This is one of my favourite summer sugar-free and keto-friendly cocktails! This delicious Paloma Cocktail is a twist on the beloved margarita that we all know and love, but with a grapefruit twist! Made with grapefruit sparkling water, sugar-free simple syrup and lime juice, it's sweet, sour, and refreshing.

THE BEST PALOMA COCKTAIL RECIPE

This is the BEST Paloma Cocktail recipe you are ever going to find! Refreshing grapefruit and lime come together with tequila to create the most spectacular cocktail recipe you are ever going to taste!

Our friends made these for us after they had them at one of their favourite restaurants. Since that first sip, the Paloma cocktail has become my favourite summertime cocktail.

Light and refreshing, these Palomas are the perfect summer sipper!

Paloma Cocktail Ingredients

A traditional Paloma cocktail consists of tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit soda. My sugar-free and keto-friendly recipe is a version of this classic combination.

Here’s what’s in it:

• Tequila – Use any good-quality Blanco tequila in this recipe. I like to use Patron but feel free to use any brand that is your favourite.
• Grapefruit juice and sparkling grapefruit water – I swap the traditional high sugar grapefruit juice for a mix of dried grapefruit crystals and sparkling grapefruit water. I buy my grapefruit crystals from Amazon from a company called "True Grapefruit". As for the sparkling grapefruit water, I use Spindrift.
• Lime juice – Along with the grapefruit juice, it makes this drink deliciously tart.
• Sugar-free Simple syrup – Because I don’t use soda in this recipe, I balance the sour/tart flavor of the grapefruit and lime with something sweet. I call for a small amount of sugar-free simple syrup, but don’t hesitate to add more to taste. You can find my super easy sugar-free simple syrup recipe on my Southside Cocktail post.
• Salt – For the rim of your glass! I like to use coarse Maldon sea salt, but kosher salt would work here too. Maldon Sea Salt are soft yet crunchy sea salt flakes which contain the perfect balance of natural minerals, offering a fresh intensity and clean taste to enhance this summer cocktail
• Ice – A Paloma cocktail is always better on the rocks!

Making a Paloma

Rub the rim of a highball glass or margarita glass with a grapefruit wedge or lime wedge, and dip it in a small plate of salt. Add the tequila, grapefruit crystals, grapefruit sparkling water, lime juice, and sugar-free simple syrup to the glass, stir to combine, and add ice to fill the glass. Add additional sweetener to taste, and garnish with a grapefruit or lime wedge. Enjoy!

Salt or Sugar on the rim

I personally do not enjoy the taste of pure salt on the rim of my glass. However, traditional Palomas do salt the rim.

If you are like me, I make a combination of salt and sugar for my glass by adding allulose to the salt mixture before dipping my glass. This gives me the perfect salty-sweet concoction that I love!

BEST BRANDS OF GRAPEFRUIT SODA

Highest Sugar - Ting - you can buy this at most Target and Walmart stores

Less Sugar - Whole Foods Italian Pink Grapefruit Soda contains less sugar than Ting and is very easy to find

Zero Sugar - Spindrift Sparkling Grapefruit - this one does not contain any sugar

Depending on how much sugar you a lotte yourself in a day, you can pick any of these sodas. This recipe uses Spindrift so if you switch and use a grapefruit soda that has sugar already in it, you may want to decrease the amount of sugar-free simple syrup called for in this recipe.

Also, you can now find grapefruit sugar-free pop like Zevia Grapefruit soda that is sweetened with stevia. IF you use this type of drink mix, do NOT add any sugar-free simple syrup as the drink will be MUCH too sweet. I would also suggest that if you use sweetened grapefruit soda, I would add some additional plain club soda to tone down the sweetness.

WHAT IS PAMPLEMOUSSE ROSE?

Pamplemousse Rose is a blend of red grapefruit and neutral alcohol, the result of which is a light, refreshing flavour emblematic of the ripest of grapefruits.

• Combier Pamplemousse Rose - you can find it at Total Wine for about $24.99
• Giffard Pamplemousse Rose - you can buy it also at Total Wine for about $36.99

For 3.5 oz of Pamplemousse rose, the calorie count is about 30 calories and 4 grams of carbs. Since we are only adding 1 oz, this adds under 10 calories and about 1 gram of carb to the drink.

WHAT ARE THE BEST PRICED TEQUILAS?

According to Esquire, the top 3 Tequilas are:

• Patron - Under $40 for 750ml
• Casa Noble - Under $35 for 750ml
• El Tesoro - The most expensive at $52 for 750ml

WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE TEQUILA?

You can use any type of alcohol you want but just don't call it a Paloma!

As for the lime juice, you can use freshly squeezed limes or I have sometimes used Nellie and Joe's Famous Key Lime Juice when I am in a pinch.

If you like this Sugar-Free Cocktail recipe, you may also enjoy:

Easy Watermelon Cranberry Freedom Cocktail

How to Make Almost Sugar-Free Kombucha

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