The Paloma, usually made with tequila, is made here with mezcal. Grapefruit juice stands in for the more commonly used grapefruit soda. Recipe below.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD BAR, THE BARREL, HAS MANY CHARMS. It’s tucked up under an El station. The mostly punkish jukebox offers a nice soundtrack to the evening, and the bartenders supply lively conversation when you want it. But one of the biggest draws for us is the cheap, delicious, inventively named cocktails. Our current favorite is the Rosemary’s Baby Daddy.
It is essentially a Paloma with a sprig of rosemary tucked in it. Bon Appétit says “the Paloma, not the Margarita, is Mexico’s most beloved cocktail.” It is most commonly made with tequila and grapefruit-flavored soda poured over ice and garnished with a lime wedge. A salt rim on the glass is optional.
At the Barrel, they use real grapefruit juice and club soda. We like that approach. And as much as we like tequila, we like its smoky little brother mezcal even more. One night, we asked the bartender to make a Rosemary’s Baby Daddy with mezcal and a new star was born.
One mezcal we’re particularly liking these days is Banhez Mezcal Artesanal. Its nice balance of smokiness and botanicals makes it great for sipping or mixing in a cocktail. And it’s generally available for 30 bucks or less, no mean feat in the small-batch world of mezcal.
Here’s our take on the Rosemary’s Baby Daddy, made with mezcal. We didn’t hit up the Barrel for their recipe—just mixed and tasted until we got something we liked. We also didn’t steal their name. We call ours Smoky Paloma. Which kind of sounds like a ’50s welterweight boxer—never the main event, of course, always a preliminary bout.
Smoky Paloma
Ingredients
- fresh rosemary sprigs
- 1 ounce mezcal, preferably Banhez Mezcal Artesanal
- 4 ounces fresh red grapefruit juice or regular grapefruit juice
- 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
- 3 dashes orange bitters
- club soda
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle a rosemary sprig with mezcal, grapefruit juice, lime juice and bitters. Add ice to the shaker and shake until nice and cold, about 30 seconds.
- Strain into an ice-filled collins or highball glass. Top with club soda, stir to combine and garnish with a rosemary sprig.
Kitchen Notes
The Paloma is such a terrific drink! Nice and refreshing. Love the idea of using mezcal in it — not a liquor we use all that much for some reason, but it’d be perfect in this. Good stuff — thanks.
John, the smokiness of a good mezcal just adds another nice layer to lots of drinks. At one of our favorite BYOB restaurants in our mostly Mexican neighborhood, we’ll often see people just sipping mezcal straight.