Smoking Mezcal Halloween Cocktail

This year’s Full Moon Feast was full of surprises thanks to the thoughtful staff at Pershing House in East Austin, the best of which might be this smoking mezcal cocktail. Invented by the genius bartenders at Pershing just for our event, this deep purple concoction looks as beautiful as it tastes. “For years, mezcal was something that bartenders struggled with, mostly because there wasn’t a mezcal in a price point that allowed us to play around and find something fun,” explains Sarah Little (Director of Bar Operations at Pershing House.) “Mezcal was serious, in both price and in taste. In the last few years, with mezcal becoming more accessible, largely in part due to brands like Kimo Sabe and Casamigos, mezcal has become mixable, and hence more approachable. With our new high end artisanal agave bar opening upstairs, mezcal has become a fun focus at Pershing. This particular cocktail is a fun chilled Kimo Sabe, infused cucumber vodka, fresh lemon, blue webber agave. The funky color comes from fresh activated charcoal, and just a bit of dry ice adds the physical smoke effect to enhance the natural smokiness of the mezcal.” Read on to discover the recipe for this one-of-a-kind cocktail:

photographed by dagny piasecki