Naranja, Tajin sal, Bozal mezcal en copita y una lampara brillante!

Let the good times roll!!

(And No! I am not preparing for a Democratic Party debate 🙂 )

Our company event is coming up. Which means I get to do the fun part of a CEO job – be the bartender. In previous companies, the logo always had one color. Making company cocktails were relatively easier.

But my current company – Riverside Insights – has two colors. And anybody who knows a little about mixology will tell you immediately after looking at the colors that they are very simple colors to make cocktails of. Separately. But putting them together is a chore. Midori (green) and Curacao (blue) are both fairly low in viscosity and will mix immediately upon pouring.

After making a complete mess in my bar, I think I have hit upon the perfect formulation with crushed ice, curacao, midori, vodka and simple syrup. The picture was taken about 5 minutes after making the drink. The colors stayed reasonably separated. Another 10 minutes and they started mixing up.

Does anybody else have any other trick up their sleeve that can help me?

This has pineapple, cardamom, lime juice and mezcal. Inspired by the menu from Nashville’s bar Bastion as featured in the magazine Liquor.

I am yet to be super impressed by any mezcal cocktail. I think mezcal is best had by itself. In this drink the cardamom or pineapple effect is completely subsumed by the mezcal smokiness. Unlike a neutral alcohol like vodka, mezcal does not have too many other liquids (like juices) that can soften it down.

I will try next time with pineapple juice instead of crushed pineapple and see if it makes any difference.

The earthen vessel and the pineapple bits with lime slices made the drink look good though!

A variation of a gimlet with pomegranate for her and a tamarind-mezcal cocktail for me.

Inaugurated my new smoking gun. I am still learning the fine art of smoking drinks – so do not hold me to high standards. Used mesquite wood to smoke the Old Fashioned (used Maker’s Mark).

Next time I will do the smoking in a more open space. My nose is so filled with the rich aroma of the smoke that came our initially that I could hardly smell it in the Old Fashioned!! Plus there is the advantage that I would not kick in the fire alarms 🙂

A good adventure though and very excited about the new smoking gun. (Part of it has to be the fact that I love the name 🙂 )

Fairly standard production process. Made from espadin agaves that are allowed to grow till 7-9 years (when the sugar content peaks). The chopped up pinas are cooked for 3 days in a pit lined with lava rocks. It is then milled by horse drawn stone tahona to let the yeast and other micro-organisms get to the sugar. Subsequently, it is fermented by mixing in deep well water and letting it sit in open air wooden oak vats for 3 days. As a final step, the two rounds of distillation is done in a copper alembic still.

The mezcal itself is fairly run of the mill. Seems to have an edge at the end in the length. However, Casamigos is still my favorite.

Picked this recipe from Salt and Pepper Skillet. This is Blood Orange liqueur, Lime Juice, Mezcal and Angostura bitters.

Got the recipe from the bar La Cucaracha in Mexico City. The recipe comes from 1937.
Mezcal, lime juice, grenadine and bitters

Picked this up from the bartender Adam Rose at the Villalobos bar in Montclair, NJ.

Cilantro, Lime, Agave Nectar and Mezcal.

The cilantro gave a nice twist to an otherwise very earthy palate and finish.

Mezcal Margarita for Quatro de Mayo

Replace tequila with mezcal and add a few drops of orange bitters to the lime juice and triple sec.