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Ranch water is a Texas-born tequila highball cocktail made with lime and Topo Chico! This drink is all about cooling off on hot days.
Here’s a simple cocktail that’s bubbly, zingy and perfect for summer: ranch water! It’s the unofficial drink of West Texas, a tequila highball made with lime juice and sparkling Topo Chico.
One of our dearest friends, a native Texan, suggested we try out this “new” drink a few years ago, and after one sip, we were sold. Now it’s taken the country by storm and vaulted into popularity as one of the top summer drinks! It’s like a bubbly, lighter spin on the margarita, with all the tangy citrus but less sweetness and booze. It’s laid back and carefree, perfect for patio sipping. Come make it with us!
Ingredients in ranch water
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, but there’s no documentation of how it came to be.
It was a word-of-mouth drink until around 2010, when bartenders in Texas started adding it to their menus. The ingredients you’ll need for ranch water are:
- Tequila: Use tequila blanco has a clean and crisp flavor that’s a good match for the bubbles and citrus. We also like it with tequila reposado, for a more complex sip with subtle notes of vanilla and oak.
- Lime juice: Always use fresh limes in a cocktail: the flavor of bottled juice is no comparison.
- Topo Chico mineral water or other sparkling water: Die-hard fans of this drink claim that it’s not ranch water unless it’s made with Topo Chico, the Mexican mineral water brand sold in distinctive bottles. You can make it with other brands of sparkling water, but Topo Chico seals the deal for us.
How to make ranch water: step by step
There’s no exact science behind ranch water! Because it was a word-of-mouth cocktail for so long, it’s more about vibe than precise quantities. You can use as much lime, tequila, and soda water as you’d like, but this is the formula we feel packs the right zingy, bubbly punch. Here’s how to make ranch water:
- Step 1: Place 3 oz tequila in a glass (2 shots).
- Step 2: Stir in 1 ½ oz fresh lime juice (the juice of about 1 medium lime).
- Step 3: Add ice and pour in 4 ounces Topo Chico (½ cup).
Best tequila to use for ranch water
Ranch Water isn’t the most sophisticated of cocktails, so it doesn’t require pulling out a top-shelf liquor. Find a mid-priced tequila for Ranch Water. You can use either tequila blanco (“new” or un-aged tequila) or tequila reposado (aged). The aged tequila has more nuance in flavor and makes for a more interesting drink. Look for 750 ml bottles in the range of $22 to $35 (anything cheaper isn’t worth buying). A few tequila brands that we recommend are:
- Espolon Blanco: inexpensive tequila blanco
- El Tesoro Blanco or Patrón Silver: mid-priced tequila blanco
- Milagro Reposado or Suerte Reposado: mid-priced tequila reposado
More tequila drinks
Are you a tequila fan? Pick from these tequila cocktails:
- Try a classic margarita, or pick from 21 Best Margarita Recipes.
- Mix up a Paloma cocktail, a classic combination of tequila and grapefruit juice.
- Try a Tequila Sunrise, a vibrant cocktail layering the colors of a summer sunrise.
- Opt for a Mexican Mule, a tequila-based spin on the classic Moscow mule.
- Try our favorite, the gingery highball El Diablo cocktail.
Frequently asked questions
Tequila blanco (silver tequila) is the classic choice. Its clean and crisp flavor complements the lime and sparkling water perfectly. However, feel free to experiment with reposado tequila for a touch of oaky complexity.
Topo Chico, a Mexican sparkling mineral water known for its subtle sweetness and minerality, is the traditional choice. However, any type of plain club soda or sparkling water you enjoy will work. (We like it best with Topo Chico!)
A typical class of ranch water has 3 oz tequila, which is 2 shots. If desired, you can use less and have a more watered down drink.
Absolutely! It’s lighter than margaritas or daiquiris, making it perfect for hot weather.
Ranch Water Recipe
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 3 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
Description
Ranch water is a Texas-born tequila highball cocktail made with lime and Topo Chico! This drink is all about cooling off on hot days.
Ingredients
- 3 ounces* tequila
- 1 ½ ounces fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 4 ounces Topo Chico or other sparkling mineral water
- For serving: lime wedges or wheels, ice (try clear ice!)
Instructions
- Add the tequila and lime juice to highball glass and stir.
- Fill with ice and top with sparkling water. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Notes
*To convert to ounces, 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons.
- Category: Drink
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegan
I made my first Ranch Water today, and it’s every bit as delicious as a margarita, but less hassle and less calories,
A note about the nutrition information – it’s about right (114 kcal) if this recipe is for two drinks, but not for one as is noted.
Agua de Rancho was invented in Mexico & made popular a long time ago in Southern California as all things do. Texas is way behind the fashions, food & cultural changes.
“As California goes, so goes the nation.”
I love the Ranch Water.
I was interested in it from the Yellowstone commercial.
Insolito Blanco tequila is the bomb.
I’m going to try the others.
In South Texas and even in Mexico on the Boarder it’s called a Carreta – made exactly like you posted -just had never heard it by ranch water name.
Oh interesting! Thank you for sharing.
The bad comments you received must have come from people in New Yuuk city. A TRUE Texan knows what’s Good! It so refreshing and tasty. I backed off the amount of tequila to 1 1/2 Oz. I found Espolon Reposado was a good choice for the Tequila. + I added a little salt.
This was absolutely delicious! I don’t like sweet drinks at all so this was perfect
Agua prepararda has lots of tajin and no tequila… so it’s a completely different drink.
Thanks for the recipe, turned out great!
This is a blatant rip off of Agua Preparada popularized by Mexican food vendors in Laredo TX, wtf is Ranch Water anyway? It sounds unappetizing.
It’s an agua preparada without the tajin and tequila added. Named for cowboys coming in from a long day at the ranch…
Didn’t have Topo Chico. No Tequila either. Used Mezcal instead which gave it that smoky nuance. The ratio of lime makes this so refreshing. We don’t like sugary drinks so this is perfect for our tastes. Loved it!
Husband and I just tried it. This drinks tastes like absolute garbage. 😂 And he bought really good tequila?! 😂😂 We couldn’t stop laughing it was so bad…it is so hyped up on the intranets that’s we ignorantly expected something magical.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy it! It’s definitely not a complex drink :)
So I created the Cadillac Ranch Water (maybe it’s a thing but I haven’t found it anywhere). Just add Grand Mariner to the recipe.
Love it!
Tried this. My wife who drinks Topo Chico all the time, hated it. I had to add some simple syrup to it.
1/4 oz of simple syrup did it for me.
When I was growing up in Central Texas we used to make this same drink but with crushed ice and it was dubbed border buttermilk as the crushed ice made the cloudy color look like buttermilk.
Interesting!