Taste of Marana: Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea

A local grad brings the flavors of her childhood to her company

Rachel D’Acquisto’s Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea is more than just a drink—it’s a personal story infused with heritage, creativity, and a love for regional ingredients.

CreditJackie Alpers

At the center of the Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea logo is a mythical flower that the company’s owner, Rachel D'Acquisto conceived of and drew by hand. She calls the flower the “Sonoran Rose” and says it represents a modern family crest with elements of where she came from and where she is going.

This personal involvement and attention to detail is deeply embedded in D’Acquisto’s creative and business process.

Growing up in Marana, she would treat herself to the sweetened hibiscus drink Jamaica after her Mountain View High School soccer games. She used that joyful memory as part of the inspiration for her lightly carbonated hard tea brewed with a combination of hibiscus and black teas, organic agave, lemon, distilled watermelon extracts and distilled spirits.

PicturedRay Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea logo is a mythical flower that the company’s owner drew by hand.
CreditJackie Alpers

Rachel (aka Ray Ray) knew she wanted to learn how to safely put a version of the signature cocktail that she had developed as a bartender into cans. She’s a mom now and she didn’t want to take too many unnecessary risks, so she was strategic about how she went about her process. Firstly, she joined Startup Tucson, a nonprofit supporting the growth of local entrepreneurs. From there, she was partnered with Steve Tracy who was retiring from Thunder Canyon Brewery, located in downtown Tucson. He became her mentor, and she still brews her hard tea in the same downtown space, now known as Brick Box Brewery.

Now she has come full circle and is able to give back to Marana as a business owner who helps other businesses grow by selling her hard tea in the community that she grew up in, including places like Casa Marana, La Tumbleweed Lounge, and the Old Father Inn. For more locations click here.

PicturedRachel Dacquisto at the brewery where she brews and cans her beverage
CreditJackie Alpers

Rachel’s family shared most of their cultural history through food, and at the heart of D'Acquisto’s process is a love of Sonoran regional ingredients as well as the “nuance of how folks with different backgrounds sort of take the same ingredient and reinvent it.”

Rachel said, “My dedication to celebrating regional ingredients and what's from here stems in part from that. I was able to play a lot with regional ingredients and things that have been, they're not necessarily native here, but they do grow here, or they are growing here. So, playing with citrus or agave or things that are a little lesser known, is always really fun.”

CreditJackie Alpers

There is a growing trend of lighter alcoholic drinks in both calories and alcohol content. And with a 4.7% ABV, 100 calories, one gram of organic agave sugar, and only four carbs, Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea fits into that trend with ease. It’s a little fizzy and a little bit carbonated, light, refreshing, balanced, and very versatile.

Even though it's in a can and it's ready to go, people still ask Rachel how to drink it. She says it can be as easy as a fun rim, “just pour it over ice, add a lemon, add a delicious rim and you got yourself your summer of love.”

With that in mind, Jackie Alpers (the author of this article) developed these three easy cocktail recipes (below) featuring Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea.

“Classic” Ray Ray’s

Ingredients
2-3 lemon wedges
1-2 tablespoons Tajín Clásico Seasoning
Ice
1 (12-ounce) can Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea

Directions
Pour the Tajin onto a rimmed bowl or plate big enough to fit the rim of your glass. Cut slits through the middle of the flesh of each lemon wedge. Rub one of the wedges around the perimeter of the glass then spin the rim in the Tajin to coat. Add ice and top with Ray Ray’s to fill. Garnish with remaining lemon wedges.

PicturedThe classic Ray Ray's
CreditJackie Alpers

Hard Prickly Pear Arnold Palmer

Ingredients
1 oz (2 tablespoons) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) prickly pear syrup, such as Real Brand
1 (12-ounce) can Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea
Ice
1-2 lemon rounds for garnish

Directions
Whisk together the lemon juice and prickly pear syrup. Pour into a 16 ounce pilsner glass, Top with Ray Rays and ice to fill. Garnish with lemon.

PicturedPrickly Pear Arnold Palmer
CreditJackie Alpers

Ray Ray’s Michelada

Micheladas are often served in an 18-ounce beer chalice called a Schooner. El Ray Mix Especial is available locally at Rancheros Carniceria.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon Pico de Gallo Seasoning
1 teaspoon Maldon or other flaky sea salt
8-ounces michelada mix, preferably El Rey Michelada Mix Especial Sinaloense
1 (12-ounce) can Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea
Lemon round for garnish
Chile for garnish, optional

Instructions
Combine Pico de Gallo seasoning and sea salt flakes in a saucer big enough to fit the rim of your glass. Pour the lemon juice onto another plate. Dunk the rim of the glass into the juice and swirl to coat. Then swirl the rim in chile/salt to coat.

Fill the glass with ice. Pour in the michelada mix, top with Ray Ray’s and enjoy.

PicturedRay Ray's Michelada
CreditJackie Alpers

Hand Canning in Tucson!

This itinerary/blog post showcases local businesses in our community. We feature partners that serve food and drink, offer recreational opportunities, places to stay, and shopping. We value accuracy, fairness and balance in our advertising and marketing. We would love to showcase your business to our visitors. These advertising and marketing opportunities (social media, articles, website, and ads) are open to all businesses within Marana and the designated two-mile “Pima County Tourism Partner Zone” around the town limits that meet this criteria. If you want to be featured on our website or in social media, please contact us at MaranaInfo@Maranaaz.gov.

Jackie Alpers

Author

Jackie Alpers

Writer/Photographer/Recipe Developer

Jackie Alpers is a Tucson, Arizona based professional advertising and editorial food photographer and cookbook author who was named the world's most famous food photographer by Shotkit and Art in Context, and the #7 best food photographer in the world by Great Big Photography World. She cooks, styles and photographs food and recipes in her natural-light studio, and documents food, chefs and restaurants on location. Jackie Alpers has won the prestigious American Photography award nine times. She was inducted into the 2025 Taste Awards Hall of Fame for food and beverage photography.
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