One of the best surprise at the Fancy Food Show was to find Derek Brown mixing drinks in the Mexico pavilion. Derek is genius behind the Columbia Room and one of the best bartenders in DC if not America. He was putting together cocktails to showcase Tequila and Mezcal, and of course doing a little innovation.

I tried the Mezcal Watermelon Punch he was mixing up. It perfectly balanced the sweetness of the watermelon juice with the smokiness of the mezcal and the heat of the pepper. This was my first time trying mezcal and I am impressed. Mezcal has the bad rep of being the liquor with the worm in it (most likely a marketing ploy in the 40’s). Good tequila and mezcal are both made with 100% agave, however in mezcal the agave hearts are smoked and the liquor is only refined once. This makes mezcal a little rougher, but its got character and clearly in right hands makes a mean cocktail.

So how do you know if you are getting a good mezcal? Well, I have never bought a bottle, so don’t ask me for recommendations. Luckily there are some things you can look for. First, make sure it is made with 100% Agave. Second, make sure it is made in Mexico and has a CRT number. This means it meets all the guidelines to be a traditional mezcal. If you find both of these, you should have a pretty good mezcal. Now you must choose between Blanca, which is aged for only a couple months after distillation, Resposado, which is aged for 2 – 9 months in oak barrels and Añejo, which is aged a minimum of 12 months.

Derek was nice enough to send me the recipe for the Mezcal Watermelon Punch he was making. Fun trivia, a Tincture is an extract made by putting something in a high proof alcohol. Another fun fact; the Tasmanian Pepper, also known as the mountain pepper, is native to Australia and has a strong peppery flavor. While it is fun to make fancy cocktails at home, it is even more fun to have someone make them for you, other wise you end up lots of random bottles. Ask me about my Stinging Nettle Infused Vodka. If you do give it try, let me know how the punch turns out!