It is National Tequila Day, the sun has finally committed, and somewhere a blender is being wheeled out to make a frozen margarita nobody really wants. Put it away. The margarita is a fine drink, but it has a handful of cooler, simpler relatives that are far better suited to a genuinely hot afternoon, and every one of them starts with the same thing: a good blanco tequila.

First, the tequila

For all three of these, reach for a blanco. Unaged and agave-forward, it brings brightness and a peppery lift that oak-aged tequila would only muddy in a long, cold drink. You do not need to spend a fortune, but you do want the real thing: one hundred per cent agave, no additives. Patrón Silver is the dependable workhorse; Volcán Blanco, with its highland-and-lowland blend, gives you a touch more fruit for the money. Either will carry all three cocktails beautifully.

The Paloma

This is what Mexico actually drinks, far more than the margarita, and once you make one at home you will understand why. Grapefruit and tequila are a natural double act: bitter, tart, faintly saline, endlessly refreshing. Build it straight in the glass, no shaking required.

• 50ml blanco tequila
• 15ml fresh lime juice
• A pinch of salt
• Pink grapefruit soda to top (around 100ml), or fresh grapefruit juice and soda water

Fill a tall glass with ice, add the tequila, lime and salt, top with grapefruit soda, and stir once. Garnish with a wedge of grapefruit if you are feeling formal.

The Tommy's Margarita

Invented in a San Francisco restaurant, this is the margarita stripped back to its honest bones. Out goes the orange liqueur; in comes agave syrup, which sweetens the drink with the same plant the tequila came from. The result is cleaner, more agave-driven and, frankly, better. A good agave syrup like Monin's does the job perfectly.

• 50ml blanco tequila
• 25ml fresh lime juice
• 15ml agave syrup

Shake hard with ice, strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass, and skip the salt rim if you want the agave to sing. No triple sec, no fuss.

The Ranch Water

The laziest great drink you will make all summer, straight out of West Texas. It is essentially a tequila highball: three ingredients, no measuring jug required, endlessly drinkable in the heat. Traditionally it wants Topo Chico, but any good sparkling mineral water will do the trick.

• 50ml blanco tequila
• 15ml fresh lime juice
• Sparkling mineral water to top

Build over ice in a tall glass, squeeze in the lime and drop the spent shell in for good measure, top with sparkling water. That is the entire recipe, and it is genuinely all you need.

And if you cannot be bothered

No judgement here. If the heat has defeated you entirely, Tayēr's Bergamot Margarita comes ready to serve, made by one of London's best bar teams, and asks nothing of you but ice and a glass. But if you have a lime, a bottle of blanco and five minutes, one of the three above will always be the better afternoon. Pick a tequila, keep the limes cold, and happy Tequila Day.