There are three great truths about Mexican food and drink in Australia. First: we still haven’t built enough good Mexican restaurants outside of Sydney’s Inner West and a six-block radius of Gertrude Street in Fitzroy. Second: we keep serving Corona with our tacos, which is a fine beer but not the point. Third: nothing, and I mean nothing, goes with tacos, carnitas, ceviche and proper fresh salsa better than tequila.
This is the reason Food & Drinks exists. The best pairing conversation in the Australian kitchen right now is about Mexican food, because it’s rich in char, salt, citrus, chilli and pork fat, which is the exact set of things a well-made tequila cocktail was designed to cut through.
Here is the short version. Pour a margarita. If the margarita is finished, pour another margarita. If you want to sound clever, order a Paloma. If you want to sound like you know what you are doing, drink mezcal. If you want a wine, drink a Grenache. If you want a beer, drink a Mexican lager, cold, with a wedge of lime jammed in the neck. That’s the whole post.
But if you want the long version, here it is.
Why tequila is the answer
Tequila is distilled from the blue agave, a spiky cousin of the pineapple that grows in the hot dirt of Jalisco and doesn’t particularly want to be there. The spirit that comes out of it is bright, vegetal, citrus-tinged, slightly peppery. Good tequila is smooth. Bad tequila is the reason you don’t want to drink tequila.
Critically, tequila pairs with Mexican food the way a screwdriver pairs with a flat-head screw. It’s not an accident. The acidic lime in a margarita cuts through the fat of slow-cooked pork. The salt rim primes your palate for the next bite of taco. The citrus in a Paloma echoes the citrus in the salsa. Tequila was literally shaped by the same climate, geography, and meals as the food it now sits beside.
The cocktails that go with this food
Tequila forward, citrus-heavy, salt-friendly. These are the three pours we’d walk into any Mexican dinner with.
Cocktail · Tequila
Classic Margarita
Three ingredients, five minutes, and the non-negotiable starting point for any Mexican table. Salt rim, cold glass, fresh lime.
Cocktail · Tequila
The Paloma
Mexico’s own national drink. Lighter than a Margarita, drinkable over a long dinner, grapefruit-forward and properly refreshing.
Sipping spirit
Mezcal, neat
The insider finish. A small tumbler with orange and sal de gusano after a long dinner. Recipe lands with the mezcal library.
The food on the table
Our Mexican-leaning recipes built for these drinks. More dishes landing every week.
Recipe · Tacos
Pork carnitas tacos
Slow-cooked shoulder, pickled red onion, fresh coriander and queso fresco. The dish the Margarita was invented for.
Recipe · Seafood
Grilled snapper, charred corn salsa
The Paloma’s best friend. Lime, chilli, smoke and sweetcorn. A Sunday lunch that eats like a Tulum holiday.
Coming soon
More Mexican recipes en route
Mole poblano, ceviche and chilli-braised beef are drafted and queued for the next publishing round.
The bottles worth buying
Six bottles we’d pour at any Mexican table, from margarita-maker to the shot before pudding.
Blanco
Don Julio Blanco
The default margarita bottle. Clean agave, cracked pepper, zero baggage.
Blanco
Patrón Silver
Softer, rounder, happier in a Paloma or a frozen Margarita.
Mezcal
Del Maguey Vida Mezcal
Entry-level mezcal with real smoke. Float a bar spoon over the drink.
Reposado
Espolòn Reposado
Barrel-aged reposado that punches twice its price tag.
Triple sec
Cointreau
The triple sec that actually matters. Skip the cheap stand-ins.
Mixer
Jarritos Toronja (Grapefruit Soda)
Mexican grapefruit soda that turns any tequila into a Paloma.
The Australian connection
Tequila and Australian food culture have been building a relationship quietly for about 10 years now. There are proper mezcalerías in Melbourne (Mamasita, Fonda if you count the early days, and half the bars on Gertrude St). There’s an Australian agave distillery in Byron Bay making “ag-vay” spirit from local blue agave. The Mexican-Australian pairing isn’t borrowed any more, it’s Australian in its own right. It belongs at your Sunday barbecue, your Tuesday tacos night, and your Friday dinner party.
If you only take one thing from this page: next time you cook Mexican, do not reach for the cabernet. Reach for the tequila. Everything clicks into place.