The Saltgrass Coronarita is a frozen margarita with its beer still in the bottle. Turn a Coronita upside down in the glass and it releases lager into the slush as you drink, slowly lightening the tequila, lime and orange flavors. It is part margarita, part beer cocktail and built for a large glass.
Saltgrass has served the drink, but it is not on every current menu. The chain’s Colorado Springs page listed it as a $7 weekday happy-hour cocktail in November 2026. The Las Vegas page did not. That location split matters more than old menu photos that make the Coronarita look nationally permanent.
What Saltgrass Actually Serves
A Saltgrass-branded menu describes the restaurant version as a frozen margarita topped with a Coronita Extra and Naranja orange liqueur. It lists 350 calories. The current Colorado Springs happy-hour list confirms the Coronarita name and price without repeating the ingredients.
Saltgrass does not disclose the ounce measurements or the formula for its frozen margarita base. This home version uses tequila, orange liqueur, fresh lime and agave. Those ingredients reproduce the known shape of the drink without pretending that fresh lime is the chain’s unpublished internal mix.
The $7 price is also not a national regular-menu price. It belongs to a specific No Bull Lounge happy hour. Check your local Saltgrass menu because another location may offer the drink at a different price, outside happy hour or not at all.
Why Typical Coronaritas Fail
The most common problem is thin slush. If the margarita pours like juice before the bottle goes in, seven ounces of beer will make it watery. Start with hard ice and stop blending as soon as no large pieces remain. A thick frozen base supports the bottle and absorbs the lager gradually.
Too much agave creates the opposite problem. Beer already adds malt sweetness, and orange liqueur supplies sugar. Three-quarters of an ounce makes a restaurant-style frozen drink without covering the lime. Reduce it to one-half ounce if your orange liqueur is especially sweet.
The other mistake is using a full 12 oz beer. The named topper is a Coronita, the 7 oz bottle. A larger bottle adds too much volume, weighs down the glass and is harder to secure. Pouring half a standard bottle into the drink works for flavor, but it loses the signature presentation.
The Key Technique: Build a Bottle-Supporting Slush
Chill the Coronita before opening it. Warm beer foams faster and melts the frozen margarita. Rim only the outside edge of the glass so falling salt does not give the beer extra nucleation points.
Blend the margarita first and leave headroom. Open the beer only when the glass is ready. Invert it with one smooth motion and settle the neck well into the slush. A purpose-made bottle clip is the safest option, especially with a shallow glass. The finished drink is nearly two standard drinks, even though melted ice and beer keep the ABV near that of strong wine.
Make Coronaritas for a Party
For eight drinks, measure 12 oz (360 ml) tequila, 4 oz (120 ml) orange liqueur, 8 oz (240 ml) lime juice and 6 oz (180 ml) agave syrup. Refrigerate that liquid base for up to one day. Chill eight Coronitas separately.
Blend the base in two or three batches with ice just before serving. Frozen drinks lose structure when they sit in a pitcher, so fill individual glasses and add each bottle at the table. Put a small tray under every glass to catch foam and condensation.
The Zero-Proof Coronarita
The mocktail keeps the same slow-changing presentation. A 0.0% agave alternative supplies a dry, peppery center. Orange juice and two drops of orange-blossom water replace orange liqueur without turning the base into a glass of juice.
Use a beer labeled 0.0%, not simply nonalcoholic, if avoiding all alcohol is important. The thick-slush rule and bottle safety rule stay exactly the same. This is still a heavy glass with an inverted bottle in it.
