A bright and spicy mezcal cocktail made with ginger and a few drops of sesame oil.
Updated February 10, 2025
Serious Eats / Kelly Puleio
Why It Works
- Just a couple drops of sesame oil add an intriguing nutty, savory note.
- Fresh ginger juice (not bottled) adds a fresh peppery blast.
It may sound really out-there to use sesame oil in a cocktail, but this fantastic drink, created by Ran Duan of the Baldwin Bar at Sichuan Garden in Woburn, Massachusetts, is delicately spicy, tart, and just subtly savory. If you’ve never made cocktails with mezcal, this is a great place to start.
Just be sure to use fresh ginger juice, since sugary ginger syrup or acrid bottled juice will throw the drink out of whack. If you don’t have a juicer or a friendly local juice shop, you can muddle some chopped ginger or grate it with a Microplane, then press it against a fine-mesh strainer to get the liquid out; or grind your peeled, sliced ginger in a blender or food processor before straining. If you’re making the drink for guests, prep the ginger juice up to one hour in advance and store in your fridge.
Reprinted from The One-Bottle Cocktail: More Than 80 Recipes With Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit with permission from Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
April 2018
Domo Arigato (Mezcal and Ginger Cocktail) Recipe
Keep Screen Awake
-
2 ounces (60 ml) mezcal
-
1 ounce (30 ml) simple syrup (see note)
-
3/4 ounce (22 ml) fresh lime juice
-
1/4 ounce plus 1 teaspoon (13 ml) fresh ginger juice
-
2 drops toasted sesame oil
-
1 1/2 ounces (45 ml) chilled club soda
-
In a cocktail shaker, combine mezcal, simple syrup, lime juice, ginger juice, and sesame oil in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 15 seconds. Unseal shaker and add club soda. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass.
Special Equipment
Cocktail shaker, cocktail strainer
Notes
To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Cool before using. Simple syrup will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Read More
- Cocktails 101: How to Shake a Cocktail
- A Guide to Mezcal: How It’s Made and Which Bottles to Try
- Mezcal Cocktail Recipes to Enjoy Mexico’s Smoky Spirit
- Martini Oaxaqueño (Mezcal Dirty Martini With Castelvetrano Olives) Recipe
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 185 | Calories |
| 0g | Fat |
| 21g | Carbs |
| 0g | Protein |
×
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 1 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 185 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| 0g | 0% |
| Saturated Fat 0g | 0% |
| 0mg | 0% |
| 2mg | 0% |
| 21g | 8% |
| Dietary Fiber 0g | 1% |
| Total Sugars 19g | |
| 0g | |
| Vitamin C 7mg | 34% |
| Calcium 11mg | 1% |
| Iron 0mg | 1% |
| Potassium 35mg | 1% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)