Mezcalita Oaxaqueña

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cocktail shaker with strainer
• •Citrus juicer or hand reamer
• •Small flat plate for the salt rim
• •Chilled rocks glass or small clay copita
• •Jigger for measuring

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the mezcal

   Buy mezcal espadín from Oaxaca, joven, made by a small palenque. The label should name the maestro mezcalero and the village. Santiago Matatlán, San Dionisio Ocotepec, Tlacolula. If the bottle says nothing about where it came from or who made it, leave it on the shelf. Espadín is the workhorse agave of Oaxaca and the right starting point for a mezcalita. Save the tobalá and the tepeztate for sipping neat. No me vengas con atajos.

   Avoid mezcal flavored with caramel coloring or aged in barrels. The mezcalita lives on the smoke and the agave, not on a wood finish.
2. 2

   Prepare the sal de gusano rim

   Pour the sal de gusano onto a small flat plate and spread it in a thin even layer. Real sal de gusano is brick-red, ground from toasted maguey worms, sea salt, and chile costeño. It tastes earthy, smoky, faintly bitter. If you have only seen it sold as a novelty in tourist shops, that version is fine for the look but weak on flavor. Buy it from a Oaxacan vendor who can tell you which palenque it came from.

3. 3

   Rim the glass

   Run the cut side of the lime wedge around the outside edge of a chilled rocks glass or small copita, wetting only the outer rim. Press the outside of the rim into the sal de gusano, rotating slowly so the salt clings in an even line. Never wet the inside of the glass. Salt that drops into the cocktail will overpower the lime. The rim is for the lip, not for the drink.

4. 4

   Build and shake

   Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds with ice. Add the mezcal, the fresh lime juice, the agave nectar, and the orange liqueur. Seal the shaker and shake hard for ten to twelve seconds. You want it cold and properly diluted, not bruised. The lime juice must be fresh-squeezed, today, from Mexican limes if you can find them. Bottled lime juice tastes of metal and will ruin the balance.

5. 5

   Strain and garnish

   Place a large clear ice cube in the rimmed glass. Strain the mezcalita over the ice. Lay the orange slice and the lime wedge across the rim. Serve at once. Sip it, do not shoot it. Mezcalita is a sipping cocktail. The smoke from the espadín, the bite of the lime, the salt and chile from the gusano on your lip, that is the architecture. Rush it and you taste nothing. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •If your bottle does not name the maestro mezcalero, the village, and the agave variety, it is not the mezcal you want for this drink. Look for espadín from Santiago Matatlán, San Dionisio Ocotepec, or San Baltazar Chichicápam. These are the names that should be on the label.
• •Fresh-squeezed Mexican lime is non-negotiable. Bottled lime juice has a metallic edge that fights the smoke of the espadín. If you cannot find Mexican lime (Key lime), Persian lime is a compromise but use a touch less, since Persian limes are less aggressive.
• •Sal de gusano sold outside Mexico can be thin or stale. Buy from a Oaxacan importer when you can. If you cannot find it, mix coarse sea salt with toasted ground chile costeño in a 3-to-1 ratio. It is a substitution, not an upgrade, and you will taste the missing depth.

Advance Preparation

• •The sal de gusano can be ground or mixed in advance and kept in a sealed jar for several months. The flavor holds.
• •Lime juice should be squeezed within the hour. Limes lose their brightness after juicing and the cocktail will taste flat by the next day.
• •Chill the rocks glasses in the freezer 20 minutes before serving. The colder the glass, the longer the cocktail holds its line.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 130g)