Mezcal and Tequila Cocktails
Delicious Recipes Recommended by Some of Our Favorite Bar Owners, Bartenders and Writers.
At The Mix, we love cocktails. Yes, we love sipping spirits, but mostly we love the complexity and magic of mixing a few ingredients and coming up with something new that is at once delicious, satisfying and refreshing. It’s even in our name: The Mix. And there’s nothing better than taking a moment to relax, reflect and savor the whole experience.
So, for Mezcal and Tequila Week, we’ve asked a few friends of The Mix to recommend their favorite recipes, whether they created them or just ordered them at their favorite bars, we’ve listed the recipes below and hope you have fun making them too!
Cheers!
—Robert and Mary Kate
Before you read on…
The Mix is going on 4.5 years old next month, which is pretty old for a Substack and we are grateful for our subscribers and their support.
We know this is a tough time for everyone not just financially, but emotionally and spiritually. It’s hard to keep going and believe that it will turn out alright. Sometimes it does (GO KNICKS!) and sometimes not.
We want to keep doing what we are doing, coming up with original ideas here on Substack for stories and features and in person, with things like the Martini Expo, which we created to celebrate the Martini in person with like-minded people and brands. Perhaps we are naive, because these aren’t money makers and we thought it was something that people want: real experiences; real stories that aren’t pay-for-play; honest opinions. Research based history. Interviews, recipes, food and travel. We hope it is.
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Thanks for being a part of this.
Writer friend of The Mix, Cindy Augustine, recently posted her favorite Empellón cocktail, the Mango Habanero Margarita by Alex Stupak. It was a Cinco de Mayo cocktail. I asked her about the cocktail and she said, “I think about it every day.” Now that’s a cocktail! And this is why we are starting off the recipes with this drink.
Stupak was generous enough to share it with us.
Mango Habanero Margarita
Alex Stupak, Empellón, New York City
1 1/2 ounces Blanco Tequila
1 ounce puréed mango
3/4 ounce Chinola Mango
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1/4 ounce simple syrup
Habanero tincture to taste! (They make theirs by soaking fresh sliced habaneros in Tequila for 48 hours.)
Salt rim
Wet the edges of a rocks glass and dip in salt. Fill glass with ice. Set aside. Combine all liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into waiting glass.
From NoLa’s Cure to the lovely Inga’s in Brooklyn, bartender Ryan Gannon makes some of the best cocktails and we miss seeing him at Inga’s. He’s kindly shared this recipe, which he made for the recent opening of Inga’s sister bar, Lonnie’s in Brooklyn. It’s a riff on a drink he made for the menu at Cure “a long time ago.”
Shady Lane
Ryan Gannon, Lonnie’s, Brooklyn, 2026
1 1/2 ounces Arette blanco tequila
1/2 ounce Finocchietto
1/4 ounce Flor de Azar triple sec
1/2 ounce simple (1:1)
6 drops Wonderfoam (vegan foamer) or 1/2 tsp egg white.
1 1/2 ounces Hysope grapefruit soda
Add all ingredients to a cocktail mixer (except the soda) filled with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a Collins glass and garnish with salt (or dehydrated lime salt if you have it).
How lucky are we that we know the author of the 2025 book Margarita Time, Caroline Pardilla. She generously agreed to share some of the amazing cocktails from that book, like the one below by the recent James Beard Award winner Kevin Diedrich of Pacific Cocktail Haven. Pardilla told us it was a cross between a Margarita and a Mai Tai.
Pardilla also shared the Mano de Chango from Kim Stodel at the Michelin-starred— and now also James Beard Award-winning—restaurant Providence in Los Angeles. Caroline really knows how to pick them! We know you will want to pick up a copy of her book right away (still looking for a Father’s Day present?).
Foolish Pleasures
Kevin Diedrich, Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco, 2018
1 3/4 ounces honeydew melon and cucumber-infused blanco Tequila*
1/4 ounce overproof rum
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce jalapeño agave syrup**
1/2 ounce orgeat syrup
1 dash absinthe
Cucumber ribbon plus honeydew and watermelon balls for garnish
Add the infused tequila, rum, lime juice, jalapeño agave syrup, orgeat syrup, and absinthe to a shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled. Double strain into a double rocks glass over ice. Garnish with cucumber ribbon and honeydew and watermelon balls.
*Honeydew melon and cucumber-infused blanco Tequila
Add 3 cups cubed honeydew melon to a 750ml bottle of blanco Tequila and let sit for 12 hours. Then add 3/4 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped cucumber and let sit for 1 hour. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer. The tequila will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.
**Jalapeño agave syrup
Heat 1 1/2 cups agave syrup in a pot until simmering. Dice 1 jalapeño, retaining the seeds, and steep in the agave syrup for 3 minutes off the heat. Add all the contents to a blender, blend, and strain out the jalapeño.
Mano de Chango
Kim Stodel, Providence, Los Angeles, 2016
Kim Stodel is the lead bartender at Providence in Los Angeles, where he reigns over a zero waste bar program. He has no worries with us here at The Mix, we will not waste a drop.
1 1/2 ounces blanco Tequila
1/2 ounce dry curaçao
1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
3/4 ounce guava syrup*
Fresh guava wedge or slice for garnish
Add the Tequila, curaçao, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and guava syrup to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled. Double strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with guava on a pick or a guava slice on top of the drink.
