Bar Minty: Introducing Minty’s Mezcal Mondays Plus a Recipe with Banhez Mezcal
It’s been a dozen or so years since I first tried mezcal. I was familiar with tequila, of course. But even back then I didn’t drink much scotch. I was into bourbon and starting to try out rye as well. Fast forward to a couple weeks back when a bartender friend mentioned there weren’t many mezcal blogs. I don’t necessary consider the Minty a whiskey blog but it’s probably the spirit I talk about the most. So I thought maybe it’s time to explore agave.
Here is a big myth- mezcal is smoky and therefore not really a femme drink. What? Since when can’t women enjoy things that are not sweet? Now I do drink scotch and I love the peated stuff. Still, there ARE mezcals that aren’t smokey at all or pretty light on it.
I counted recently and I have 7 bottles of mezcal (and 5 bottles of tequila). I picked up four in the lost year (what I call the pandemic) and three were gifts. I got Ilegal reposado because Ilegal was one of the first mezcals I tried and really enjoyed. I like it in a mezcal negroni. I love, love the Vago Elote. This is probably bc I am into bourbon (which is mostly corn) and the Elote reminds me of that. I taught a Boulevardier class with Campari last year and one of the variations I had utilized Montelobos so I bought a bottle of that. And finally I got the Banhez recently at my local Trader Joe’s because I have had it before and was overjoyed TJ’s booze selection was getting better!
I’ve been looking for a reasonable tobala and pechuga to add to my collection next.
As for the drink, I made a margarita-esque drink with the Banhez. I wanted something that was fresh but not necessarily spicy. I don’t know why so many Latin drinks are spicy. It’s like they have to be or something.
Cucumber Cilantro Margarita
- 2 oz Banhez mezcal
- .75 oz cane syrup
- . 75 lime juice
- 2 stalks of cilantro (leaves & stems)
- 3 slices of cucumber (reserve one slice for garnish)
Muddle cilantro (leaves with stems) and 2 slices cucumber with the mezcal, cane syrup and lime juice. Add ice, shake for 30-40 seconds until chilled and diluted. Strain into cocktail glasses. I didn’t double strain because I like the bits of cilantro. Garnish with slice of cucumber.
Follow my agave/ mezcal adventures on this new subpage of my blog. I will add links to posts to this page in the future.
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