Your Brunch Enchiladas Are Incomplete Without This Tequila-Spiked Cocktail

If you're looking to shake up your brunch game, it's hard to think of a more satisfying upgrade than enchiladas. You can still get bites of your early-day favorites, like buttery eggs, savory meat, ooey-gooey cheese, fresh avocado, and more, but rolled up with the twist of this Mexican dish with additional dynamic flavors like spicy jalapeños and herbaceous cilantro.

Brunch enchiladas are a great way to start your Saturday or Sunday off with a bang and certainly make for a memorable dish to serve brunch-party guests. Especially in the latter situation, you need a perfectly paired beverage to accompany brunch-iladas. When Mexico City native and chef Pati Jinich told Tasting Table her best enchilada tips and tricks, one of them was the ideal drink companion for this dish at brunch-time: a tequila-spiked mimosa.

This particular beverage works because it fleshes out the Mexican spin on brunch and achieves a similar effect as the enchiladas by marrying a brunch classic with fresh elements and flavors. The mimosa is truly the ultimate brunch cocktail, combining bright, tart-sweet orange juice with bubbly and presenting a fun but relatively low-ABV option. You can, for the most part, preserve that equation with just a splash — or two — of tequila, adding a bit more alcohol and a lot more flavor potential. There's even already a formula to follow for a tequila mimosa in the tequila sunrise: tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. Add sparkling wine, and you've got a brunch-time winner.

The beauty of the tequila-spiked mimosa for an enchilada brunch is that it's perfect as is — simply combine orange juice, sparkling wine, and tequila. Follow the format of a mimosa or bellini by combining about two ounces of juice with four ounces of sparkling wine and one ounce of tequila; add two ounces if you want boozier mimosas or are adding more of another non-alcoholic ingredient. Make sure you use high-quality ingredients like freshly squeezed orange juice. While you don't want to use a super rare tequila or expensive Champagne, you should utilize your favorites for a well-composed, tasty drink.

Play with your fruit juices by swapping in pineapple, pomegranate, guava, mango, papaya, or a mix of any of those. Anything more tropical-leaning will really complement tequila's fruity notes. A tequila with an additional flavor element provides inspiration too — think grapefruit and hibiscus or cucumber and jalapeño-infused tequila from 21Seeds. You can muddle in grapefruit, lime, mint, cilantro, or jalapeño — bonus points for using any elements you also used in your enchiladas like the latter two.

Upgraded simple syrups with any of those ingredients or florals like hibiscus are another brilliant update. For a next-level brunch enchilada party, set out a few different fruit juices with tequila and sparkling wine plus various fruits, herb garnishes, and a few different syrups for people to customize their own tequila mimosas.