Vampiro (cocktail)

The vampiro cocktail blends fruit juice, spices, fruit soda, fresh lime juice, and tequila, resulting in a fruity, slightly fizzy, and spicy flavor. It is widely popular in Mexico and recognized as the country’s national drink. The name “vampiro” (Spanish for “vampire”) comes from the red color of the Viuda de Sanchez juice mixer, which resembles blood. This mixer is a prepared Mexican sangrita containing orange juice and chili peppers. One recipe calls for tequila, limes, kosher salt, Squirt citrus soda, and Viuda de Sanchez, which is sold in Mexico and parts of the southern U.S. with large Latino populations. If unavailable, a substitute uses fresh-squeezed orange juice, lime juice, and spicy pico de gallo seasoning.

To prepare, bartenders may rim a tall or old fashioned glass with kosher salt by moistening the rim with lime juice or water and pressing it into a layer of salt. The glass is then half-filled with ice, and one or two shooter glasses of high-quality tequila are added. Next, a fresh lime is squeezed in, along with a few grains of salt. Citrus soda is poured until the glass is four-fifths full, followed by spicy Viuda de Sanchez (or the orange juice, lime juice, and pico de gallo substitute). The ingredients are stirred to blend the flavors. According to journalist Duncan Tucker, the drink originated in San Luis Soyatlán, Mexico, where it is traditionally sold in clear plastic bags with a straw. A local fruit stand vendor named Oscar Hernández claims to have created it, initially for his own consumption, before customers asked him to make it for them and the drink spread by word of mouth.

Variants exist: some bartending guides suggest adding a shot of tomato juice, fresh-squeezed orange and lime juice, grenadine syrup, hot pepper sauce, and freshly-ground black pepper, omitting the Mexican sangrita, and shaking and straining the ingredients instead of stirring. In 2017, David Hammond of the Chicago Tribune described a variant called the doce vampiro, served at La Sirena Clandestina in Chicago. This blood-red drink blends pisco, tequila, lemon, pineapple, Ramazzotti amaro, and chicha morada (a sweet, tart, nonalcoholic Peruvian drink made from purple corn).