Mezcal gets its own day on Oct. 21. Sipping the agave spirit straight is a fine way to celebrate, but mezcal can also lend a nice, smoky makeover to classic cocktails, including the grapefruit-forward paloma. What we’re getting at? Why not toast to National Mezcal Day with an earthy, smoky cocktail?
The bartenders at Luminaire, a restaurant serving seasonal Texas fare at the new Hyatt Centric Austin, have created a riff on paloma recipes by adding smoke—both from the mezcal and the torched rosemary garnishing the mezcal cocktail.
Make a mezcal paloma at home with grapefruit and lime juice.
The cocktail, called Smoke & Mirrors, is a playful nod to world-famous magician Harry Houdini, who performed some of his first escape acts at the Paramount Theatre that neighbors the hotel. A slice of serrano and the torched rosemary add warmth to the mezcal paloma, transitioning the bright summer cocktail into the fall months and making it a perfect sip for National Mezcal Day.
“Many guests are on vacation when they come to visit us and often order palomas, so we wanted to spice it up by using mezcal,” says Winnie Mak, general manager and bar professional at Luminaire. “It’s our version of a refreshing classic cocktail disguised by a little smoke.”
The bar team at Luminaire uses juice from a grapefruit, taking the peels to make an oleo-saccharum to bring out the true nature of the grapefruit without the bracing bitter and sour notes. But home bartenders can use their favorite grapefruit juice.
Tequila Vs. Mezcal: What’s the Difference?
Both tequila and mezcal are agave spirits. But you can think of mezcal as the smoky sibling to tequila. (Actually though, tequila is a subset of mezcal).
The agave used in mezcal is cooked underground in stone pits, which lends the earthy, smoky characteristics that can range from subtle to strong. Hundreds of agave grow in Mexico, but only Blue agave can be used to make tequila. Meanwhile, more than three dozen agave plants can be harvested for mezcal.
Tequila landscape agave field in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
For the Smoke and Mirrors recipe, Mak loves 400 Conejos because it’s well-balanced with hints of wood and cooked agave, she says. It enhances the grapefruit and rosemary, sometimes softening the serranos, but leaving the bright pepper flavors.
How to Pick the Right Limes for Mezcal Cocktails
If you’re juicing limes for a mezcal cocktail, you need the citrus to be soft to the touch, which indicates the fruit is ripe and ready, Mak says.
If you are using the lime for garnish, use a lime with a green outer skin and no discoloration, firm to touch but not hard.
Limes that are soft to the touch are best for juicing for cocktails.
“A good tip to live by is if the lime has a light green to yellow coloration, the fruit has been exposed more to the sun, which means it will not be good,” she says.
Torching Rosemary Sprigs for Garnishes
As humans, our taste buds confirm taste with sight and smell, so torching the rosemary and placing the glass on top traps those toasted and smoky aromas, Mak says. With this extra step, it allows the aroma to stay in the glass during the entire duration of the cocktail.
The Smoke & Mirrors cocktail at Luminaire at Hyatt Centric Austin.
“Being next to the Paramount Theatre, we are all about drama, so lighting the rosemary garnish one last time before it hits the table gives the guest an Instagram moment as they take their first sip,” she says.
Woodsy herbs like rosemary are great for giving a quick blast with a culinary torch, then trapping the smoke in a glass.
How to Make Smoke & Mirrors, a Mezcal Paloma Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 oz 400 Conejos Mezcal
- 0.75 oz lime juice
- 0.25 oz agave syrup
- 1.5 oz grapefruit juice
- 1 large ice cube
- 1 slice of serrano pepper
- 1 rosemary spring
- Club soda float
Instructions:
1. Torch rosemary and capture in a glass
2. Add all ingredients (except the club soda) in a glass with ice and shake. Strain over a Collins glass with a large ice cube.
3. Top with club soda
4. Add torched rosemary spring to a glass as a garnish.