The Rosita is the Perfect Tequila Cocktail… So I Made it Better!

Hi, Friends of Cocktails! Today we’re making a Tequila Negroni cocktail. It’s called the Rosita, and it’s officially a perfect cocktail–we’ll get into what that means, plus check out the murky history of what is now considered a modern classic cocktail today.

I’ll start by making the classic Rosita cocktail, created by the legendary Gary Regan, with one small change: I’ll be using a Rosa Tequila. This is tequila that was rested in wine barrels. We’ll talk more about this later, but the first cocktail I thought of when I saw Rosa tequila was the Rosita.

To make it we’ll also need campari, sweet & dry vermouth, angostura bitters, and I’m adding saline solution as well. So with our ingredients ready, it’s Cocktail Time!

The Rosita

● 45mL · 1.5oz Rosa Tequila

● 15mL · 0.5oz Campari

● 15mL · 0.5oz Sweet Vermouth

● 15mL · 0.5oz Dry Vermouth

● 1 dash Angostura Bitters

● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution

● Lemon Twist Garnish

I always like to start with a chilled mixing glass for stirred cocktails. The rocks glass is also ready, with the clear ice block already tempering, so it doesn’t crack when we pour the cocktail over it. As for the ingredients, pour them into the mixing glass along with plenty of ice. 

Now stir to mix, chill and dilute the cocktail to the right balance, then strain it into the rocks glass over that clear ice block. For garnish you can go with either lemon or grapefruit peels, express the essential oils over the top of the drink and place it on the ice. And that’s the Rosita, ready to be enjoyed, as we talk about its history.

The Rosita first appeared in print back in 1974, in Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide. The 1988 edition had the Rosita recipe as well, and it’s probably there that Gary ‘Gaz’ Regan first found it. Gary was one of the most influential bartenders and writers of his time, known for bringing forgotten classics back to life, and often making them better.

So when Gary saw what was basically a tequila Negroni with a split base of sweet and dry vermouth, he knew it would be better with a bit more tequila and a dash of bitters. He then added the recipe to his 1991 book, The Bartender’s Bible, but he published so many recipes that actually forgot about it.

14 years later the Rosita was once again mentioned in an article by Terry Sullivan. Gary was friends with Terry, so he asked him where he found the recipe. The funny thing is, he couldn’t remember either. Two years later, Gary made the drink for some friends, and they asked about the origins as well. This time he remembered it was from the Bartender’s Bible–but you can read this story in full here. 

As for flavor, the cocktail has a bright citrus aroma from the lemon, then a nice and rich combination of bitter, sweet, and dry hits your palate. The Rosa Tequila brings soft agave with a delicate touch of red fruit. It’s like the Negroni and Boulevardier went to Mexico and found their long lost cousin.

The Rosita is great, but what really makes it perfect is the use of both dry and sweet vermouth. The most famous cocktail that does this is probably the Perfect Martini, but you can also try the Perfect Manhattan, the Perfect Boulevardier, or the Perfect Negroni, to name just the most famous examples.

If you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, a perfect cocktail is perfect for you–pun intended. And when you’ll be pouring that dry vermouth you might think to yourself “the only way this could be better is if I was wearing vermouth on me”, and now that’s possible! Thanks to the hottest new merch from Broken Bartender and Cocktail Time, your tie and pocket square can now be a perfect combo with vermouth botanicals, and you can enhance it with some Cocktail Time pins and even moustache socks!

So after you upgrade your style, we can upgrade our Rosita cocktail as well. First, we already have the Rosita cocktail and the Rosa tequila, so let’s go all out on the rose theme. So I’ll use a tequila rested in French white oak barrels that previously held Cabernet from Napa Valley, making a tequila that’s softer than many blancos. 

To build on that I’ll also add some rosé wine, a rose garnish, and a spray of rose water over the top. We’re going all in!

Extra Rose Rosita

● 45mL · 1.5oz Rosa Tequila

● 15mL · 0.5oz Campari

● 15mL · 0.5oz Sweet Vermouth

● 15mL · 0.5oz Dry Vermouth

● 15mL · 0.5oz Rosé Wine

● 1 dash Angostura Bitters

● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution

● Rose Water Spray

● Rose Petal Garnish

It’s a stirred cocktail, same as before, but this time we’ll replace the lemon twist garnish with a rose petal or other edible flower that didn’t come from a flower shop–you don’t want any floral preservatives in your cocktail after all. For the final touch we’ll spray it with some rose water over the top.

The acidity and mineral notes from the wine will complement the same notes found in the tequila, but if you want to make a sbagliato version, just change the wine with rosé Prosecco–just make sure to add that at the end. But with that note, I think we can check out the Rosita twist number 2: Chocolate.

Chocolate and tequila have always been a natural match. And to get these two to meet you could infuse the tequila, or add a liqueur, but we’re staying true to Gary’s recipe and only substituting out the bitters.

Chocolate Rosita

● 45mL · 1.5oz Rosa Tequila

● 15mL · 0.5oz Campari

● 15mL · 0.5oz Sweet Vermouth

● 15mL · 0.5oz Dry Vermouth

● 2 dashes Chocolate Bitters

● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution

● Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt Garnish

You know how to build these by now. So once your Chocolate Rosita is chilled and strained, just garnish it with a thin piece of dark chocolate, sprinkled with some extra salt and enjoy. The roasted, earthy notes of agave pair beautifully with the deep, bitter richness of cacao, making this an amazing twist, but my last thought was… if chocolate works, so should coffee, right?

Here the recipe is the same as what we used for the original, but we’re just adding in a small twist: 2 lightly crushed coffee beans, right into the mixing glass.

Coffee Rosita

● 45mL · 1.5oz Rosa Tequila

● 15mL · 0.5oz Campari

● 15mL · 0.5oz Sweet Vermouth

● 15mL · 0.5oz Dry Vermouth

● 1 dash Angostura Bitters

● 2 Freshly Crushed Coffee Bean

● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution

● Coffee Bean Garnish

Building our last Rosita of the day is as easy as the previous ones, but keep in mind to double strain the cocktail this time to avoid any small bits of coffee ending up in your cocktail. For garnish, let’s place a single coffee bean on the top.

Adding 2 coffee beans might seem like not enough, but just like with the regal stir with an orange peel, they will impart flavor right into our cocktail. All in all, today was a fun experiment that showed that the Rosita is a great starting point for experiments, and that classics don’t have to stay locked in place.

That’s what Gaz Regan did when he made his version stand out, and that’s what I hope you’ll try with any cocktail out there as well. Test the classics, add your twist, and see where it takes you. And remember: a Cocktail Time pin, or a tie, improves the chances of success by at least 10%. It’s science. Until next time, cheers, Friends of Cocktails!