Siesta

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (112 ratings)

Glass:

Photographed in an Urban Bar 1910 Retro Coupette 15cl

Ingredients:
1 12 fl oz Patrón Silver blanco tequila
14 fl oz Italian red bitter liqueur
34 fl oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
12 fl oz Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
12 fl oz Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

  1. Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of grapefruit zest twist.

How to make:

  1. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  2. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

  1. EXPRESS grapefruit zest twist over cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

This bittersweet aperitif has become a contemporary classic and is described as a cross between Hemingway Daiquiri, Paloma and Margarita. (Some may prefer over ice in an old-fashioned glass.)

View readers' comments

Variations/similar cocktails:

Pre Siesta

History:

Adapted from a recipe created circa 2006 by Katie Stipe at the Flatiron Lounge in Manhattan, New York City.

Nutrition:

One serving of Siesta contains 175 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.1 standard drinks
  • 13.92% alc./vol. (27.84° proof)
  • 15.7 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 8 comments for Siesta.
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23rd May at 13:05
With just 10ml sugar syrup it's perfect.
17th November 2024 at 04:47
Love this one! I did the original in-a-coupe version. Strucchi is not available here in BC, Canada (I tried) so I really appreciate the comment by Gregory Ford about combining Campari and Aperol. This recipe calls for Campari in other recipes, but I really liked the blend. I’d like to find Strucchi one day.
24th September 2024 at 07:16
I made the straight-up version in a coupe glass, very delicious! The proportions are: 1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila
1/2 ounce grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1/4 ounce Campari
10th September 2024 at 23:23
I ran out of Strucchi, but 2/3 Campari to 1/3 Aperol has nearly exact the same bitter/sweet/citrus profile as Strucchi.
27th February 2024 at 09:13
I also halved the sugar syrup and enjoyed this one very much.
11th July 2024 at 20:35
Seeing your comment and all those below, I have just retried this delicious cocktail and reduced the sugar syrup to 10ml.
8th December 2021 at 05:19
Made with regular - ie not pink - grapefruit juice and a 1:1 simple syrup, this is just devine.
19th August 2021 at 00:05
This is great. Following Johan Drake's suggestion, we used 1/2 the amount of sugar syrup. Resulting drink was very like a good semi-sour margarita.
11th June 2021 at 18:06
Tastes fantastic but was a bit too sweet. Might work better with a switch to 1:1 simple syrup or just a bit less 2:1.
30th August 2024 at 19:42
Sour, yellow grapefruit juice is the key here. It would probably go out of balance with ruby red.