Join us tomorrow, Thursday, April 8 from 6-8pm in the Brooklyn wine store to sample Sombra Mezcal straight and in a Shady Margarita (recipe below). Remember, every Thursday in April you can sample a spirit and a cocktail at The Greene Grape!

Opening a bottle of Sombra Mezcal transported us Proust-madeleine-like to camping as a youth . . . our parents weren’t big cocktail drinkers but the smoky aroma of Sombra evokes the campfire smell that lingers after a night of toasting smores and hotdogs. Always an element in scotch whiskies, smoky flavor appears more and more in cocktails at establishments like Fort Greene’s own No. 7 Restaurant which currently features a spring cocktail combining mezcal, lime juice, maraschino liqueur and floral elements.

A natural pair to the flavors of barbeque, we’ve floated Sombra on a regular margarita, which gives the drink an additional earthy dimension. Of course mezcal marries well with tequila – both spirits derive from the piña, or heart of the agave cactus. The difference is that before distillation, the piñas for mezcal are roasted in rock pits, infusing the resulting spirit with essences of smoke.

Shady Margarita

1.5 oz Sombra Mezcal
.75 oz lime juice
.5 oz grapefruit juice
.75 oz agave nectar

Shake and strain over ice. Garnish with small grapefruit slice.