Restaurant: Mayahuel (New York, N.Y.)

[Update: Mayahuel has closed.]

Expectations can be a bitch. Have you ever had the perfect restaurant experience only to go back a second time and feel deflated because the second visit was only so-so? It's happened to us enough times that we have been tempted to never return to spots that deliver a perfect experience.

For whatever reason, Mexican food in New York is where we tend to experience this phenomenon the most. A few years ago we were wowed by Agave, but subsequent visits lacked the initial spark. Then we fell under the spell of Black Ant, but during or second and third visits there, the magic seemed to have fizzled. Late last year we had an excellent dinner at Empellon Taqueria; but our dinner last month lacked the consistency we'd noted that first time.

Were we tempting fate when we decided to try the menu at Mayahuel? Possibly; however, Mayahuel had already passed the first test last year by delivering a second-visit experience that was every bit as good as our first, if not better. Regular readers will recognize the name: it's the mezcal-focused cocktail bar in Manhattan's East Village that we visited last year and fell absolutely in love with. Prior to that, I was already familiar with its cocktails, which are well-known among mezcal fans. We went back again in December--twice actually, since we went before and after dinner--and continued to be smitten by its cool ambiance, talented staff and delicious drinks. During that visit, we also tried a plate of churros, and they were divine, leading us to conclude that we really should try make a point to eat dinner at Mayahuel.

I'm happy to say that our favorite cocktail bar is now also our favorite Mexican restaurant. Dinner couldn't have been more delicious. From start to finish, dinner at Mayahuel was among the most satisfying restaurant experiences we've ever had.

The first decision was whether to sit at the bar (which was shockingly completely empty) or the upstairs dining room. Although the dining room might have been a more traditional choice for dinner, we chose the bar, knowing that it provides the best seats in the house, since you can watch Mayahuel's amazingly talented (and super friendly) bartenders work their magic.

It's hard not to start a Mexican restaurant dinner with a round of chips and guacamole, and Mayahuel's traditional take on the avocado dip was quite tasty. But the smoked tomato salsa was an absolute revelation. Served warm, the salsa was intensely smoky due to the tomatoes having been charred over hickory chips. It was the best tomato salsa I've ever had and was the first of many good bites we enjoyed that evening.

From there, we moved on to the quinoa and avocado salad, a delightfully good mixture of texture and flavor with a touch of sweetness from the corn as well as a touch of heat. I particularly liked the sesame oil dressing, which added just a hint of Asian flair. Shortly after, the croquetas arrived. Mayahuel's are black-bean and roasted-corn fritters rolled in plantain crumbs and served with roasted red pepper coulis and crema. They were tasty; however, their comparatively mild flavor got lost amid all the other spicy dishes and drinks. I should mention that if you like heat, this is good place for you.

The main event was the tacos, and they were divine. A single order is perfect for sharing: it comes with four corn tortillas was your choice of two different meats. We opted for carnitas and chorizo, both of which were phenomenally good--meaty, tender and not greasy. Just excellent tacos. They arrive garnished simply with cilantro, radishes and lime wedges. We are big taco fans, and it just doesn't get any better than this. They even outclassed the tacos we had the next night at Empellon Taqueria, a well-known restaurant that's known for its tacos (its chef even published a James-Beard-award-nominated cookbook I wrote about recently).

Mayahuel offers only two choices for dessert, but trust me...it's a really really hard choice. Save yourself the pain order both of them. This visit we opted for the tres leches cake, which we are huge fans of (I made one for Chris's birthday this year and last). Mayahuel's version does not disappoint. I like that they use a fairly sturdy cake for its base, but the real treat here is the torched meringue on top. Most tres leches cakes I've had come with a whipped topping, so I loved this subtle but delightful twist. During our previous visit, we enjoyed the other option: cinnamon-sugar dusted crispy churros (doughnuts) with spiced Mexican chocolate sauce. As if it isn't obvious, let me point out that deep-fried donuts showered with cinnamon sugar and set next to a spiced Mexican chocolate dipping sauce are a pretty amazing treat after a few rounds of drinks.

Speaking of the drinks, they continue to be as fabulous as they were during our first and second visits.  I started the night with a Chabomba, a sherry and mezcal cocktail with jalapeño-infused tequila, pear brandy, vanilla and Galliano. I absolutely loved this drink. It's a little spicy and a little savory (from the sherry), and the subtle hint of vanilla gives the drink an almost dessert quality. Brandy Alejandro is more than just a mezcal twist on the brandy-and-cream classic. The drink features chocolate-milk-infused mezcal, cognac, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, cacao, mole and orange bitters. It's a very smooth drink, not creamy like its namesake nor as chocolatey as you might expect (which is a good thing; it's subtle).

Like heat in your drink? You gotta try the Puebla Drink with No Name. This drink is seriously spicy, made from mezcal infused with chile de arable and muscatel infused with ancho chiles. This drink was inspired by a mole that Mayahuel founder and owner Phil Ward tasted while on a trip in Mexico and fashioned a drink after it. It will be too hot for some people, but I loved its flavor. I might recommend not pairing this one with food, since it could overpower it (except maybe the churros, since the sugar will help cut the heat).

