No. 40Tequila & Mezcal
Pickle Ranch Water
Tall, dry and Texas-cold, with a splash of the jar.
Pickle Ranch Water is tequila, fresh lime and a splash of dill pickle brine topped with sparkling mineral water. There is no sugar or liqueur, so it drinks crisp, dry and lightly salty, like a margarita that went for a swim. Topo Chico is the Texas standard for the bubbles.
21+Updated
Brine2/52 of 5
HeatNonenone
StrengthMedium
- Glass
- Collins glass
- Method
- Built in the glass
- Time
- 2 min
- Makes
- 1 drink
Ingredients
Make it for
Units
Amounts for 1, in ounces.
- 2 oz blanco tequila
- ¾ oz fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
- ½ oz dill pickle brine (chilled)
- 4 oz sparkling mineral water (chilled, such as Topo Chico)
- 1 dill pickle spear (for garnish)
- 1 lime wheel (for garnish)
- Glass
- Collins glass
- Garnish
- pickle spear and lime wheel
How to make it
- Fill a collins glass with ice.
- Add the tequila, lime juice and brine.
- Top with the mineral water.
- Stir once, gently.
- Garnish with a pickle spear and a lime wheel.
Bar tips
- Pick a strongly carbonated mineral water and keep it ice-cold so the drink stays lively to the last sip.
- It is meant to be dry. If it tastes too sharp, stir in 0.25 oz agave syrup.
- Squeeze the lime fresh: bottled juice tastes flat in a drink this simple.
Make it your own
- Bottle method: pour off about a third of a cold 12-oz bottle of mineral water, then slowly add the tequila, lime and brine straight into the bottle.
- Use reposado tequila for a softer, slightly vanilla version.
Bar lore
Ranch Water is a West Texas favorite, traditionally topped with Topo Chico, a sparkling mineral water bottled in Monterrey, Mexico, since 1895.
Drink responsibly. This one is for adults of legal drinking age. Want it without the booze? The zero-proof drinks are just as briny.
Full recipe: dillin.org/recipes/pickle-ranch-water
