How To Make A Mezcal Mule ✨

In the early aughts, when mezcal hit the scene in NYC, bartenders experimented to see what stuck. Of course, a phenomenon like this usually begins with tweaking pre-existing classics. And after Phil Ward created the Oaxaca Old Fashioned at Death & Co. in 2007, Jim Meehan followed suit a year later and crafted the Mezcal Mule at Please Don’t Tell. His take on the Mule sees mezcal sharing a glass with a homemade ginger wort, lime juice, passion fruit puree, agave syrup, and a cucumber-chili garnish.

Ingredients
1 ½ ounces mezcal, preferably Del Maguey Vida
1 ounce ginger wort (recipe below)
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce passion fruit puree
½ ounce agave syrup (1:1)
3 cucumber slices
Garnish: ground chili powder and skewered candied ginger with a cucumber slice

Directions
Muddle the 3 cucumber slices and agave syrup in the bottom of a mixing glass.
Add mezcal, ginger wort, lime juice, and passion fruit puree.
Shake with ice until chilled.
Fine strain into a chilled double Old Fashioned glass filled with ice.
Garnish with a piece of candied ginger and a cucumber slice, skewered together with a cocktail pick.
Sprinkle a pinch of ground chili powder on top of the cocktail (a salt shaker is recommended for this final step).