How Spending National Tequila Day Outside Puerto Vallarta Changed the Way I Drink Margaritas

But tequila? I hardly know her.

I’ve never been a tequila girl, per se. One bad experience in college can do that to a person. While Mexico has become one of my favorite places to return to year after year, I rarely drink tequila while I’m there. But as I stood shaking my first margarita alongside one of Jose Cuervo’s master mixologists at the Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico, I realized how little I actually knew about what was going into my glass.

Over the next few days, I learned that tequila is about far more than margaritas and shots. In fact, there was a lot I’d overlooked.

And as it turns out, learning about tequila is far more enjoyable when you’re doing it at an adults-only resort overlooking the ocean.

A different kind of Puerto Vallarta getaway

Photo: Riu Palace Pacifico

This trip was another first for me: my first adults-only getaway since becoming a mom.

Recently, my trips to Puerto Vallarta look a little different than they did six years ago. Swim diapers, nap schedules, and carefully planned pool time are a decidedly different type of travel than trips spent at swim-up bars and staying out long past sunset. While I love traveling with my daughter, there’s always a part of my mom brain that never quite turns off.

Luckily, at Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico, I didn’t have to worry about much of anything.

Located about 30 minutes north of the Puerto Vallarta airport on a pristine stretch of beach in Riviera Nayarit, this adults-only, all-inclusive resort has three pools, private beach cabanas, and enough restaurant and bar options to easily spend a few days without leaving the property. For those who want to explore, though, hotel guests can take a shuttle to Riu’s two sister properties, Hotel Riu Vallarta and Hotel Riu Flamingos, both less than a mile from the resort.

Photo: Riu Palace Pacifico

Dining offered the same flexibility. I could grab something casual at the taco bar without ever leaving the pool, then clean up for a sit-down dinner at specialty restaurants serving everything from Mexican and Italian to Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine. Of all the options, The Steakhouse stood out to me, especially for its oceanfront location and generous portions of grilled meats.

That sense of ease extended to my room, too. Spacious and comfortable, my room opened onto a private balcony overlooking the ocean, where I could watch the waves roll onto the beach below. This became my favorite way to start the day: room service breakfast and coffee on the balcony, paired with sea views and the steady sound of waves as my soundtrack.

I stayed in an Elite Club room, part of Riu’s premium experience category that offers some of the resort’s best views. Elite Club guests have access to a private lounge, an exclusive breakfast terrace, a dinner restaurant, and a dedicated section of the beach. That last perk quickly became my favorite. Cushy cabanas overlooking the ocean gave me a quiet place to settle in for the day without waking up early to stake out a lounge chair.

Relaxing on the beach was just one option. Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico could be as active or relaxing as I wanted it to be. One morning started with yoga before an afternoon on the beach; another involved water aerobics before the pool filled up with music, margaritas, and foam bubbles for a National Tequila Day party. Live entertainment kept things going after sunset, while activities like parasailing and beachside massages were available just steps from the resort.

And then there were the margaritas.

There’s more to tequila than margaritas.

Photo: Riu Palace Pacifico

My stay coincided with National Tequila Day as part of Margarita Season, an annual partnership between CheapCaribbean and Cuervo celebrating Mexico’s most famous cocktail. At Riu Palace Pacifico, that meant margarita demos from Cuervo’s own master mixologists, free-flowing signature passionfruit margaritas, and, for me, an overdue introduction to what was actually going into all these cocktails.

My tequila education started where you might expect: behind the bar. Under the guidance of Cuervo’s master mixologists, I shook my first two margaritas — one classic, one passionfruit — while learning the basics of balancing tequila with citrus and sweetness.

Soon, another lesson emerged: thinking beyond the margarita altogether.

At dinner after our margarita class, I chatted with Ara, who has spent her career at Cuervo, and learned just how deeply tequila is intertwined with the place where it’s made. Its distillery was just a few hours away in the town of Tequila, Jalisco, where the Cuervo family has produced tequila for more than 250 years. Cuervo even operates Hotel Solar de las Ánimas, a 93-room colonial-style hotel where travelers can make tequila culture the focus of an entire trip.

She also helped fill some embarrassingly large gaps in my tequila knowledge. I learned why the tequila you’d choose for a margarita isn’t necessarily the bottle you’d pour to sip on its own, and how different styles and aging methods change what eventually ends up in the glass.

After years of associating tequila with shots and margaritas, I was beginning to understand it differently. The margarita might have been my introduction, but tequila itself was about far more than the cocktail.

Photo: Alberto Reza/Shutterstock

By National Tequila Day, it was time to put my tequila education to a much more practical, and fun, use.

That afternoon, Riu Palace Pacifico turned up the volume with a pool party that felt like the ultimate final exam for my three-day tequila intensive. Margaritas flowed from the swim-up bar as music filled the pool deck and foam eventually took over the pool. With a passionfruit margarita in hand, I could appreciate the tequila going into my glass in a way I never had before.

I arrived at Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico thinking I already knew Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit, while also believing I knew enough about tequila to know it wasn’t really my thing. Three days and more than a few margaritas later, I left with a new appreciation for the tradition, craftsmanship, and culture behind every pour.

After more than a dozen trips to Mexico, I finally learned a thing or two about tequila. And yes, I also learned how to make a pretty good margarita.