The margarita gets all the attention, but ask a bartender what they actually drink on a hot afternoon and a lot of them will say paloma. Tequila, grapefruit, lime, a little salt, plenty of bubbles — it's tart, it's salty-sweet, and it's somehow more refreshing than anything with that much going on has a right to be. The good news: the tequila is the easiest part to leave out. The grapefruit is what makes a paloma a paloma, and grapefruit doesn't need a thing from the agave.
What a Paloma Actually Is
Strip a classic paloma down and you've got four moving parts: tequila for the alcohol, grapefruit for the bright bitter-tart backbone, lime for the sharp edge, and salt to round the whole thing out — usually finished with soda or grapefruit soda for the fizz. Notice what's doing the heavy lifting on flavor. It isn't the tequila. The tequila is there for the buzz; the grapefruit, lime, and salt are there for the taste.
That's exactly why the paloma is such a clean candidate for a swap. You're not trying to fake a smoky, complex spirit the way you might with a whiskey drink. You just need to keep the grapefruit-lime-salt-fizz architecture intact and replace the alcohol with something that delivers a light lift instead. A low-dose THC drink does that job without touching the flavor you actually came for.
Building the THC Paloma
Here's the honest part, because we'd rather be straight with you than oversell: we don't make a grapefruit-flavored seltzer. Our seltzer lineup is Key Lime, Harvest Apple, Strawberry Mango, and Tropical, all at 2.5mg Delta-9 THC. So instead of pretending a can does it all, we build the grapefruit ourselves with fresh juice and let a Floral drink carry the dose and the bubbles. It's a better paloma for it.
The Grapefruit THC Paloma
Makes 1 · about 5 minutes
- 3 oz fresh ruby red grapefruit juice (about half a grapefruit)
- Juice of half a lime, plus a wedge for garnish
- ½ tsp agave or simple syrup, to taste (ruby red usually needs almost none)
- 1 can Floral Key Lime or Tropical 2.5mg seltzer, cold
- Flaky or kosher salt for the rim
- Ice, plus a thin grapefruit slice to finish
Method: Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a tall glass and dip it in salt — don't skip this; the salt is half of what makes a paloma taste like a paloma. Fill the glass with ice. Add the grapefruit juice, lime juice, and a small touch of agave, and give it a quick stir. Top slowly with the cold Floral seltzer so you keep the fizz, float the grapefruit slice and lime wedge, and you're done. One can keeps the drink at a gentle 2.5mg — sociable, sippable, and easy to repeat for a second round without the math getting away from you.
Want it a touch more dialed in? A pinch of salt stirred into the drink (not just on the rim) makes the grapefruit pop even harder, and a few drops of grapefruit bitters add the faintly bitter, grown-up edge that separates a paloma from plain grapefruit soda.
If You Want a Bigger Pour
2.5mg is the easygoing afternoon version. If you'd rather the drink carry more of a lift on its own, reach into our cocktail lineup instead and use a 5mg cane-sugar cocktail as the base, dialing back the added syrup since those already bring a little sweetness. Keep the grapefruit, lime, and salt exactly the same — the structure of the drink doesn't change, only the dose underneath it does. If you're not sure which tier suits you, build the 2.5mg version first and judge from there; it's a lot easier to make the next one stronger than to walk back one that's too much.
Why It Holds Up Without the Tequila
The thing people miss about palomas is that grapefruit is already a little bitter and a little sharp on its own — it has structure. Tequila adds a vegetal, peppery warmth, but it doesn't add the refreshment; if anything the alcohol dries the drink out and adds the next-morning cost. Take it away and the grapefruit, lime, salt, and fizz still hit all four corners of what made the original good. What changes is the back half of the experience: you get a bright, refreshing drink and a light, low-dose lift instead of a buzz that tips into a headache on a 90-degree afternoon.
Use ruby red, not white
Ruby red grapefruit is sweeter and rounder, so you need far less added syrup. White grapefruit makes a sharper, more bracing paloma — great if that's your thing, but taste before you sweeten.
Top slowly to keep the fizz
Pour the seltzer in last and gently. The carbonation is what gives a paloma its lift — dump it in fast and you'll flatten the best part of the can.
Don't skip the salt
Salt is what makes grapefruit taste like a cocktail instead of breakfast juice. Rim the glass, and stir a pinch in if you want it to really sing.
One Drink in a Bigger Summer Rotation
A paloma is a perfect entry point into THC drinks for the cocktail crowd, because it proves the format works on a real, recognizable drink — not just a can with a lime in it. If it lands, it's worth keeping company with the rest of the warm-weather lineup. Our THC cocktail recipes cover the more spirit-forward builds, and the summer THC drink recipes roundup is full of bright, fruit-forward pours in the same vein as this one. If grapefruit is your lane, you'll find plenty of neighbors.
The original paloma was always more about the grapefruit than the tequila. This version just makes that official — same salty, tart, fizzy drink you reach for in the heat, with a light lift instead of a hangover waiting on the other side.
Your Paloma Base, Precisely Dosed
Floral's seltzers and cane-sugar cocktails are built to mix — lab-tested, hemp-derived Delta-9, from our family farm in Gas City, Indiana. Pick your dose and pour.
Shop THC CocktailsFloral beverages are made with hemp-derived Delta-9 THC and are legal under the 2018 Farm Bill. Must be 21 or older to purchase. Do not mix with alcohol, and never drive under the influence of THC. Do not use during pregnancy or while nursing. Keep out of reach of children. Please consume responsibly.
