Smoked Honey Paloma
A Paloma reworked around mezcal and a lapsang-honey syrup — the smoke leans into the grapefruit instead of fighting it.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Mezcal — Joven works; a richer espadín brings out more of the honey
- 0.75 oz Fresh grapefruit juice
- 0.5 oz Fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz Lapsang honey syrup — 1:1 hot water + honey, steeped 5 min with a teaspoon of lapsang souchong, strained
- 2 dashes Saline solution — 20% salt:water by weight
- Top Grapefruit soda — Jarritos or Q Grapefruit
Story
I asked the model for “a Paloma I’d serve in November, not July.” It went straight to mezcal and kept circling around smoke + something sweet. The first pass had agave, but lapsang-infused honey landed harder — the tea’s smoke shakes hands with the mezcal instead of doubling down on it.
The half-salt rim was the model’s idea and I’d argue it’s the move: you get a salty sip and a clean sip from the same glass.
Method
- Half-rim the highball with flaky salt and chill with ice.
- Shake mezcal, grapefruit, lime, lapsang honey syrup, and saline with ice for ~10 seconds.
- Strain into the prepared glass over a large cube.
- Top with grapefruit soda, stir gently once.
- Express a grapefruit twist over the top and drop it in.
Notes
- The lapsang syrup keeps for two weeks refrigerated and is unreasonably good drizzled on yogurt.
- If you want it drier, drop the syrup to 0.25 oz and lean on the soda for sweetness.