Bar Necessities
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Modern Notables

Ranch Water

Tequila's three-part flex

Glass Highball
Method Built
Garnish Lime Wheel

Tequila, lime, and sparkling water — the thinking person's margarita. Clean, bright, dangerously simple.

Ingredients

Method

Fill a highball with ice. Pour tequila and fresh lime juice. Top with sparkling water. Stir. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Kevin Williamson's Ranch 616 (Austin, opened 1998) popularized a tequila-and-sparkling-water drink called Ranch Water; exact origins of the drink predate Williamson and remain undocumented. The Gage Hotel's White Buffalo Bar (Marathon) served it as a standard order before formalizing it on menu in 2010. Per PUNCH (Aug 2016); Difford's Guide #10034. Notes: Fort Davis rancher origin (1960s) is unverified folklore. Williamson is credited with a version/adaptation rather than invention of the drink's core formula.

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