Most people don’t know that the Paloma, not the Margarita, is Mexico’s most beloved cocktail. 

A classic Paloma uses grapefruit juice and tequila. Since I had a bowl full of blood oranges from my tree that wasn’t getting any better with age, if you know what I mean, I decided to use the blood orange juice in place of the grapefruit juice in the classic Paloma. I also infused fresh thyme in simple syrup and lemon juice I had leftover from this cocktail. Oh, and they call them blood oranges for nothing. After I finished cutting and squeezing all my oranges, it looked like a bloody scene on my cutting board!

If you want to make this in the near future, Trader Joe’s has bags of blood oranges right now. When fresh blood oranges aren’t in season, TJ’s also sells Villa Italia Blood Orange Soda and Grapefruit Soda. Using these flavored sodas is a great shortcut in place of the fresh juice.