3 Gourmet Twists on Texas’ Beloved Ranch Water Cocktail

(Photo: Megan Bucknall/Unsplash)

With an attention-grabbing name and an origin story steeped in regional lore, ranch water has emerged as an unexpected viral favorite in the tequila cocktail scene.

The drink is made from a simple mix of tequila blanco, lime and Topo Chico sparkling mineral water — basically, a tequila soda with an astringent bite. As legend has it, ranch water was invented accidentally by Texas native Kevin Williamson, who would go on days-long hunts armed with a thermos filled with a margarita and plenty of ice. By the end of his expedition, the concoction was considerably watered down but all the more refreshing.

Today, you’ll find dozens of canned ranch water cocktails competing for your attention on convenience store shelves. More often than not, they abide by the same tried-and-true recipe.

Looking to shake things up, we’ve compiled three one-of-a-kind twists on the cocktail that balance in flavors of pineapple, strawberry, plum and more. All but one are fairly easy to mix up at home if you have the necessary ingredients on hand.

Yellow Brick Road

(Photo: Boulton & Watt)

Named after the iconic route to Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz, the Yellow Brick Road has all the makings of an adventure. This signature cocktail from New York’s Boulton & Watt mixes tequila and mezcal alongside allspice liqueur, pineapple, lemon, elderflower and a comfortable hit of carbonation.

Simultaneously refreshing, smokey and tropical, this is a fantastic summer sipper with heaps of nuanced flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 oz Reposado Tequila
• .5 oz Mezcal
• .5 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
• .5 oz St Germain
• .25 oz Fiddard Caribbean Pineapple
• .25 oz Suze
• .75 oz Clarified Lemon Juice
• 2.75 oz Soda Water

Directions

1. Add all ingredients except soda water into a shaker. Shake well with ice, 15-20 seconds.
2. Strain into a highball glass filled with plenty of ice.
3. Top off with soda water and stir gently with a bar spoon.

Strawberry Sotol Highball

(Photo: Richard Brutyo/Unsplash)

Distilled from desert spoon shrubs found throughout Chihuahua and southern Texas, sotol is a bright grassy spirit with centuries-old origins just as deep as tequila.

In the cocktail world, it goes criminally overlooked. Similar to mezcal, sotol can stand up to crowded flavors without overpowering, adding a vegetal bite right at home alongside ingredients like Aperol, watermelon and cherry.

The Strawberry Sotol Highball exemplifies its best qualities. The minerality of Topo Chico, fresh sweetness of strawberries and light musk of sotol make for an exceptionally light cocktail perfect for skeptics and experienced drinkers alike.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz Sotol
• 1 oz Strawberry Syrup
• 6 oz Topo Chico
• Strawberries, for garnish

Directions

1. Add sotol and strawberry syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice, shaking for 20 seconds.
2. Strain into a highball glass with additional ice.
3. Slowly pour in Topo Chico and mix gently with a bar spoon.
4. Top off with fresh chopped strawberry.

Coa’s Ancho Highball

(Photo: COA/Facebook)

For the third year in a row, Hong Kong’s Coa has been declared the best bar in Asia. So far as gourmet mixology goes, it doesn’t get much fancier than this — Coa is the kind of place that serves a Thai Beef Salad cocktail mixed with angus, peanut and kaffir lime right next to a Mole Negroni brimming with Campari and cacao husks.

One of its best sellers, the Ancho Highball, is similarly elegant. Though you may technically be able to make this guava-plum spritzer at home, it requires a chemistry-like construction of sous vide fruits and citric acid solution. Best of luck.

Ingredients

• .5 oz ml Salted Plum-Infused Blanco Tequila
• .5 oz ml Ancho Reyes Verde Chile Liqueur
• 1 tsp Citric Acid Solution
• 3 oz Guava Soda

Directions

1. To make infused tequila, sous vide 100 grams of salted plum with 750 ml tequila for 10 minutes at 62 degrees celsius.
2. To make citric acid solution, combines 25 grams citric acid and 100 grams water.
3. Once finished, combine infused tequila, chile liqueur and citric acid solution in shaker. Dry shake for 10-15 seconds, then double strain into a highball glass.
4. Top off with guava soda, stirring gently with a bar spoon.

Read More: 

From Hidden Freezers to Underground Sex Shops: A Tour Through the World’s Most Secretive Tequila Speakeasies 

Tequila Ready-To-Drink Roundup: Reviewing Espresso Martinis, Juice Boxes, ‘Dad Water’ and More

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