*Guava Syrup
Peel and slice 7 ounces of guava (about 5 guavas). Place in a glass bowl with 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup pls 1 Tbsp. of water then mix until sugar is dissolved. Cover and refrigerate the mixture for 12 to 24 hours. Stir a bit to help the sugar dissolve. (Ideally, this can be done a day in advance and left overnight in the refrigerator.) Strain the syrup from the fruit pulp. This makes 1 cup of syrup, which will keep in the refrigerator for about 1 week.
If you have been alive and drinking cocktails over the past decade, you know Alberto Martinez and his 1862 Dry Bar in Madrid. They specialize in classics, tweaked classics and their own signature cocktails. Martinez was kind enough to share a few below recipes to make at home—the next best thing to being there!
Rey Misterio
Ronald Zambrano, 1862 Dry Bar, Madrid, Spain, 2019
Martinez said this is basically a twist of a Paloma showcasing small-producers agave spirits and we think it’s delicious!
1 ounce Derrumbes Mezcal from Durango
1 ounce Raicilla La Venenosa
3/4 ounce Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 ounce Agave Syrup
Lemonade
Salt and Tajín seasoning for rim
Wet the rim of a highball glass and dip in salt and Tajín. Set aside. Add all ingredients, except lemonade, to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake until chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into waiting highball glass. Top with Lemonade.
Spicy Tommy’s Margarita
Alberto Martinez, 1862 Dry Bar, Madrid, Spain, 2021
Alberto told The Mix that, for this spicy and smokey Margarita, they use Humo, “a beautiful Chipotle Liquor created by Mexican Chef Roberto Ruiz.”
1 3/4 ounces Espadin Mezcal from Oaxaca
1 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce agave syrup
1/4 ounce Humo (Chipotle Liqueur)- if you can’t get Humo, Alberto said Ancho Reyes (the red one) is closest.
Wet rim of rocks glass and dip in salt. Set aside. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into waiting rocks glass. Garnish with a lime peel.
Mistico
Ronald Zambrano, 1862 Dry Bar, Madrid, Spain, 2022
Martinez also sent a “Signature” recipe. “‘Signature’ are original recipes by our team,” he said.
1 1/4 ounce Espadin Mezcal from Oaxaca
1 ounce Aperol
1 ounce Green Apple Liqueur (Kuhri)
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce egg white
Dash Bitter Truth peach bitters
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass.
Persia Tatar, friend of The Mix and representative of Pantalones Tequila is just the person to ask for a fun Tequila recipe and Hot Pants is that recipe! Check it out below!
Hot Pants
The name here, obviously, comes from Pantaloons Tequila, the brand fronted by actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila.
1 1/2 ounces Pantalones Tequila
1/2 ounce lime juice
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 fresh jalapeño slices
1/4 ounce agave nectar
Garnish with pink pineapple wedge and jalapeño slice
Wet the rim of a rocks glass and dip in salt. Set aside. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into waiting rocks glass. Garnish with pink pineapple wedge and Jalapeño slice.
The Mix loves to watch Nick Mautone make cocktails on his Straight Up Substack and this Cinco De Mayo cocktail is no exception. Robert has written about him as the inventor of the Honey Deuce cocktail (a couple of times) but today we are featuring his decades of mixing and writing about cocktails with the Viva La Playa recipe below.
Viva La Playa
Nick Mautone
2 ounces Milagro Reposado
1 ounces St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur
2 ounces Fresh Victor Mexican Lime & Agave (if you can’t find this product, used 1 ounce agave syrup and 1 ounce lime juice)
2 dashes Scrappy Lavendar Bitters
4 dashes Fee Foam or 1 teaspoon of egg white or leave it out…it’s all good
Tajin seasoning for rimming the glass
3 Gummy Bears and 1 Gummy Rainbows + umbrella
Rim a large Martini or Hurricane glass with the Tajin by rubbing the outside lip of the glass with agave nectar or a lime, then roll into the tajin. Fill glass with ice. Set aside.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add all ingredients and shake vigorously until frosted and beaded with sweat. Strain into waiting glass. Lay the gummy rainbow across the glass and sit the bears on top. (See photo.) If you can’t locate the gummies, just drink the drink!
This is what you do when you have a lot of overproof Tequila. make a Nuclear Margarita, which we made as an ode to Gregor de Gruther, the late inventor of the London modern classic, the Nuclear Daiquiri.
Nuclear Margarita
Based on Gregor de Gruther’s Nuclear Daiquiri, LAB, London
1 ounce overproof Tequila
1 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce green Chartreuse
1/4 ounce falernum
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into a coupe glass.
Mezcal and Tequila Week Sale!
As always with our spirit week spectaculars, Mezcal and Tequila Week is a great time to become a paid subscriber to The Mix. Because we are holding a week-long sale. Until midnight of Sunday, June 21, monthly, annual and Bar Regular subscriptions to This Mix will be 20% off. That means an annual subscription will be only $40! And a Bar Regular subscription will be just $120.
Paid subscribers have a lot to look forward to: in addition to great articles, there will be discounts on tickets to the Martini Expo this coming September, special book events and our Bar Regulars will receive my new book, Bourbon and Rye Cocktails this October. Don’t miss out!
Thanks so much for sharing recipes from my book. And how lucky that they're from Beard winners??
Thanks so much for including me in an amazing and inspirational group of peeps who love Mezcal and Tequila! I’ll be riffing on some of their creations this week!