Chris enjoyed the Hidalgo, a nicely balanced smoky and bitter drink with tequila, mezcal, sweet vermouth, amaro, maraschino and Fernet Branca, and the Black Star, a wonderfully autumnal drink of tequila, bourbon, ginger, cinnamon, lemon and apple butter. It sparked a great conversation with a server, who said she used to make apple butter all the time and enjoys it on just about anything (she suggested cooking pork tenderloin with it, which is an excellent idea). He also revisited the Six Shooter, a drink we named our favorite cocktail of our last trip to New York. I'm now ready to just name it our favorite cocktail at the moment. It's an amazing drink featuring a split base of mezcal and two types of rum with touches of Punt e Mes (sweet vermouth), Rammazotti (an amaro), coffee, sugar and bitters. I so love it, that I tried to concoct something similar at home I call the Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter.

We never got to meet Chef Vincent Gonzalez, but we sure did enjoy his food. We did, however, get to enjoy the company of our bartender, Nicole, and a server, Rachel, who stopped by the bar often to pick up drinks for diners upstairs. These were two of the nicest restaurant staff I've ever met. I loved watching Nicole mix drinks and chat with her about them, and Rachel had such enthusiasm for the food and drinks. Food makes or breaks a restaurant, but service is critically important too, since good service shapes the experience into something truly special. We felt more than taken care of by these nice people.

Expectations, as I said, can be a bitch, but Mayahuel, as a restaurant, more than exceeded the high expectations set by our prior visits to the bar. For the last year, we've been telling people that it's our favorite bar in New York, and it's now also our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Mayahuel, 304 East 6th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), New York, N.Y. (East Village, Manhattan). (212) 253-5888. Reservations: Open Table.

Related

Cocktail: Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter

Cocktail Bar: Going Two Rounds in Mayahuel (New York City)

Dining Notes from New York, January 2016 (includes our second visit to Mayahuel)

Mayahuel Mezcal Cocktails (my first post related to Mayahuel featuring two of its drinks)

Getting Serious About Mezcal

Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! By John McEvoy

Cocktail: Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter

Cocktails like margaritas, mojitos and mint juleps may rule summer, but it's this cocktail hat has captured our attention at the moment. It's the kind of drink that makes you appreciate what goes into making a truly great cocktail--a drink that's an amazing blend of quality components that somehow transcends the qualities of its ingredients to become distinctive in its own right.

I'm talking about Mayahuel's Six Shooter, currently our favorite cocktail. We first enjoyed this drink when we visited Mayahuel in December, and had it again when we were there last month. The drink is so good, we actually ordered it twice both of those times.

Given our love of this drink, I really wanted to make it at home. Mayahuel has shared many of its cocktail recipes with various print and online publications, I've yet to see a printed recipe for the Six Shooter. If I was going to enjoy this drink at home, I'd have to come up with a recipe myself. What an exciting challenge!

Let's start with the basics of what a Six Shooter is. One of Mayahuel's greatest strengths is that its mezcal cocktails are not just a bunch of margarita variants. The bar really puts efforts into exploring all the wonderful ways that mezcal can be enjoyed apart from mixing it with lime and orange liqueur (although, admittedly, mezcal does make a really good margarita).

The Six Shooter is a potent drink. It's mostly all liquor. In fact, it's not too dissimilar from a Manhattan, which has been our drink of choice the last couple years. The Six Shooter is mostly spirits with some sweet modifiers, bitters and a few other flavors. Taking a page from the Manhattan, I thought it would make sense to balance the spirits and sweet modifiers at a 2-to-1 ratio.

Unlike a Manhattan, the drink has a lot of ingredients. It's base is split between mezcal and rum, with the latter comprised of a South American rum and a Jamaican rum. Mayahuel's Jamaican rum of choice is Smith & Cross, but I couldn't find that, so instead I use Appleton Estate Jamaican rum. Smith & Cross is a navy-strength rum clocking in at 114 proof; in contrast, Appleton is only 80 proof, so this does power it down a bit, but there's so much booze here that it's still a pretty stiff drink. The South American rum is El Dorado 12-Year-Old Rum made in Guyana, which I had no trouble finding. For the mezcal, I went with Del Maguey Vida, a solid mezcal for cocktail mixing.

The sweet modifiers are also split between a sweet vermouth, specifically Punt e Mes, which a more bitter than typical sweet vermouth, and Ramazzotti, an Italian amaro that is also bitter and sweet, although nothing like a sweet vermouth. It's one of those European liqueurs that has been around for centuries with a secret, carefully guarded recipe.

The other flavors of the drink help round it out, including the classic additions of Angostura (itself a Caribbean product) and orange bitters. The last ingredients is the most mysterious: "cold brew demurara" according to Mayahuel's menu. What could that be? "Cold-brew" probably refers to cold-brewed coffee, which is coffee steeped overnight with cold water rather than quickly with hot water. Cold-brew coffee has been a fad lately. Last fall, Eater published a story about where to find cocktails made with cold-brew coffee, which included The NoMad's drink, The Gentlemen's Exchange, a wonderful whiskey cocktail with a number of bitter and sweet ingredients not unlike the Six Shooter (we tried to drink when we visited The NoMad and it's also really good). A touch of bitter depth from coffee is perfect in this drink. As for the "demurara," I assume that's either an intentional or unintentional misspelling of "demerara," a type of light brown sugar. Possibly the cold-brew just has demerara sugar dissolved in it, although I made a separate rich simple syrup with two parts sugar to one part water.

The hard part about not having a recipe for a cocktail is the proportions, but setting this up sort of like a Manhattan worked rather well. Without having a real Six Shooter in my hand to compare this to, it's hard to say how exactly like the original drink this is, but I think it comes pretty close and, regardless, it's really quite delicious. If you're a cocktail fanatic like me, I definitely recommend giving this a try, as well as visiting Mayahuel to try the original.

