Four Mezcal Cocktail Recipes to Make at Home | Despacio Mezcal

By Sophie Gayot

Good food starts with good ingredients. The same goes for drinks. We have teamed up with Despacio Mezcal to help you create these mezcal cocktails in the comfort of your home. Follow the step-by-step videos below, so you can get all the tricks to impress your family and friends. And learn about Despacio Mezcal with my exclusive interviews with its founder Juan Morales Esquer.

Check out GAYOT’s:
Cinco de Mayo Celebration Guide
– and Best Mezcals to Drink

> HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DESPACIO MEZCAL

Traditional Methods, Modern Surroundings

Despacio Mezcal is family owned, producing at their own distillery in Oaxaca, Mexico. From start to finish, it is all organic and chemical free. On top of being 100% organic, the agave is sustainable, which means it has had a very small carbon footprint. To produce a single bottle, only one kilo of agave is needed, which can grow in any environment and doesn’t require much water or fertilizer. Despacio Mezcal is determined to keep mezcal sustainable by replenishing each agave plant that they use.

The Maestro Mezcalero, Amando Alvarez, comes from a long line of mezcal producers in this family. By his mother, Amando is a 6th generation mezcalero. By his father, he is a 4th generation mezcalero. After spending most of his childhood at his father’s palenque, Amando distilled his first batch at the age of fifteen. Alvarez has created a smooth mezcal with the right amount of smokiness.

Enjoy it traditionally neat as a sipping drink, or in one of the four cocktails below.

> For more information and to buy, visit the Despacio Mezcal official website.

1. Watermelon Margarita

INGREDIENTS:
– 2 oz. of Despacio Mezcal
– 5 chunks of fresh watermelon
– 1 oz. lime juice
– 0.5 oz. agave syrup
– basil

METHOD:
• In a shaker, muddle the watermelon chunks along with the lime juice.
• Add the agave syrup, Despacio Mezcal and ice.
• Shake and double stir into a lowball or a margarita saucer.
• Garnish with a watermelon chunk and basil.


> Watch Miguel Roman, mixologist at Bar Toscana (Brentwood, LA, CA), making a Watermelon Margarita, and our exclusive interview with Juan Morales Esquer, Despacio Mezcal founder.

2. Spetziato

INGREDIENTS:
– 2 oz. Despacio Mezcal
– 0.5 oz. agave syrup
– 1 oz. lime juice
– red bell pepper
– basil
– peppercorn

METHOD:
• In a shaker, muddle the red bell pepper, basil and peppercorn along with the lime juice.
• Add the agave syrup, Despacio Mezcal and ice.
• Shake and double stir into a lowball.
• Smoke with wood chips and serve.


> Watch Miguel Roman, mixologist at Bar Toscana (Brentwood, LA, CA), making the “Spetziato” cocktail, and our second exclusive interview with Juan Morales Esquer, Despacio Mezcal founder.

3. Mexico Picante

INGREDIENTS:
– 0.5 oz. Despacio Mezcal
– 1.5 oz. tequila
– 1 oz. lime juice
– 0.5 oz. of agave syrup
– 4 cucumber slices
– 3 jalapeño slices
– 4 leaves of basil

METHOD:
• In a shaker, muddle the basil, jalapeño, cucumber along with the lime juice.
• Add the agave syrup, tequila, Despacio Mezcal and ice.
• Shake and double stir into a lowball.
• Garnish with fresh basil leaves, cucumber slices and a slice of jalapeño.


> Watch Miguel Roman, mixologist at Bar Toscana (Brentwood, LA, CA), making the “Mexico Picante” cocktail.

4. Mr. Diaz

INGREDIENTS:
– 2 oz. Despacio Mezcal
– 1 oz. lime juice
– 0.5 oz. honey syrup
– 1 pinch of chipotle powder
– 1 oz. blood orange juice
– Himalayan black salt on the rim of the glass

METHOD:
• Add all ingredients to a shaker along with ice.
• Rim a lowball glass with Himalayan black salt.
• Shake and stir into a lowball.
• Garnish with a slice of dried lime with one dried Chile de Arbol on top of the dried lime slice.
• Burn the dried Chile de Arbol with a torch and immediately put it off to add smokiness to the cocktail.


> Watch Miguel Roman, mixologist at Bar Toscana (Brentwood, LA, CA), making the “Mr. Diaz” cocktail.