Ranch Water Cocktail

We never heard of Ranch Water until we made a deep dive into researching tequila cocktails. We’d be embarrassed by our ignorance except that the drink’s popularity was previously limited to Texas cities like Austin and Houston.

It’s only recently that the tequila tipple journeyed up the interstate and beyond the lone star state’s borders. Not only have home mixologists like us discovered the Ranch Water’s charms, but companies like Coca-Cola have starting selling Ranch Water in cans to compete with the canned hard seltzer market.

Ranch Water is a three-ingredient cocktail crafted with blanco (i.e. white) tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice and Topo Chico mineral water. Served with ice, Ranch Water is so refreshing that it’s almost too easy to drink.

If you think that Ranch Water sounds like a Margarita, you’re correct. But Ranch Water and Margaritas are decidedly not the same. The two recipes are different – the Margarita recipe includes orange liqueur while the Ranch Water recipe has fizzy Topo Chico. You’ll taste the difference after a sip or two.

With a name like Ranch Water, it’s easy to picture workers swigging the drink after a long, hot day laboring at a Texas ranch. And, while Texas workers probably drank beverages similar to Ranch Water over the decades, there’s no written documentation of Ranch Water until the latter half of the 20th century.

Some people attribute the West Texas cocktail to Kevin Williamson, the original owner of Ranch 616 in Austin, who claimed the cocktail as his invention. Williamson passed away in 2021 and nobody has since proven otherwise.

You only need the following ingredients to craft Ranch Water at home:

Two of Ranch Water’s ingredients are sold by the bottle – blanco (white) tequila and Topo Chico mineral water. The third ingredient is a lime.

We recommend using your favorite tequila in this recipe. We typically use Jose Cuervo Especial tequila made with blue agave and Cointreau. Distilled in Mexico, Jose Cuervo Especial tequila has a 38% ABV.

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While the tequila brand is negotiable, the mineral water is a different story. Ranch Water isn’t really Ranch Water unless it’s crafted with Topo Chico mineral water. Currently owned by the Coca-Cola company, the naturally bubbly, to the point of almost being foamy, water comes from Monterey, Mexico and is named after Mexico’s Cerro del Topo Chico mountain.

Be aware that our Ranch Water recipe is both easy and fast to follow. Once you gather the ingredients and tools, you’ll be sipping in mere minutes.

The first step is to fill a highball glass with ice.

Measure the tequila and pour it directly into the ice-flled glass. We use a Japanese jigger for this step since it provides accurate measurements and facilitates a clean pour.

Buy a Japanese jigger from Amazon if you need a jigger or want an inexpensive upgrade.

Next, pour the freshly squeezed lime juice into the same glass. We like to pre-measure the lime juice with a miniature angled measuring cup but you could use your jigger for this step.

Garnish with a lime wedge or wheel.

Pro Tip
Slice a lime wedge or wheel or two before you squeeze your lime.

Ranch Water is one of the easiest cocktails to craft. Motivated mixologists might want to take the tequila cocktail to the next level with one or more of the following alternatives:

Discover 10 essential bar tools for the home mixologist.

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