Ode to Mayahuel's Six Shooter
Inspired by the Six Shooter cocktail at Mayahuel in New York City

1 oz. Del Maguey Vida Mezcal
1/2 oz. El Dorado 12 Year Old Rum
1/2 oz. Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum
1/2 oz. Ramazzotti
1/2 oz. Punt e Mes
1 tsp. cold-brewed coffee (see note 1)
1 tsp. rich demerara syrup (see note 2)
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash Regan's orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until very cold then strain into a chilled coupe glass. No garnish.

Note 1: to make cold-brewed coffee, combine 1 tbsp. coffee with 1 cup of cold water and stir. Refrigerate and allow to infuse for 24 hours, then fine-strain the coffee to remove the grounds (alternatively, make it in a French press and press the plunger down after 24 hours). Store coffee in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Note 2: to make rich demerara syrup, combine 2/3 cup demerara sugar with 1/3 cup water in a microwave safe bowl (a 1-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup is perfect for this). Microwave on high until the mixture steams and the sugar dissolves when stirred, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool then transfer to an appropriate container to store in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

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Restaurant: Mayahuel (New York, N.Y.)
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All Betts Are Off Cocktail

I've shared a number of cocktails that combine smoky mezcal with herbal-sweet yellow Chartreuse. You can find them in the related links below. The All Betts Are Off might be my favorite expression of this duo yet.

The drink was created by Matt Lanning of The Bitter Bar in Boulder, Colorado, and named it with a nod to Richard Betts, the man behind Sombra Mezcal, which Lanning's original recipe calls for. I substituted Del Maguey Vida, a wonderful mezcal for making cocktails that's also easier to find than Sombra.

Gaz Regan included the drink in his blog's 2011-2012 list of 101 Best New Cocktails. I love how he describes the role blanc vermouth plays in the drink: "The Dolin brings a creaminess to this quaff, it turns out—it acts like a white fluffy mattress on which the other ingredients play."


All Betts Are Off
Adapted from a recipe by Matt Lanning, The Bitter Bar

1 1/2 oz. mezcal (Sombra mezcal is the classic choice; I used Del Maguey Vida)
3/4 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
3/4 oz. Dolin blanc vermouth
Grapefruit twist garnish (lacking a grapefruit, I used a lemon twist instead)

Combine mezcal, Chartreuse and vermouth in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until very cold, then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a grapefruit (or lemon) twist.


Related Links: Other mezcal and Chartreuse cocktails

Naked and Famous

La Otra Palabra

Going Back to Mezcali

Smoky Frozen Margarita

Two More Mezcal Cocktails

To go with the tacos I wrote about on Monday, here are two more great mezcal cocktails. La Otra Palabra comes from John McEvoy's Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! book, which I wrote about recently. This a great cocktail for showing how well mezcal goes with yellow chartreuse. The other drink, which I saw on the Imbibe website, shows how well mezcal goes with amari and spicy flavors. The original recipe calls for Cynar; I used Averna--both are good examples of Italian amari.

La Otra Palabra
Adapted from Eric Alperin's recipe, as used in Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! by John McEvoy

2 oz. mezcal joven (I used Del Maguey Vida mezcal)
1/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1/4 oz. agave nectar
1 tsp. Luxardo maraschino liqueur
Maraschino cherry, garnish

Combine mezcal, Chartreuse, lime juice, agave and maraschino liqueur in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until cold, then strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with cherry.

Red Brick Kitchen's Mezcal Cocktail
Adapted from a recipe by Peter Landrum, Red Brick Kitchen & Bar in Dexter, Michigan that appeared on Imbibe's website

1 1/4 oz. mezcal joven (I used Del Maguey Vida mezcal)
1/4 oz. Averna amaro (the original recipe called for Cynar)
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice, from 1/2 freshly cut lemon
1/2 oz. agave nectar
2 dashes of orange bitters
Smoked sea salt
Aleppo pepper flakes

Combine mezcal, Averna, lemon juice, agave and orange bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until very cold. Run the spent lemon rind around the rim of the glass to moisten it. Spread the smoked salt and Aleppo pepper on a plate and rum the moistened rim of the glass through the mixture to make a spicy-salty rim on the glass. Fill the glass with ice, then strain the drink into the glass.

8-2-Eat: Favorite Mezcal Cocktails

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. This week I've focused on mezcal, my favorite spirit, with a trip to D.C.'s new mezcal- and Oaxaca-focused restaurant, Espita Mezcaleria and a look at a book all about the spirit, Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! Finishing the week, here's 8...or rather 17...great cocktails made with mezcal.

Margarita. Starting with something familiar, a margarita is a great way to get a first taste of mezcal, since it's in a familiar setting of the tart and sweet classic, but just a bit smoky. Dave Arnold's Smoky Frozen Margarita, from his book Liquid Intelligence, plays on mezcal's affinity for chartreuse. The Margarita on Fire plays on mescal's affinity for heat with Bittermens Hellfire habanero shrub (since, after all, where there's smoke, there's fire). The Smoky Pear Margarita drops the margarita's usual orange flavor in favor of pear. Lastly, Mom's Mezcal Margarita, which I found in John McEvoy's Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! book that I wrote about earlier this week, is a wonderful variation on a mezcal margarita with brandy and Peychaud's bitters.

