Paloma Comparison

Paloma Cocktail Comparison

    Lets start off by identifying the differences between these 2 Paloma's. The one on the left was made with 2oz of grapefruit juice, 2oz of sparkling water, and about an oz of simple syrup. The one on the right was made with about 4oz of pink grapefruit soda. They both have 1.5oz of Tequila, a slice of lime (and a little bit of lime juice squeezed in) and a Tajin rim. I'm aware that the ratios are a bit off, so this is not a perfect test, I should've added a bit less tequila to the one on the right to make the ratios a bit more correct, but I just forgot.

    So lets start with the one with actual grapefruit juice, it feels great in the mouth, it's incredibly easy to gulp down. It doesn't really taste like too much while you're sipping or gulping, you can tell it's sparkling, but the taste is maybe a tiny bit citrus-y, but not much else. Once you're done gulping however, you get a big wave of that bitter grapefruit flavor, which then slowly adds some nice tequila notes of a almost vegetal, yet somewhat sweet agave note. It's pretty good, not really for me, but not by any means bad, it's at least an 8/10
    What about the grapefruit soda one? Well, it's a bit harder to gulp for some reason, I get more flavor up front, tart lime and a bit of bitter grapefruit twinge. It's honestly less sparkling than the other one, for reference I'm using San Pellegrino sparkling water in the left one, and Fever Tree grapefruit soda in the right. It's more tart, more sweet, and less bitter than the other one, and honestly I get less of the tequila and grapefruit, and more lime. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, and I think I'd prefer this one, but I might add a bit of sparkling water as well to boost the sparkling quality. It's probably a 9/10 for me.
    So does that make a grapefruit juice version bad? Well no, not by any means. My grapefruits probably aren't very good, I could try more sparkling water, less grapefruit juice, and more simple. Just fiddling with the ratios could yield something else. And honestly, if you really enjoy bitter grapefruit, you might like that version a lot more, I'm just a sweet tooth. But for most people, especially if you're just trying to drink tequila and not taste it, the one with pink grapefruit soda makes more sense in my opinion.

My Spec

My spec is:
A slice of lime
A big ice cube
A tajin rim
1 1/2oz Tequila
~4-5 oz of grapefruit soda, homemade or premade.

As always, if you have any ideas, suggestions, recommendations, or comments, I'd love to hear them down below! -Sam