Dirty Mezcalita Cocktail
This drink is intense, it’s spicy, it’s umami and it has just the right amount of sweetness.
The tequila, jalapeño and lime juice give a familiar taste of Margarita, but the mezcal, vermouth, MSG, the mint take it to a whole, more interesting territory.
You can batch make the concentrate, keep in the fridge and serve with sparkling water, making it the perfect, easy access cocktail you need in order to not become a bartender in your own party.
ingredients (Makes 15 to 17 cocktails)
375ml Mezcal
375ml Tequila
170ml dry Vermouth
3 Jalapeño chiles
3 cups fresh mint leaves
8 limes
1 cup sugar in the raw (Or Demerara Sugar)
1/2 tbsp MSG
Kosher salt to taste
Sal de Gusano or Tajin chile powder
Thai chiles for garnish
Soda water or sparkling water
instructions
In a small pot, add your sugar in the raw and one cup of water. Mix well and let come up to temperature in the stove on medium heat. Stir regularly to make sure no sugar is burning on the bottom of the pot. You’re looking for all the crystals to dissolve, for the water to reduce and to be left with an amber brown, thick syrup. This will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Once you’ve achieved the desired colour and viscosity, transfer to a heat safe bowl and let cool.
While your syrup is on the heat, in a mortar and pestle, Molcajete or processor, add your jalapeño chiles with a pinch of salt and mash them or pulsate them until they release all their water and they form a paste.
Add your mint leafs and continue mashing and pulsing. The mint will dry up the jalapeño and thicken the paste.
Add the juice of all your lemons and continue mixing until you have a bright green liquid. We’ll strain it later, but make sure there are no big pieces of mint or chile. You want everything to be as mashed as possible so that it releases all it’s flavours.
Transfer your mint / chile concentrate into a big bowl. To this you’ll add your three alcohols. (Tequila, Mezcal and Vermouth. Mix well).
Add your syrup and mix well again. You want to make sure the syrup dissolves completely into the mix and there’s no syrup sitting on the bottom of the bowl. Using a whisk will help.
Season with 1/2 tbsp of salt and add the 1/2 tbsp of MSG as well. Again, make sure everything is well combined and dissolved.
Taste and season accordingly. It should be very potent, but very tasty. You might need to add a pinch more salt to enhance the flavour. Remember, this will be diluted when served, both with sparkling water and ice, so we need it to taste very strong in this initial form.
Let cool in the fridge for one to four hours.
Before serving, strain the conentrate so that you’re left with a smooth liquid. Discard the fiber from the jalapeño and mint.
Once ready to serve, fill a shaker or large jar with ice and pour some of the mixture into it. Mix well until it gets very cold and the jar or the shaker is frosted. This will dilute the mix sufficiently. (I recommend doing this in batches. So this Jar will usually serve 2 or 3. The rest you can keep in your bowl, undiluted so it keeps its flavour and potency).
serve in a tall glass, full of ice. Pour your concentrate, leaving the ice behind, and fill the glass halfway and finish the other half with sparkling or soda water. Top the cocktail with the Sal de Gusano or Tajin powder and garnish with one Thai chile, pierced on a bias with a bamboo cocktail pick.