Oaxaca Old Fashioned. This modern classic from Death & Co is where mezcal really gets a chance to shine. It's an elegantly simple (brilliant really) play on the classic Old Fashioned where tequila and mezcal sit in for whiskey and agave replaces simple sugar.  The bitters is a good place to get creative--Angostura is in the original recipe, and many, including me, like it with Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters for yet another nod to Oaxaca. The original recipe has 3 parts tequila to 1 part mezcal, but as you drink this cocktail more, I think you'll appreciate upping the proportion of mezcal (in fact, I like now with all mezcal).

Division Bell. Mayahuel in New York is our favorite place to drink mezcal. I wrote about the bar after our first visit last September and again this January. A few years ago, before I'd ever stepped foot inside, I had already heard about the bar's reputation for crafting excellent cocktails like Jacko's End and the Smoked Palomino. It was after our first visit that I shared their recipe for the Division Bell, a great example of a summer mezcal cocktail that isn't a margarita, its smokiness playing off the sunny-citrusy Aperol with just a touch of maraschino liqueur (it only takes a touch of that stuff). Another good mezcal and Aperol combination is Naked and Famous, developed at Death & Co as play on the Last Word where the drink's four components are in equal proportion.

Broken Oath. Citrus and agave flavors are hallmarks of margaritas and play well with mezcal too, but here's a drink that goes in an entirely different direction, marked by darker, bitter and savory flavors of sherry, coffee and sweet vermouth. Of course, it's another winner from Death & Co.

6666 Miles. Also with coffee liqueur, although much simpler than the Broken Oath, this is my attempt at a sort of homage to the Oaxaca Old Fashioned by recreating an existing classic--in this case, a Black Russian--with mezcal. The name comes from the distance between Moscow and Mexico City.

Sweet Lips. This is also from McEvoy's Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! book, a fantastically sweet and spicy drink made with fresh serrano chile peppers (for some serious kick) and homemade vanilla syrup. While I enjoyed all three of the cocktails I made from the book, this was my favorite.

The Lightsaber (pictured at top). Mezcal has featured prominently in my Oscar-themed cocktails over the years. My Star Wars: The Force Awakens-themed drink, The Lightsaber, was one of my favorites this year, a smoky take on a swizzle drink made with mezcal, cachaça, crème de cacao, blue curaçao and lime. Other mezcal-based favorite Oscar drinks include Whiplash, The Red Planet (The Martian, pictured at right) and The Market Fizz(led) (The Big Short).

Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate with Mezcal. I'll finish this list with a dessert cocktail, a wonderfully Mexican take on boozy hot chocolate with mezcal, cinnamon, mole bitters and habanero shrub.

Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! By John McEvoy

For a long time, ask me what my favorite spirit was and I'd say "gin." But sometime last year, the answer changed to "mezcal." I'm not the only one who's coming around to Mexico's oldest spirit.

I've been interested in mezcal for some time, but it was my ongoing love affair with New York's mezcal-focused bar Mayahuel that really convinced me that mezcal was something special. Since then, I've broadened my exposure to this spirit significantly. I've tried different mezcals from the Del Maguey line. I've learned more about it from blogs, bartenders and liquor stores. But it was reading John McEvoy's Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal! where I really started to feel like I was getting educated. McEvoy, author of the blog Mezcal PhD, has written a well-researched and approachable book on this interesting spirit.

Reading Holy Smoke! gave me a much deeper appreciation for how much variation there is in mezcal and how uniquely tied the spirit is to its source ingredients and terrroir--that is the environmental factors of its production. McEvoy also does a particularly nice job of exploring the history of the rise of tequila's popularity, contrasting that with the (until recently) comparatively slower growth in popularity of mezcal. He even discusses the regulatory differences between the two spirits and the impact of their attainment of Mexican regulatory status--known as the "Norma Oficial Mexicana (NOM)"--and international regulatory status--the "Appellation of Origin," which he refers to as being akin to a "Denomination of Origin (DO)." McEvoy credits these certifications as helping to legitimize these spirits in the international market, which in turn helped spur their burgeoning export market. Tequila got its international status in 1978, while mezcal didn't receive it's DO until much later in 1995. Hence, tequila has had a good head start on mezcal, and the latter has a lot of catching up to do.

Critically, mezcal has had to overcome its unfortunate and undeserved reputation. A lot of people think of mezcal as "the bad tequila with a worm in it," which is so so far from the truth. Mezcal isn't tequila at all, rather, tequila is a form of mezcal that's made only with blue weber agave and produced in certain regions of Mexico--primarily Jalisco--as specified in the DO. As tequila has become more popular with time, its production has become quite industrialized to meet that demand. Mezcal, on the other hand, may be made from any of 50 varieties of agave plants (espadin is the most common), is typically made by small-scale producers and is usually produced through more traditional methods, including roasting the agave hearts, known as piñas, in outdoor earthen ovens. This imparts mezcal's signature smoky flavor (tequila, in contrast, is typically pressure-cooked, hence, no smoke). Most mezcals, particularly the better ones, don't come with worms (the widely available brand that does is Monte Alban, which isn't considered a particularly good mezcal by McEvoy, although I'll confess I've never tried it). Much of this information is covered in great depth in the book's opening chapters on the characteristics, history and production of mezcal.

My current selection of mezcal at home. No worms in sight!

