Tequila

Mexican El Diablo

Name: Mexican El Diablo
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Highball

Trader Vic's 1946 tequila-cassis-ginger highball, one of the earliest published tequila cocktails outside of Mexico.

tequila pre-tiki mid-century built lime ginger

Ingredients

fresh lime juice (0.5 oz)
spent lime shell (1)
creme de cassis (0.5 oz)
blanco tequila (1.5 oz)
ginger beer (4 oz)
lime wedge (1)

The Mexican El Diablo first appeared in Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink in 1946 and again the next year in his Bartender's Guide, making it one of the earliest published tequila cocktails outside Mexico.¹ Vic's spec belongs more to the pre-tiki international highball tradition than to his rum-tiki catalog: tequila standing in for rum, crème de cassis for the European liqueur slot, ginger ale (substantially spicier in the 1940s than today) for the lengthening fizz.¹ Frame this as Vic ranging beyond the Caribbean-rum substrate that anchored his Polynesian Pop work, picking up the Mexican spirit catalog that bartenders like Constante Gutiérrez and the Acapulco hotel scene had been working with since the 1930s.² Modern bartenders use ginger beer rather than ginger ale to recover the period spice level.²

Brand recommendations. Best: Tapatio Blanco, Siete Leguas Blanco, or Cimarrón Blanco for the tequila; Giffard Cassis Noir de Bourgogne or L'Héritier-Guyot Crème de Cassis; Fever-Tree Ginger Beer or Q Ginger Beer. Economical: Espolon Blanco or El Jimador Blanco; DeKuyper Crème de Cassis; Reed's Ginger Beer.

Instructions

Squeeze fresh lime juice into a highball glass and drop in the spent lime shell.
Fill the glass with ice cubes.
Add creme de cassis and blanco tequila.
Top with ginger beer and stir gently to combine.
Garnish with a lime wedge.

Sources

Bergeron, Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink (1946) and Bartender's Guide, by Trader Vic (1947), Mexican El Diablo entries, Vic's own original publication of the drink, with the tequila / crème de cassis / lime / ginger ale spec; a documented early-published tequila cocktail outside Mexico. ↩
"Mexican El Diablo." Difford's Guide. https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/19255/mexican-el-diablo (accessed 2026-05-03), confirms attribution to Trader Vic and frames the modern ginger-beer (rather than ginger-ale) substitution as the period-spice-level recovery move. ↩