Mezcal

This make-ahead cocktail is lightly smoky and wonderful with dessert. Adding water along with the ingredients, then freezing the batched drink, means you won’t need to shake it over ice.

Think of this cocktail recipe as a more boozy, more delicious, and just as pretty Aperol spritz.

You can find loose hibiscus flowers at Mexican and Indian grocers, but if not, use 6 hibiscus tea bags instead.

A perfect meringue dessert, with its fissures and epic swirls, also presents a beautiful landscape for garnishes. If you were able to shrink yourself to approximately one inch tall, this dessert would be the gnarliest surf breaks frozen in time.

Smoky mezcal, tart homemade grenadine, and a splash of sparkling wine give this twist on the tequila sunrise a modern upgrade.

This smoky blush cocktail features Cappelletti, a Campari-like aperitif that shares its ruby red color but is slightly less sweet and not quite as bitter.

A boozy whiskey cocktail that's equal parts mezcal smoke and festive sweetness, thanks to a warm, spice-infused maple syrup.

I spiked this spiritous Michelada with smoky mezcal and seasoned it with celery bitters.

Bartender's Notes: As you read through this recipe, you'll notice that it mirrors pretty classic margarita proportions … with the addition of orange bitters. Bitters work their magic here, as they do in many drinks, by adding depth, complexity and balance to otherwise pretty simple ingredients. And when you're mixing a drink with mezcal, that depth, complexity and balance are the hardest parts to achieve.