The latter part of the book changes focus from making mezcal to drinking it. The important part! There's a chapter on hosting a mezcal tasting, a rundown of all the major brands available in the United States (an updated version appears on McEvoy's website, although the book has more detail about each bottle), and a wonderfully long list of mezcal cocktails. McEvoy acknowledges that some so-called "purists" snub using mezcal in cocktails, but I'm glad that he doesn't feel that way, as I think mezcal cocktails are brilliant. McEvoy did a nice job selecting a mix of drinks that includes some simpler and more complicated cocktails and a few that call specifically for aged mezcal. Many of the drinks call for lime and agave, making them similar to margaritas, but mezcal goes nicely with other flavors too, such as herbal liqueurs like Chartreuse. I've shared the recipes for a few of the drinks I made from the book below (check back on Friday for a list of other cocktails I like to make with mezcal).

While it's becoming easier to find mezcal, selection is still often limited at most liquor stores. During an informal scan of six liquor stores near my home, I found their stock of mezcal ranged from none to a surprisingly good selection (for mezcal, at least) of 10 choices at Magruder's in Chevy Chase. Also promising was that Del Maguey Vida, a very decent entry-priced mezcal that's great in cocktails, was the most commonly available option, although it ranged in price from $35 to $42. You may be surprised that I consider that "entry-level" pricing, but mezcal does not come cheap, with many bottles priced in the $50-$100 range. The only one I've ever seen for less is Monte Alban mezcal, which is the one most everyone, including McEvoy, agrees is not very good. All of these liquor stores have many more times the variety of tequila and in a wider range of prices (at Calvert-Woodley, for example, you can pay as little as $15 for a fifth of "mixto" tequila or as much as $350 for a special aged añejo, whereas mezcal runs $26 to $43). I've been particularly impressed by the selection of mezcals at Eye Street Cellars, which includes quite of few bottles from the Del Maguey line I love so much.

McEvoy and others are doing their part to educate consumers about mezcal, but its sales in the U.S. are still quite small compared to tequila, despite making significant inroads in recent years. According to Fortune magazine, mezcal exports about doubled from 2011 to 2014, rising from 647,989 liters to almost 1.2 million liters. But that's still less than 1 percent of tequila exports, which surpassed 172 million liters in 2014. Yet, if mezcal were to be produced on a scale as large as tequila, it might lose its distinctiveness. Much of its uniqueness comes from the fact that it's produced in smaller quantities by smaller operations employing less industrialized methods. There's also the issue of sustainability, as agave plants take years to mature. Were mezcal production to ramp up dramatically, that crop would have to be very carefully managed. McEvoy's clear appreciations for mezcal comes through as he discusses these issues. And if you devour this book like I did (preferably with a glass of mezcal or a cocktail at your side), I hope you have a growing appreciation for this amazing spirit too.

Selected Cocktails

Below are three drinks I made from the book, all of which are of the "medium" difficulty I would say. If you're going to rim the glass with salt or sugar do that first. Pour the salt or sugar onto a small plate. Moisten the rim of the glass using a cut piece of lime then roll the outer part of the rim through the salt until you have a nice even coating. Lime and lemon juice should also be acquired from fresh fruit. Bottled juices just don't cut it, especially those fake-tasting ones in the plastic containers shaped like citrus fruits.

Sweet Lips
Adapted from a recipe by John McEvoy for Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal!

This drink is seriously spicy. Serrano peppers may be small, but they pack a powerful punch. The two little muddled slices I used for this cocktail gave it a very strong kick. Be warned if you don't like a spicy drink, but if you do, this cocktail is awesome. I love the vanilla with the mezcal. I was attracted to this drink because I had some vanilla syrup on hand, and this was the perfect way to use some of it up.

1-2 slices serrano chile pepper (careful, these are really hot)
1 oz. lemon juice
2 oz. joven mezcal (I used Del Maguey Vida)
1/2 oz. vanilla simple syrup (see note)
1/4 oz. agave nectar
Demerara sugar rim (may use regular sugar too)

Add serrano slices and lemon to a cocktail shaker and muddle. Add the mezcal, vanilla syrup and agave nectar, then fill the shaker with ice. Shake until very cold, then double-strain into a sugar-rimmed rocks glass with ice (see note).

Notes: to make the syrup, combine 1/2 cup sugar (I used demerara sugar), 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan. Split a vanilla bean down the middle and scrape the seeds into the pan (add the bean pod too). Bring mixture to a boil, stir to ensure sugar dissolves then remove from heat. Allow to cool, then transfer to a container and store in the fridge. To "double-strain" a drink means to use both a typical Hawthorne cocktail strainer in the shaker and a fine-mesh sieve held just above the glass to catch any seeds or little bits from the muddled pepper.

Under the Volcano
Adapted from a recipe from the former restaurant, Los Americanos in New York City

Although this has a chile pepper too, it's far milder than the Sweet Lips drink, although that may depend somewhat on how potent your jalapeño is, since they can range from no hotter than a green bell pepper to oh-my-god-my-mouth-is-on-fire hot. This is a good example of how herbal flavors play well with mezcal.

1 1/2 oz. mezcal joven (I used Marca Negra Espadín)
1 oz. jalapeño-rosemary syrup (see note that follows)
3/4 oz. lime juice
2 dashes bitters (I used Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters, always a good choice with mezcal, although the recipe in the book calls for teapot bitters)
Salt rim (optional, I omitted this--the book calls for sal con guano, which is salt wth ground up dried worms)

Combine mezcal, jalapeño-rosemary syrup, lime juice and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until very cold, then strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.

