Guadalajara Punch (Cazuela Tapatia)

Jalisco, Guadalajara, and the tequila country around Amatitan and Tequila are where this cazuela lives. Not in a cocktail shaker. Not under a tower of garnishes. In a wide clay bowl on a table with people reaching for it, citrus floating across the top, and the agave doing its work quietly.

The ingredient that defines it is tequila from Jalisco. Use blanco if you want the agave clean and direct. Use reposado if you want a softer edge from the barrel. The citrus matters too: orange, grapefruit, lime, lemon, pineapple, and grapefruit soda. This is not a margarita made big. It is a communal punch, built for outdoor eating, family noise, and the kind of table where nobody is counting glasses too carefully.

My mother was from Jalisco, and she wrote only one line about cazuela in her notebook: 'mucho citrico, poca tonteria.' Lots of citrus, little nonsense. She was right. The salt belongs there because it pulls the fruit forward and keeps the tequila from tasting thin. No me vengas con atajos. If the fruit is tired, make something else.