Mexican Firing Squad
A Mexican Firing Squad is 50ml of blanco tequila, 25ml of fresh lime juice, 15ml of pomegranate grenadine and two dashes of Angostura bitters, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with a lime wheel. About 2.1 UK units. Punch says Charles H. Baker recorded it in the second volume of The Gentleman’s Companion, which the Oxford Companion dates to 1939, as a drink discovered at the La Cucaracha Bar in Mexico City in 1937. As Jeffrey Morgenthaler reads him, Baker was lighter on grenadine, and his drink was longer. It is a tequila sour in which pomegranate does the sweetening and Angostura does the seasoning. Pick a pomegranate grenadine. It is the only sweetener in the glass, and a red sugar syrup leaves the drink sweet with nothing to meet the lime.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: Lime wheel
Ingredients
50ml
100% agave blanco at 40% ABV. Its pepper is what the bitters pick up; a reposado rounds it off.
15ml
Made from pomegranate. It is the only sweetener, so a plain red sugar syrup leaves the drink with no fruit.
2 dashes
Two dashes, at 44.7% ABV. Clove and cinnamon against the agave, joined by the pomegranate.
Instructions
Squeeze the lime juice the same day.
Add the tequila, lime juice, grenadine and Angostura to a shaker.
Fill with cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
Garnish with a lime wheel.
Our version
Baker’s 1939 Mexican Firing Squad Special made short: 50ml of tequila, 25ml of lime and 15ml of pomegranate grenadine with two dashes of Angostura, on the rocks, where Baker, as Morgenthaler reads him, used a half to two teaspoons of grenadine or gomme in a tall Collins glass.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Make the grenadine, or buy one that lists pomegranate first. Equal weights of pomegranate juice and sugar, stirred over a low heat until the sugar dissolves; in our experience it lasts a fortnight chilled. Count the Angostura: two dashes. Blanco tequila is peppery already, and a heavy hand piles clove on pepper. Juice the lime on the day. At 25ml it is a full sour measure, and the grenadine is tart enough that stale juice tips the drink flat rather than sweet.
Behind the Mexican Firing Squad
Flavour Profile
Baker in Mexico City
The Oxford Companion describes Charles H. Baker Jr as a writer who collected food and drink recipes on his travels, and dates his book The Gentleman’s Companion to 1939. Punch says the second volume records the Mexican Firing Squad as discovered at the La Cucaracha Bar in Mexico City in 1937, and Jeffrey Morgenthaler tells of Baker and his companion making their way there one night that year.
In Morgenthaler’s reading of the recipe, Baker called for the juice of two small limes, a half to two teaspoons of grenadine with plain gomme syrup as an option, and Angostura bitters. Morgenthaler calls it essentially a tequila Collins, with lime in place of lemon and grenadine in place of plain sugar, and serves it in a Collins glass with an orange wedge, pineapple spear and cherry.
Pomegranate Instead of Orange
Most tequila sours sweeten with orange liqueur or agave syrup. This one uses grenadine, which was once always pomegranate syrup. Pomegranate is tart and a little tannic, so it adds fruit and grip as well as sugar, and the drink comes out darker and drier than a Margarita.
Our 15ml is more than Baker’s teaspoons, because our version is short and on the rocks rather than long. In a smaller glass the lime needs more to balance it.
Angostura on Agave
Blanco tequila is peppery and vegetal. Angostura is clove, cinnamon and gentian. On their own they do not obviously agree. The pomegranate sits between them: its dark fruit connects the spice to the agave, so the bitters read as part of the fruit rather than as a separate seasoning.
Baker’s Recipe and Ours
The Mexican Firing Squad as Jeffrey Morgenthaler reads Baker’s Gentleman’s Companion recipe, and ours
Tequila
- Baker, 1939
- Not stated in the sources we read
- Ours
- 50ml blanco
Lime
- Baker, 1939
- Juice of two small limes
- Ours
- 25ml, squeezed the same day
Sweetener
- Baker, 1939
- A half to two teaspoons of grenadine, or plain gomme
- Ours
- 15ml pomegranate grenadine
Bitters
- Baker, 1939
- Angostura bitters
- Ours
- Two dashes Angostura
Glass
- Baker, 1939
- Collins glass, as Morgenthaler serves it
- Ours
- Rocks glass, fresh ice
Garnish
- Baker, 1939
- Orange wedge, pineapple spear and cherry, as Morgenthaler garnishes it
- Ours
- Lime wheel
UK units
- Baker, 1939
- Not stated
- Ours
- About 2.1
| Element | Baker, 1939 | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Tequila | Not stated in the sources we read | 50ml blanco |
| Lime | Juice of two small limes | 25ml, squeezed the same day |
| Sweetener | A half to two teaspoons of grenadine, or plain gomme | 15ml pomegranate grenadine |
| Bitters | Angostura bitters | Two dashes Angostura |
| Glass | Collins glass, as Morgenthaler serves it | Rocks glass, fresh ice |
| Garnish | Orange wedge, pineapple spear and cherry, as Morgenthaler garnishes it | Lime wheel |
| UK units | Not stated | About 2.1 |
How to Serve It
Over fresh ice, early in the evening, with a lime wheel. For Baker’s longer drink, use his teaspoons of grenadine in a tall glass of cracked ice and add his fruit.
For orange liqueur and a salt rim, make a Margarita; for agave syrup, a Tommy’s Margarita.
Make it at home
The Spirit
TequilaTequila is a Mexican spirit distilled from the blue agave plant, made, the Oxford Companion says, only in Jalisco and municipalities of four other states; our recipes use 40% ABV. A label reading 100% agave means every sugar came from the plant, where plain tequila needs only 51%. Most of our 26 tequila recipes ask for 100% agave blanco.
Master the Techniques
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Mexican Firing Squad?
Where does the Mexican Firing Squad come from?
How does Baker’s version differ from ours?
How is it different from a Margarita?
Does the grenadine matter?
Blanco or reposado tequila?
How strong is a Mexican Firing Squad?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Punch, “Mexican Firing Squad Cocktail Recipe” (secondary source: recorded in Baker’s Gentleman’s Companion, Volume II: Jigger, Beaker and Flask, as discovered at the La Cucaracha Bar in Mexico City in 1937).
- Jeffrey Morgenthaler, “The Mexican Firing Squad” (bartender’s article: Baker claims to have discovered it in 1937 at the La Cucaracha Cocktail Club; the juice of two small limes; grenadine “a half teaspoon to two teaspoons” with gomme syrup as an option; essentially a tequila Collins; his adaptation garnishes with an orange wedge, pineapple spear and cherry in a Collins glass).
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (St. John Frizell), “Baker, Charles Henry, Jr.” (secondary source: Baker (1895 to 1987) collected recipes on his travels; The Gentleman’s Companion (1939)).
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026