice to a Kamikaze in Minneapolis in 1975, while competing claims point to Miami bartender Cheryl Cook in the 1980s and to Toby Cecchini, who popularized his version at a Manhattan bar in 1988 using citrus vodka in place of plain vodka. The drink's name is generally explained simply as a nod to a cosmopolitan, worldly drinker rather than any specific place.
FAQ
What is in a Mexico City cocktail?
Tequila reposado, an orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier, fresh lime juice, sweetened cranberry juice, and sugar syrup, shaken and served up in a coupe with a lime wedge. The combination gives it an agave base with citrus and berry-sweet notes running through it.
How strong is a Mexico City cocktail?
It comes in at about 20.6% ABV, a moderately strong drink that reads lighter than a straight spirit pour thanks to the juice and syrup in the shake.