Note: to make the syrup, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, two jalapeños split and quartered and the leaves from a 4-inch sprig of rosemary in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, then set aside to cool. Pour all of the mixture into a container and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Strain after 24 hours (you may leave the jalapeño in longer for more heat). Store in the fridge and use within a week.

Mom's Mezcal Margarita
Adapted from a recipe by John McEvoy for Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal!

I really liked this drink a lot and not just because I thought it was sweet that McEvoy said his mom enjoys mezcal margaritas this way. I've had plenty of mezcal margaritas, but I'd never seen one with brandy before. And the Peychaud's bitters give a lovely light pink color.

2 oz. joven mezcal (I used Del Maguey Vida)
1/2 oz. brandy (I used Laird's Applejack, an apple brandy)
2 oz. lime juice
1 oz. agave nectar
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters (these are red, which makes the drink a nice pink color)
Salt on the rim (optional)
Lime wedge garnish (optional)

Combine the mezcal, brandy, lime juice, agave nectar and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until very cold, then strain into a rocks glass with ice. If you prefer, rim the glass with salt before pouring the drink and garnish with a lime wedge.

Restaurant: Espita Mezcaleria (Washington, D.C.)

"Espita" is Spanish for "spigot," and, if you're at D.C.'s newest Mexican restaurant, Espita Mezcaleria, that spigot is pouring our some pretty amazing mezcal. Get ready to drink up.

I've made no secret of my love for mezcal. I'll have several posts about it this week (including a look at John McEvoy's excellent book, Holy Smoke! It's Mezcal!). And mole, the spicy-rich Mexican chili sauce that often contains a long list of ingredients such as chocolate and nuts, is amazing. When I learned that a restaurant would be opening in D.C. focusing on both mezcal and mole, I could barely contain my excitement. These are two of my favorite Mexican things--a really good reason for why I should visit Oaxaca, the southern Mexico state that's known for producing the best of both these.

Let's start with the drinks. If you like drinking mezcal neat, Espita stocks over 70 bottles. That's an amazing variety, far more than at any U.S. liquor store I've ever visited. Mezcal is distilled from agave, and with over 70 choices here, there's a nice variety of agave present: 20 are made from espadin agave, the most common variety for mezcal; 40 are made from other agave varieties; 8 are ensembles, which are blends of different agaves; and 5 are pechugas, which are traditionally made with a raw chicken breast (seriously, there are three such examples here, plus one made from turkey and another with corn).

Looking to go beyond mezcal? You can, of course, have tequila, of which they have 10 varieties, but you can get that anywhere. Instead, why not try a sotol, raicilla or bacanora? Not familiar with them? These are three other varieties of Mexican spirits--the latter two of which are also made from agave (sotol is made from desert spoon, an agave cousin). Espita may not be the first D.C. bar to stock these other spirits, but they are not very common, and I know of no D.C. liquor store that is currently stocking sotol (although Ace will order it for you). By my count, that's more choices than you can get at Mayahuel, New York's mezcal-focused bar we raved about last year. Flights are available for trying a mix of these great spirits. Credit for this amazing selection goes to Josh Phillips, Espita's master mezcalier (like a sommelier is to wine, Philips is to mezcal).

Left: Mayahuel; Right: Smiling Rabbit

If, like us, you're more into cocktails, you'll be happy here too. Beverage director Megan Barnes has assembled a thoughtful cocktail menu sorted into three categories: refreshing highballs, citrusy shaken drinks, and high-powered all-liquor cocktails. I began the night with La Llorona, an impressively dark mix of mezcal, bitters, vermouth and Mexican fernet. The licorice fragrance of absinthe is noticeable in the Quiet Rebel, but it doesn't overpower this concoction of mezcal, cognac and sweet vermouth. Looking for something more like a margarita? Try the Mayahuel, a tart mezcal cocktail with triple sec, lime, agave and a rim of sal de gusano (not sure what that is? it's a type of salt, but you might want to look it up first). My favorite drink of the night was the Smiling Rabbit, made from bitter Suze, lemon, pineapple and cinnamon adorably garnished with two pineapple leaves arranged to look like bunny ears. Cute and tasty!

Espita's menu should please most Mexican food fiends. Like the drinks, the menu focuses on the flavors of Oaxaca, developed by executive chef Alexis Samayoa, an alum of WD-50 and Empellon Taqueria, the latter of which recently won us over as our current favorite Mexican restaurant in New York. Mole and tacos are the star attractions, with 7-8 choices of each. Moles range from starter-size portions like the Mole Poblano served with carrots and parsnips to the larger Mole Negro with lamb neck, which our server explained is really meant for two. Tacos come in a nice variety of vegetarian, seafood and meat choices.

Skirt Steak Tacos

Those taco fillings are folded into some of the best corn tortillas I've ever had. They are amazingly good, fragrant with masa and the perfect thickness to keep from disintegrating while not coming across as too chewy. Our sever explained that a woman comes in early each day to grind the corn and cook the tortillas. They also fry their own chips from these tortillas, and they are the best tortilla chips I've had in a restaurant. An order of freshly made guacamole, served in the traditional manner with jalapeño, onion and cilantro, is a must, simply to have an excuse to munch on these amazing chips. The guacamole itself is pretty special too, giving Oyamel a run for its money as the city's best avocado dip.

Kale Salad

Another early arrival to the table was the kale salad. I'll admit, this wasn't a priority order. I wanted something green so we didn't feel like complete pigs. But man, if that salad didn't turn out to be one our favorite items of the evening. It was really good! The kale was chopped into nicely manageable pieces and served with candied walnuts, queso fresco, pasilla chiles and a sweet agave vinaigrette.

