This Holiday Paloma Recipe features smooth tequila, tart grapefruit juice and a fragrant rosemary simple syrup to create a festive and flavorful drink.
Holiday Paloma Cocktail
If you love margaritas but are looking for something new, you’ll love this fun Holiday Paloma Cocktail!
A traditional Paloma is a tequila cocktail that is made with grapefruit juice. They are one of my favorite drinks because I love tequila, but sometimes I want something a little less sweet than a margarita and a Paloma perfectly fits the bill!
This Christmas Paloma Cocktail takes that classic Paloma recipe and blends it with sweet and fragrant rosemary simple syrup, as well as adding pomegranate pearls to give it a festive vibe. A sprig of fresh rosemary evokes the look of a branch from a Christmas tree — it just looks so pretty!
This is a great cocktail to serve when you’re looking for something unique and not as sweet as some of the holiday drink recipes that are common this time of year. Cheers!
Related: Try our Holiday Pomegranate Margarita recipe too!
Ingredients
For your convenience in recreating this recipe, I’ve included shop-able ad links to some of the tools we used. Read our disclosure policy here.
For the Cocktail
- 1.5 oz Tequila
- 3 oz Grapefruit juice
- 1 oz Tonic Water
- 1 oz Rosemary simple syrup (see below for recipe to make your own)
- Pomegranate pearls, to garnish
- Rosemary Sprig, to garnish
For the Rosemary Simple Syrup
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2-3 sprigs of Rosemary
Bartender Tools We Used
- Stainless steel 2-piece cocktail shaker — This is the style I learned to bartend with and still prefer, but you can use a cocktail shaker with a built-in strainer too. Whatever you’re comfortable with will work!
- Cocktail strainer — These are super handy to have on hand, for more than just making drinks!
Instructions
If you are making your own rosemary simple syrup, you’ll want to give yourself about 30 minutes to cook and cool it before mixing up a batch of cocktails. Directions for both are below:
To Make the Rosemary Simple Syrup
- Combine the water, sugar, and rosemary in a medium saucepan over high heat.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat.
- Cook until sugar is completely dissolved, stirring frequently.
- Remove pan from heat and allow to cool before using. Remove the rosemary and add to your compost bin.
To Make Holiday Palomas
- Fill a cocktail glass with ice.
- Pour tequila, grapefruit juice and rosemary simple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake just enough to mix the ingredients.
- Strain mixture into your prepared glass and top with tonic water.
- Garnish with pomegranate arils and a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Prep Tips
- Don’t want to make your own rosemary simple syrup? You’ve got options! You may be able to find a pre-made rosemary simple syrup at a specialty store, or even on Amazon (like this one I found). Another option is to use regular simple syrup, for a milder flavored drink. You could even use regular sugar in a pinch — just be sure to shake well to help it dissolve.
- The pomegranate in this drink is a garnish and does’t really affect the flavor of the drink. However, you could add a splash of pomegranate juice if you want to jazz things up and add a richer red color to the drink.
- Feel free to substitute soda water in place of tonic water. If doing so, I recommend adding a squeeze of lime juice to get that lime flavor that tonic water provides.
More Festive Holiday Cocktail Recipes To Try:
- Jack Frost Cocktail (Frozen or On the Rocks)
- Grinch Jello Shots
- Tipsy Santa Shooters
- Christmas Ornament Mimosas
- Spiked Peppermint Mocha
- White Christmas Sangria
Holiday Paloma Cocktail Recipe (printable copy)
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Holiday Paloma Cocktail Recipe
Equipment
- Cocktail shaker
Ingredients
For the Cocktail
- 1.5 oz Tequila
- 3 oz Grapefruit juice
- 1 oz Tonic Water
- 1 oz Rosemary simple syrup see below
- Pomegranate pearls to garnish
- Rosemary Sprig to garnish
For the Rosemary Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2-3 sprigs Rosemary
Instructions
For the Rosemary Simple Syrup
- In a medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and rosemary.
- Bring to a boil over medium to high heat, stir, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until sugar dissolves. Stir frequently.
- Remove pan from heat and allow simple syrup to cool to room temperature.
- Once cooled, remove the rosemary and discard.
Cocktail Directions
- Fill a cocktail glass with ice.
- Add tequila, grapefruit juice, and homemade rosemary simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice.
- Shake just enough to mix and strain into your prepared glass.
- Garnish with pomegranate seeds and a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Notes
Nutrition
Pin Our Holiday Paloma Cocktail on Pinterest:
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