Tequilas, tacos, gatos. I just love ‘em. If you and I ever end up in an awkward silence situation, bring up one of those three things and we’re friends for life. Here we have a Paloma with Pasote Blanco, a tequila made by Felipe Camarena using traditional production methods. Felipe built an innovative feature into his distillery to capture rainwater so it can be used in distillation. All three (the Reposado and Anejo are excellent, too) are 40% rainwater and 60% spring water. The quality of water plays a huge role in the end results.

I’ve also chosen another liqueur by Lee Spirits Co. called Forbidden Fruit to sweeten and boost the fresh grapefruit flavor. First created in the late 1800s, this spiced grape-fruit and honey liqueur became a staple in classics from books like The Savoy Cocktail Book and The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book. Forbidden Fruit stopped being made in the 1970s after the product was acquired by the Jacquin’s Company as they re-purposed the bottle design for their new Chambord Raspberry Liqueur. Lee Spirits sourced original bottles to reverse engineer this sweet nectar and grace us with a fun and versatile cocktail ingredient. Colorado honey complements the blend of spices and white grapefruit nicely, but, it’s worth noting, it’s not vegan. (I know it’s sorta obvious. Just wanted to make that clear.) All that's left is salting it how you want it, adding a fresh squeezed citrus, and some Squirt. You might notice I didn't give exact measurements because I prefer to cut citrus as I go and squeeze all that delicious pulp into it. You do you, boo.