Toast Fall With This Oaxaca-Inspired Pomegranate Mezcal Cocktail

 

Looking for a simple but somewhat exotic drink to serve at your holiday gatherings this year? This lovely internationally-inspired cocktail does just the trick. It can easily be scaled to serve in a punch bowl, or done in individual portions for a more intimate affair.

At first, I wrote this recipe to include tequila blanco, which you can totally use, but recently I've been making it with mezcal.

For the uninitiated, mezcal is basically tequila's cousin. It's made with a type of agave from Oaxaca, Mexico called maguey. It has a wonderful smokiness to it, and just a hint of spice, which I think goes wonderfully with this fall twist on a classic margarita.

My friend Bricia Lopez  -- one of the owners of L.A.'s great Oaxacan restaurant Guelaguetza -- once taught me the popular colloquialism, "para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien también," which translates to, "for all the bad, mezcal, and for all the good, too." I have to agree. You can easily sip on this drink during holiday time, or if you've had a long day at work. (Believe me, I've had a few of those lately. And this cocktail makes it alllll better.)

Another little Oaxacan element I added to my festive cocktail was mole bitters. Guelaguetza makes some of the best mole in town, and the dish holds a very special place in my heart. Even though I don't have Oaxacan heritage, my mom used to make it all the time and to this day it's one of my favorite dishes of hers to this day. I love the layers of rich spiciness. It's truly a unique flavor, which you get just a hint of with the mole bitters.

For my fall cocktail I also used pomegranate juice, as pomegranates are typically used in another popular Mexican holiday dish, chiles en nogadas. You'll see this dish -- made of poblano chiles stuffed with dried fruits and nuts, covered in creamy walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and parsley -- as the pomegranates start to come into season in the fall. It really is a celebration of the season's bountiful harvest.

I hope that sometime soon I can get to Oaxaca to try this awesome spirit in it's homeland, but for now, I'm happy to share this great little libation with good friends and family during the holidays. Cheers to that!

Ingredients:

2 oz POM Wonderful pomegranate juice

1 oz mezcal

1 oz fresh lime juice

1 oz Cointreau

2 shakes Bittermans mole bitters (you can also use regular Angostura or Fee's Orange bitters if you can't find the mole version and they're great!)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a Boston shaker over ice, and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into a coupe glass and serve. This cocktail can also be pre-batched using the same ratios and served in a punchbowl for holiday parties.