Hi, Friends of Cocktails! “With great power comes great responsibility”–those are the words that influencers and online bartenders should keep in mind when sharing cocktails like today’s trending recipe: the Batanga.
We'll start off by making the Batanga as it is made in the legendary La Capilla in the city of Tequila, where Don Javier Delgado created the Paloma. Then I’ll show you my version of it, as a shaken cocktail, made with DIY cola cordial, which you can make easily using our new Cordial Calculator on kevinkos.com.
A lot of interesting things today, so since we have so much to cover, let’s get started with The Batanga, also known as El Charro Negro. This drink was popularized when many well-known cocktail creators were invited to Mexico, where they bonded over Batangas, even going to the bar that originated it.
Long story short, once they got back home they had a little fun and decided amongst themselves to all post videos with the hashtag #BatangaWeek, and it actually worked. In bars, media outlets, and even liquor stores, Batanga was everywhere. The cocktail world hasn’t seen a hoax like this since the time of Tom Collins!
That's why it was also dubbed the cocktail of 2024. With a simple mix of tequila, lime, coke, and a salt rim, it’s easy to see why it has other names as well, like the Mexican Cuba Libe or the Dirty Paloma–so let’s see how it’s made. It’s Cocktail Time!
The Batanga
● Half a Lime
● Mijenta Blanco Tequila
● Mexican Coca-Cola
● Pinch of Salt
We’ll start by cutting the lime in half and rimming the outside of the glass with lime and salt. Then fill the glass with ice, squeeze in the juice of half a lime and pour in your favorite blanco tequila. As you can see, this is being done cantina-style, so no jiggers–just measure it with your heart.
Now top the cocktail up with Coca-Cola, even better if you can get Mexican Coca-Cola for authenticity. For the final touch I’ll also add in a pinch of salt. The important final step is to stir the drink with the knife you used to cut the lime - it’s how Don Javier did it from the start. Salúd to the legend!
The Batanga is refreshing, vibrant, and zesty. It’s a cocktail that has also been popular for decades in Mexico and it was a global hit in 2024, but I wanted to try and create a recipe that would bring it to the next level for 2025.
The base will be Mijenta and its additive free blanco tequila. The cordial, which I’ll show you how to make in a second, will give us the sweetness, acidity, and of course plenty of cola flavor. We’ll add in a small piece of lime peel and saline solution and that’ll be the Batanga Sour.
But first we need to make the Cola Cordial, and to concentrate the flavors of cola I’ll use cryo-concentration. This is a technique often used by Iain McPherson at Edinburgh’s Panda&Sons, and we’ve featured it in Cocktail Time to ripen the flavors of melon, strawberry, and pineapple juices.
Cola Cordial
● 660mL · 22oz Coca-Cola
● 7g Sugar
● 2.84g Citric Acid
● 1.42g Malic Acid
Start by emptying 2 cans of cola into a container. Before we place this in the freezer we can check the sweetness level with our refractometer, but make sure the cola is completely without bubbles to get an accurate reading.
I’m getting 11 BRIX which we’ll increase after cryo-concentrating the soda. So we’ll place this in the freezer and leave it overnight so that it freezes completely. Before we start with melting off the concentrated cola we’ll want to know how much of the frozen cola we’re working with.
So place your bowl on a scale first, weigh it, then place all of the frozen cola on a strainer above the bowl. We’re aiming to let just one quarter of the total weight of our frozen soda melt, and we’ll measure our progress with the scale as it goes.
With 165g of melted cola ready, we’ll now check the sweetness level once again once it’s reached room temperature. It’s now at 27 BRIX, which is still below the 30 BRIX level I’m aiming for with my cordials–which is equivalent to 30g of sugar in 100g of solution.
So it’s time to open the Cordial Calculator on kevinkos.com and enter the BRIX level and amount of the liquid we have. It will tell us how much sugar and acids are needed for that perfect cordial. So mix the acids and sugar with the melted soda, and as always I’ll go with my handy magnetic stirrer.
With that, all that’s left is to bottle and label our Cola Cordial. It has an intense cola flavor, and it will balance our cocktail, which in my opinion is the key for a good cordial. Keep in mind that if you need it in a pinch you can also use the flat soda without cryo-concentration, but it will have a lower amount of flavor.
With that, we are now ready to make the ultimate Batanga, the Batanga Sour.
Batanga Sour
● 60mL · 2oz Mijenta Blanco Tequila
● 37.5mL · 1.25oz Cola Cordial
● Lime Peel Circle
● 1 dash 20% Saline Solution
Same as before, start with prepping the glass. Add a salt rim and place a clear ice sphere into the glass so the ice tempers and doesn’t crack when we pour the cocktail over. Then, once your shaker is chilled as well, add in the tequila, saline solution and our Cola Cordial.
For that extra lime kick from the essential oils I’ll also throw in a small circle of lime peel, organic of course, for what’s known as the Regal Shake. With that, all that’s left is to add ice, shake hard to chill and dilute the drink, and double strain over the clear ice sphere.
The Batanga Sour is refreshing, sour, and tequila-forward, where the cola supports the drink with its signature spices and flavors. A modern twist on the Batanga that’s perfect for 2025. With that we’ve reached the Bottom of the Glass, where today we ask the question–why was the Batanga such a hit in 2024?
Alongside the fact that it’s an easy-to-make cocktail with familiar, crowd-pleasing flavors, the trend actually started thanks to a very important factor–camaraderie that’s built when you share cocktails, stories, and experiences.
That’s something that is highlighted in today’s recommended read, Drinking Distilled by Jeffrey Morgenthaler. It’s a lighthearted, but insightful guide to drinking well, filled with practical tips, humor, and insight for enjoying cocktails and good company. Until next time, cheers, Friends of Cocktails!
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