Ranch Water

Ranch water is a Texas-style tequila highball drink made with lime, tequila and Topo Chico! This bubbly cocktail is all about cooling off on hot days.

Move over, Aperol spritz. There’s a new bubbly cocktail that’s ready to take over the summer. Meet Ranch Water! Yes, Ranch Water is the unofficial drink of West Texas, essentially a tequila highball made with lime juice and Topo Chico. One of our dearest friends, a Texan, suggested we try this drink…and after one sip it blew us away! It’s like a bubbly, lighter version of the classic margarita, with all the tangy lime but less sweetness and booze. Could there be anything more refreshing? (We think not.)

What’s Ranch Water? Why is it called that?

Ranch Water is a tequila highball cocktail that hails from West Texas. No one knows exactly how it came to be, or even how it got the name. Some people say a Texas rancher invented it in the 1960’s. Whatever the case, Ranch Water was a word-of-mouth drink until around 2010, when bartenders in Texas started adding it to their menus. The ingredients in Ranch Water are:

• Tequila
• Lime juice
• Topo Chico mineral water

Die hards of this drink claim it’s not Ranch Water unless it’s made with Topo Chico, that Mexican mineral water brand sold in the distinctive bottles. Of course you could make it with another brand: but Topo Chico seals the deal for us.

How to make Ranch Water

There’s really no science to Ranch Water! Because it was a word-of-mouth cocktail for so long, it’s more about vibe than anything. Really, you can use as much lime, tequila, and soda water as you’d like. Keep those bubbles on hand to refresh your drink, when you need it. Here’s the art to making Ranch Water:

• Place 2 shots of tequila in a glass (3 ounces).
• Mix in the juice of 1 lime (that’s about 1 ½ ounces).
• Fill the glass with ice and top it off with Topo Chico (about ½ cup).

What tequila to use

The better the tequila, the better the drink! Ranch Water isn’t the most sophisticated of cocktails, so we wouldn’t require pulling out the top shelf stuff. Try finding a mid-price range tequila: typically this correlates to the quality of the alcohol. You can use either tequila blanco (“new” or un-aged tequila) or tequila reposado (aged) here. The aged tequila has more nuance in flavor, and makes for a more interesting drink.

More great highball cocktails to beat the heat!

What’s a highball? A highball cocktail is a family of mixed drinks that combine alcohol with a larger percentage of non-alcoholic mixer. There are lots of famous highballs like the good old gin and tonic or vodka cranberry. Here are a few more highballs that are perfect for hot weather:

• Vodka Tonic or Vodka Soda The easiest mixed drinks of all time! These two-ingredient cocktails are bubbly, and citrusy
• Tequila Soda Really another name for Ranch Water, it’s got a little less lime.
• Gin Rickey A tasty classic 1920’s cocktail featuring gin, soda water and lime.
• Whiskey Highball Tall, bubbly, and all about the spirit! A refreshing way to enjoy your favorite whiskey.
• Sea Breeze A classic highball that’s easy to make! Starring vodka, cranberry, and grapefruit on lots of ice, it’s ultra refreshing.

When to serve Ranch Water

Ranch Water is a carefree highball drink that’s perfect for sipping as a:

• Summer drink
• Happy hour drink
• Dinner party drink
• Guys or girls night drink
• Cocktail hour drink
• Birthday celebration drink (Happy Birthday, Dan!)

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A few more tequila drinks

If you love tequila, we’ve got a few more tequila cocktails to try:

• 15 Best Margarita Recipes Yes, we’ve got 15 variations on this classic tequila drink! Some favorites: Mezcal, Jalapeño and Skinny.
• Paloma Cocktail Combine tequila and grapefruit and you’ve got the classic Mexican paloma cocktail! See also our top Mexican cocktails.
• Tequila Sunrise This vibrant cocktail layers the colors of a summer sunrise using tequila, orange and grenadine.
• Mexican Mule This tequila-based spin on the classic Moscow mule is perhaps even better than the original!