Next up was our taco order. We limited ourselves to one (one order of two tacos that is--orders come with your choice of two or three tacos) and went with the skirt steak. I could have eaten this all night. It was amazing. The tender chunks of grilled steak had a nice char around the edges and were garnished with cilantro and a spicy salsa. On my next visit, I must make a point of ordering the grilled tilapia tacos with pickled carrot, cabbage slaw and chipotle mayo, as that sounds pretty amazing also. Word is that the lamb barbacoa tacos are also excellent.

Mole Coloradito

Our moles arrived as our main course. While good, this was probably the least exciting portion of our dinner. Perhaps our expectations were too high, but we found both of the moles we ordered to be fine but not exceptional. The Coloradito features pork belly fanned above a dark mole made with ancho and guajillo chiles, roasted tomatoes and plantains and garnished with breakfast radishes. I really liked the pork belly, but I wish there had been more mole sauce and less garnish. Our other mole was the Pipian, pork ribs smothered with a green tomatillo mole. This mole was really good, and those incredible tortillas are perfect for sopping up some of that sauce, but our pork ribs were surprisingly dry, perhaps overcooked. Everything else we ate was so amazing that I was rather surprised the moles didn't impress us as much.

Tres Leches Cake

The kitchen came roaring back with dessert though. The selection here is limited--there are just two choices--but the tres leches cake was dynamite good. This is one of our favorite desserts (I make it myself sometimes), and this version, served with apples, caramel sauce and caramel ice cream was the sweetest perfection.

Service at Espita was very good, surprisingly good actually given that the place was packed and I was worried our server might not reappear as needed, as sometimes happens at really busy places. But she showed up just in time to get us more drinks and more tortillas. Other servers who appeared to take plates and fill our water glasses were equally friendly. We felt we taken care of here of.

Between courses, take a moment to pause and enjoy the restaurant's colorful murals, which were painted by Oaxacan street artist Yescka. I didn't snap a good picture of them, but my friend Jessica of The Dining Traveler got a good shot when she visited. The interior has a wonderful vibe and yes, it's a bit noisy, but that's pretty common these days.

Given my love for Mexican food, and mezcal and Oaxacan cuisine in particular, my expectations for Espita were pretty high. I'm glad to say that we were definitely satisfied with our first experience here and plan to visit again soon. The food and drinks were excellent, as was the service. D.C. is sadly underserved when it comes to good Mexican food. Espita definitely does its part to help fill that void.

Espita Mezcaleria, 1250 9th St. NW (on the corner at N Street NW), Washington, D.C. (Shaw, across from the Convention Center). (202) 621-9695. Reservations: Open Table.

Getting Serious about Mezcal

6666 Miles Cocktail

It's time to get serious about mezcal. The days of dismissing it as a second-rate spirit with a dead insect in it are over. Mezcal producers have become much more sophisticated, and high-quality mezcal is proliferating at good cocktail bars and liquor stores near you.

Leading the pack is Del Maguey. Rather than operating as a single distillery, Del Maguey works with a collection of small-scale producers making mezcal using traditional methods in various villages around the Oaxaca region of Mexico. According to the company's website, each of its mezcals is made by a family-run producer in a small village. Thus, Del Maguey markets most of its mezcal line as "single-village mezcals," which are also certified by the USDA as organic.

The company celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Ron Cooper started it in 1995 with the intention of expanding the availability of artisanal mezcals produced through traditional means. Cooper himself is clearly very passionate about mezcal--there's a great interview with him on the Del Maguey site. But he also has a background in art, which is reflected in the beautiful and unique way Del Maguey packages its mezcals in green bottles each with a different colorful illustration. Some of these works were designed by Ken Price, an artist friend of Cooper's who died in 2012.

Del Maguey definitely has a cool factor. Its mezcals are prominently featured on the bar shelf at the renowned East Village bar Mayahuel (their spirits menu boasts 13 of the company's mezcals). Del Maguey even teamed up with José Andrés recently to make a ham-flavored mezcal. What they don't have...a worm larva in their bottles, a practice I've read came about to mask the flavor of inferior mezcals, which Del Maguey certainly are not.

Our recent visit to Mayahuel is what sparked my renewed interest in mezcal. I've been a fan of their Vida mezcal for sometime, but wanted to try some of the other types. These can be harder to find, but I am seeing them more often in liquor stores, including in D.C. at Eye Street Cellars, a relatively recent addition to Mount Vernon Triangle, which carries a good selection. I picked up several bottles there recently.

Del Maguey mezcals

Vida is a great place to start with the Del Maguey line. It's smoky, but not intensely so like some mezcals. It's very clean and refreshing. It's a wonderful choice for cocktails, both because it's easy to get ahold of and mixes well. Vida can usually be found for around $35, which makes it an affordable mezcal (they can get quite pricey), particular for something of this quality. Vida comes from San Luis Del Rio.

Moving into something a little different, there's Chichicapa, named after the village where it's made (most of the Del Maguey mezcals, except for Vida, which means "life" are named for the villages where they are made). It's not as smoky as Vida, but has a spicier, more complex flavor.

Lastly, we tried Creme de Mezcal, which is a little different, since it's 90 percent mezcal and 10 percent agave, making what some would call a "mezcal liqueur." The agave's sweetness further smooths out the mezcal, making this a very sippable concoction. I could see this being very useful for crafting mezcal cocktails without needing the addition of agave or simple syrup.

