Picador
A citrus and sour tequila cocktail ∙ Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 19.7% ABV ∙
The Picador is a shaken tequila sour of reposado tequila, triple sec, and fresh lime juice, strained up into a chilled glass.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Tequila reposado 45 mlTriple sec 20 mlLime juice 20 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lime twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Reach for reposado rather than blanco; its oak stands up to the triple sec, where a blanco gets lost.
History
The Picador appears in William J. Tarling's Café Royal Cocktail Book, published in London in 1937, where it is listed as tequila, Cointreau, and lime or lemon juice in a 2:1:1 ratio, shaken. That recipe uses the same spirit and proportions later associated with the Margarita. Tarling's book predates the first known published Margarita recipe by roughly sixteen years, making the Picador one of the earliest printed tequila sours of its kind. Nothing in Tarling's book records who created the Picador or why, though its name follows the bullfighting theme he gave several other tequila drinks in the same collection, such as the Toreador and the Matador.
Because the Picador so closely matches the later Margarita in build, some historians treat it as a possible forerunner, suggesting the Margarita may have been an existing drink renamed rather than invented from scratch, though this remains speculation. Unlike the Margarita, the Picador is traditionally served without a salt rim.
FAQ
What is in a Picador?
45 ml reposado tequila, 20 ml triple sec and 20 ml fresh lime juice.
What glass is a Picador served in?
A chilled coupe, with no ice. The drink is fine-strained, and the chilled glass keeps it cold without further dilution.
How is a Picador different from a Matador?
A Matador is usually tequila blanco, pineapple juice and lime, so it is fruitier. The Picador is a tequila, triple sec and lime sour, close to a Margarita, made with reposado tequila, whose oak stands up to the triple sec.
