Cover the glass, bring it down on the bar with a thud, and the soda erupts into foam around the tequila. You drink it in one go while it is still fizzing, which is the whole point.
1 oz
blanco tequilae.g. Olmeca Altos · Patrón · Don Julio · Espolòn · El Jimador
1 oz
lemon-lime soda or ginger ale
Garnish: No garnish · Ice: Served up, no ice
Tequila Slammer
Sweet and fizzy with a peppery agave kick. Small but strong, and quicker to drink than to taste.
The Tequila Slammer is less a recipe than a ritual. Tequila is mixed with an equal amount of a fizzy mixer, the glass is covered with a hand or a napkin and brought down firmly on the bar, and the sudden release of carbonation makes the drink foam up.
It became a bar and party favourite in the 1970s and 1980s and goes by several names, among them Tequila Boom and, in French-speaking countries, Tequila Paf. Its precise origin is not documented. In the UK the name is sometimes also used for the salt, tequila and lime routine.
A sparkling wine version, often called a Slammer Royale, uses Champagne or sparkling wine instead of soda.
Because the covered glass is slammed on the bar, which makes the soda foam up.
Lemon-lime soda or ginger ale are most common. Sparkling wine makes the Slammer Royale.
Only with thin glasses or too much force. Use a heavy rocks glass, a napkin on top and a firm tap rather than a smash.
The perfect sound
Salt, lime and a slam on the bar.
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