The Liquor Swap You Need To Try In Your Next Paloma
A paloma is a timeless refreshing drink for summer or anytime you want to cool down. Plus, it's easy to whip up with just three ingredients (tequila, grapefruit soda, and lime juice), so you don't have to worry about working up a sweat just to enjoy one. There's an easy way to upgrade the flavor of your next homemade paloma and add a zesty kick to this classic cocktail by switching out the base spirit. Rather than using tequila in the drink, reach for a bottle of smoky mezcal to add more depth and complexity to this simple grapefruit sipper.
Mezcal, the smokier, more varied agave spirit, is having a moment as the hottest spirit in America, so both professional and home bartenders are learning to use it to kick up the flavor value in all kinds of shaken, stirred, and poured cocktails. Since a paloma is a quintessential Mexican cocktail, it is a prime candidate for a little mezcal twist.
Mezcal makes for a smoky twist on the classic paloma
A traditional paloma is all about bubbles and juicy grapefruit; the tequila hides behind the intense fruit flavors. But in the mezcal paloma, smoky complexity stands up to bittersweet grapefruit to make the cocktail more balanced. Mezcal naturally has a smoky flavor because it is made by roasting agave hearts in stone ovens and then grinding and distilling them. Each mezcal variety maintains a different level of smoke flavor from this process. Your paloma can be subtly smoky or have a robust smoke flavor, depending on which mezcal you choose. It's up to you what smoke level you enjoy!
Making a mezcal paloma is easy, especially because you build it in the glass from which you'll drink. Simply pour in the ingredients, add ice, give the drink a quick stir, and finally, pop a straw in the glass and sip. This smoky paloma takes less than one minute to make. You can also make a large batch of mezcal paloma cocktails in a pitcher and then pour them into individual glasses with ice.
Mezcal and tequila are both made from agave, but mezcal is more complex
Both tequila and mezcal are made by distilling agave. Tequila must be made from at least 51% of one specific type of agave, blue Weber agave. This is why all tequilas taste similar, with minor variations in flavor profile. Mezcal, on the other hand, can use many kinds of agave and many kinds of fermentation techniques. These production options lead to a wide range of herbal, earthy, and smoky flavors in mezcals. One mezcal can have an intense smokiness like a fire pit, while another has a fruity, menthol-subtle smoke flavor.
If you drink mezcal and tequila side by side, you'll notice both taste like agave. But one (tequila) has a plain, one-note agave flavor, while the other (mezcal) has added layers of earth, minerals, and smoke. This range of flavors makes mezcal an unexpected way to make classic cocktails more interesting. You can replace whiskey with mezcal in a traditional sour for a more robust cocktail. Or, just like the paloma, a margarita gets an earthy depth of flavor when you swap tequila for mezcal.