Tequila Ceremony
The Tequila Ceremony is a way of taking a shot of tequila rather than a cocktail: the salt-and-lime routine, often called lick, sip, suck. Lick the back of your hand and add a pinch of salt, lick it off, drink 30ml of blanco tequila in one, then bite a lime wedge. One shot carries about 1.2 UK units. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, says tequila in Mexico is often served straight at room temperature in a two-ounce caballito, with a second glass of sangrita beside it, and does not mention salt or lime. We have found no primary record of where the salt-and-lime routine began. In our experience the salt and the sour fruit take the edge off the burn. That makes the ritual a fix for rough tequila. A 100% agave blanco has less burn to hide, and the salt and lime cover the pepper, citrus and cooked agave you paid for. Keep the ritual for a round with friends, and sip the good bottle.
Glassware: Shot Glass
Garnish: Salt on the hand, lime in the other
Ingredients
30ml
A 100% agave blanco, at our working figure of 40% ABV. The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails says mixto tequila is made from a fermented base of 51 percent agave carbohydrate and 49 percent other sugars; the 100% agave label tells you no other sugars were used.
A pinch
A pinch of fine sea salt or flaky salt. It goes on the hand rather than the glass, so it lands just before the tequila.
1
Fresh, cut the same day. Bitten straight after the shot, its sourness cuts the burn and clears the palate.
Instructions
Pour 30ml of blanco tequila into a shot glass.
Cut a lime into wedges and have one ready.
Lick the back of your hand between thumb and index finger and sprinkle a pinch of salt on it.
Lick the salt, drink the tequila in one, then bite the lime wedge straight away.
For a 100% agave tequila worth tasting, skip the salt and lime and sip it neat.
Our version
There is no measured specification for the salt-and-lime shot. Ours sets the pour at 30ml of 100% agave blanco tequila, with a pinch of salt and a fresh lime wedge.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Use 100% agave blanco even for shots. Difford’s Guide says a tequila not labelled 100% agave is a mixto, and in our view that is the kind the salt and lime suit. A 100% agave bottle costs a little more and needs much less help. Chill the tequila. Cold tequila tastes less hot, so the ritual has less to do. Have everything ready before anyone drinks: salt on the hand, lime in the other hand, shot in front. The sequence works because it is quick. A pause between the tequila and the lime leaves the burn sitting there.
Behind the Tequila Ceremony
Flavour Profile
A Shot, Not a Cocktail
The Tequila Ceremony has one ingredient in the glass. Everything else happens on the hand and in the mouth: salt before, lime after. Bars outside Mexico often serve a single shot this way in our experience, and the routine is often named for its steps, lick-sip-suck. We have found no primary record of where it began.
What the Salt and Lime Do
Each step has a job. The salt goes first; in our experience it takes the edge off the burn of the spirit. The tequila goes down in one. The lime follows at once, and its sourness cuts the heat that remains and leaves the mouth clean.
All three serve the same end: getting a harsh spirit past the palate quickly. That is useful with rough tequila and a loss with a good one.
The Label Decides It
The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails says a mixto is made from a fermented base of 51 percent agave carbohydrate and 49 percent sugars from other sources, and Difford’s Guide says any tequila not labelled 100% agave is a mixto. It is the kind the ritual suits, with more burn to cover and less agave to lose.
A bottle labelled 100% agave is made from the plant alone. It tastes of cooked agave, white pepper and citrus, and much of that disappears under salt and lime. Pour a bottle like that into a small glass and sip it.
How Tequila Is Drunk in Mexico
Difford’s Guide says tequila in Mexico does not tend to be served mixed: it is often poured straight, at room temperature, into a two-ounce caballito, the name meaning little horse, with a second caballito of sangrita. A true sangrita, it says, is orange, lime and pomegranate juice with hot chilli sauce, and the tequila is drunk first, followed by the sangrita. The Oxford Companion calls sangrita a popular nonalcoholic accompaniment served with tequila.
Three ways to take a 30ml tequila
Tequila Ceremony
- What comes with it
- Salt before, lime after
- How it is drunk
- In one
- UK units
- 1.2
Neat
- What comes with it
- Nothing
- How it is drunk
- Sipped from a caballito
- UK units
- 1.2
With sangrita
- What comes with it
- A second glass of sangrita
- How it is drunk
- Tequila first, then the sangrita
- UK units
- 1.2
| Serve | What comes with it | How it is drunk | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tequila Ceremony | Salt before, lime after | In one | 1.2 |
| Neat | Nothing | Sipped from a caballito | 1.2 |
| With sangrita | A second glass of sangrita | Tequila first, then the sangrita | 1.2 |
Each serve holds the same 1.2 units. What differs is how much of the tequila you actually taste.
How Strong It Is
A 30ml shot of tequila at our working figure of 40% ABV is 1.2 UK units, a little more than a 25ml single. Shots go down quickly and rounds add up, so count them.
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.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the order: salt, tequila, lime?
Why do you take tequila with salt and lime?
Do Mexicans drink tequila with salt and lime?
How strong is a tequila shot?
What is the difference between mixto and 100% agave tequila?
Can I use lemon instead of lime?
What else is tequila served with in Mexico?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (spiritsanddistilling.com), “tequila” (secondary source: two categories, 100 percent agave and mixto (51 percent agave carbohydrate, 49 percent other sugars); NOM-006-SCFI-2012).
- legislation.gov.uk, “The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988, article 3” (gin, rum, vodka and whisky sold for consumption on the premises in ¼ gill, ⅕ gill, ⅙ gill, 25 ml or 35 ml, or multiples).
- Difford’s Guide, “Tequila classifications, categories and classes” (secondary source: any tequila not labelled 100% agave is a mixto; 51% minimum agave sugars since 1970).
- Difford’s Guide, “Traditional tequila serves” (secondary source: in Mexico tequila is often served straight at room temperature in a two-ounce caballito with a second glass of sangrita; a true sangrita is orange, lime and pomegranate juice with hot chilli sauce; the tequila is drunk first).
- Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (spiritsanddistilling.com), “sangrita” (secondary source: a popular nonalcoholic accompaniment served with tequila; probable origins in Chapala, Jalisco in the early twentieth century).
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Margarita
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026