So how does mezcal work in cocktails? Rather well actually. I love that they combine the characteristics of a good tequila with the smoky nose akin to a peaty Scotch. Mezcals are a natural to pair with citrus, but they also work with other fruits, like pears, as well as coffee, chocolate and herbal flavors. They also mix well with other spirits--tequila, obviously, but also rum. I recommend tasting your mezcal before mixing it, since some mezcals work better with other flavors (I find that the smokier mezcals can be more challenging for mixing).

Oaxaca Old Fashioned

One of the best-known mezcal cocktails is the Oaxaca Old Fashioned, which was created by Phil Ward for Death & Co. The Oaxaca Old Fashioned is brilliantly simple: replace the Old Fashioned's whiskey with mezcal and use agave nectar instead of of sugar. Although the original recipe called for Angostura bitters, using mole bitters introduces yet another Oaxacan flavor. Death & Co. also originated the Naked & Famous, a drink similar to the Last Word made with mezcal instead of gin.

Of course Mayahuel makes many amazing mezcal cocktails. Among them are the Division Bell, a sunny take on a mezcal cocktail with Aperol, and the Smoked Palomino, a citrusy mezcal-sherry cocktail.

Replacing some or all of the tequila in a margarita makes for a smoky take on a familiar classic. A little chili pepper adds nice heat too to the Margarita on Fire, and Dave Arnold's version of the classic frozen margarita made with mezcal, orange liqueur and chartreuse is a brilliant revision of that summer favorite. I also like this smoky pear margarita.

For a hot drink, warm up on a cold day with Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate with Mezcal, a recipe that comes from Serious Eats' J. Kenji López-Alt.

For other ideas, Del Maguey's website has an extensive list of mezcal cocktails. The Going Back to Mezcali piqued my interest, both because it sounds delicious (and is) and because it's by Donato Alvarez of Sixth Engine in D.C. I changed the garnish a bit: instead of the cold-smoked lime peel, I did a flamed lime peel. Lastly, I concocted the 6666 Miles below, as a sort of nod to the Oaxaca Old Fashioned. Like that drink, I took an existing classic--the Black Russian--and replaced its base spirit with mezcal. I also added some mole bitters. I call it 6666 Miles because that's the approximate distance from Moscow to Mexico City.

6666 Miles
(Photo at top)

2 oz. Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal
1 oz. coffee liqueur (Kahlúa will work; I used a homemade liqueur)
2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl mole bitters
Bing cherry, garnish

Combine mezcal, coffee liqueur and bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Stir until very cold. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with cherry.

Going Back to Mezcali

Going Back to Mezcali
Adapted from a recipe by Donato Alvarez of Sixth Engine, Washington, D.C.

2-3 slices of cucumber
1 oz. Del Maguey Vida mezcal
1 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
1 oz. Aperol
1 oz. lime juice
Flamed lime peel, garnish (note: the original recipe calls for a cold-smoked lime peel)

Add cucumber to a cocktail shaker and muddle. Fill with ice and add the mezcal, Chartreuse, Aperol and lime juice and shake until very cold. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the flamed lime peel.

Related

Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails (includes recipes for Oaxaca Old Fashioned and the Naked and Famous)

Cocktail Bar: Going Two Rounds at Mayahuel (includes the Division Bell recipe)

Mayahuel Mezcal Cocktails (includes the Smoked Palomino recipe)

Margarita on Fire

Smoky Frozen Margarita

Smoky Pear Margarita

Spicy Aztec Hot Chocolate with Mezcal

Mayahuel Mezcal Cocktails

Epicurious named mezcal the spirit to watch in their article on 2013 food trends. I became enamored with the smoky Mexican liquor last year and used it in several drinks, including two from my Dallas-themed series (John Ross and Elena); Light My Fire, a spicy drink with Aperol; and the Smoky Ginger Cocktail, which paired mezcal with ginger liqueur.

These two mezcal cocktails are both adapted from recipes that come from Mayahuel, a Mexican cocktail lounge in New York's East Village that takes seriously the business of making cocktails from agave-based spirits, namely tequila and its lesser known (but apparently trendy) cousin mezcal. It takes its name from a goddess associated with the maguey plant, also known as the agave americana, from which mezcal is derived.

Both of these cocktails are pretty strong, especially Jacko's End, which is served up. I reduced the proportion of alcohol to non-alcohol ingredients in the Smoked Palomino just because I didn't want a drink with 4 oz. of booze (although sherry, as a fortified wine, does have a lower alcohol content). I used Del Maguey Vida mezcal for both of these drinks.

Jacko's End
From Jacko's End by Mayahuel

1 oz. mezcal
1 oz. apple brandy (I used Laird's Straight Apple Brandy)
1/2 oz. benedictine
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Stir ingredients together and serve in a martini or coupe glass (I shook the ingredients with ice to cool it off and dilute it a bit).

Smoked Palomino
Adapted from a recipe in the Washington Post adapted from Mayahuel

1 1/2 oz. amontillado sherry
1 1/2 oz. mezcal
3/4 oz. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup (see note)
2 oz. club soda

Fill a shaker halfway with ice. Add the sherry, mezcal, juices and simple syrup. Shake well, then strain into a collins or highball glass with ice. Top with the club soda.

Note: to make simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water and either microwave in a glass bowl or heat on the stove in small saucepan until boiling. Allow to cool.