This Mexican Cocktail Turns Tequila Into The Ultimate Brunch Sipper

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

There isn't anything better than a slow weekend morning, with plenty of time to sip coffee and laze in bed before sitting down to a large, late-morning meal. The brunch menu also tends to get a bit more creative than standard American breakfast fare, making room for a midday meal with a Mexican flair, be it plates of huevos rancheros or a heaping serving of deliciously saucy classic homemade chilaquiles. Regardless of whether your menu leans on Mexican flavors, there's one tequila drink that deserves a place on the brunch table, and it isn't the one-ingredient swap that you find in a Bloody Maria cocktail. No, the Vampiro is much more complex, with an intriguing balance of sweet and savory flavors.

At first glance, it might look a bit like some other brunch favorites, but the first sip lets you know you've never had anything quite like it. A Vampiro consists of tequila mixed with orange juice, lime, salt, and grapefruit soda as well as a splash of something you may not have heard of: sangrita. Sangrita is a traditional chaser for tequila, a reddish concoction of tomato juice, citrus juices like lime and orange, savory seasonings, and chiles. Reading that list of ingredients, it may sound a bit perplexing. Frankly, it is, and the first sip may result in a furrowed brow. But by the time you reach the bottom of the glass, you might just have a new addition to your mental list of the best tequila cocktails.

Often food history is nearly impossible to track down. A dish or a cocktail is either attributable to no one, or there are many who claim to be the inventor. With the Vampiro, it seems that it can actually be traced back to one individual, a man named Oscar Hernández.

Hernández hails from the Mexican state of Jalisco, which also happens to be home to the town of tequila. The exact date isn't clear, but sometime in the 1980s, he developed the Vampiro while playing around with the recipe for a paloma, a classic Mexican cocktail. At its simplest, a paloma is a mixture of tequila and grapefruit soda. But Hernández took an interesting stab at it, adding a bit of sangrita to the mix. With a few more additions — orange juice, lime juice, and salt — Hernández found what he was looking for, and the Vampiro was born, in recipe if not yet in name.

For years, this drink was just a personal favorite for Hernández. He enjoyed the sweet and salty mixture as a cooling refreshment on hot days while working at his family's roadside vegetable stand. Friends and customers would see Hernández sipping the drink and ask what it was. Due to the meaning of sangrito — the diminutive form of sangre, the Spanish word for "blood" – as well as the fact that the cocktail is often consumed by sucking it through a straw out of a plastic bag, it earned the moniker "Vampiro," which translates to "vampire" in English.

There are a variety of ways that you can get your hands on a Vampiro. You might want to book a flight down to Jalisco, and perhaps even stop by Hernández's stall outside San Luis Soyatlán, where he still slings the drinks. While that would certainly be an adventure worth taking, there are plenty of simpler routes. The popularity of the drink is growing, with it starting to show up on more menus at bars and restaurants – you can even buy it in a can these days. The surest bet, however, is to make it yourself.

There are a few ways to craft a Vampiro at home. Most of the ingredients are widely available, but sangrita is one that will likely be harder to find. Fortunately, you can easily order a bottle (like this Viuda de Sanchez Sangrita) or a powder (like this Casa ZG Sangrita Mix) online. Alternatively, you can make your own, and suit it perfectly to your own palate. With the sangrita sorted, it's just about finding the perfect ratios. Try using about twice as much sangrita as tequila, add grapefruit soda to taste, and mix in a bit of extra lime, orange, and salt as desired. A Tajín rim is a good garnish for many tequila drinks, and will give your Vampiro another punch of salt and chile. Just don't say we didn't warn you when this cocktail supplants your tried-and-true Bloody Mary recipe for brunch.