Book Review: Mezcal and Tequila Cocktails: Mixed Drinks for the Golden Age of Agave

Editor’s note: It’s with great pleasure that we welcome contributor Amy Zavatto. A cocktail book author herself, she’s the perfect person to review Robert Simonson’s latest book.

It’s difficult to decide whether you should envy Gen Z and, to some extent, Millennials, in that they largely came of age in an era of high-functioning, inexhaustibly curious, source-driven bartenders who dragged tequila and mezcal from dares to darlings. A time when mixto on any self-respecting bar became the grave exception instead of the rule. But the gratitude and awe of those of us who grew up knowing these agave-based spirits only as go-to sources of hammer-headache shots, or blended into frozen concoctions of dubious components, allows one to stand back and truly appreciate the access to high-quality agave spirits and the overdue blossoming of tequila and mezcal in the United States and further afield. 

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Further Reading: Tequila

More than Margaritas

It’s with the latter perspective that Robert Simonson approaches his wonderfully agile cocktail book, Mezcal and Tequila Cocktails: Drinks for the Golden Age of Agave (Ten Speed Press, $18.99). The 62 recipes, most from those aforementioned high-functioning finaglers of spirited sipping, and a few from Simonson himself are a testament to how far knowledge and appreciation of tequila and mezcal has spread, and how dialed-in its promoters have become. Sure, there are Margarita recipes here—three in total, among them the game-changing Tommy’s Margarita from Julio Bermejo, who in the ‘80s was moved to honor his heritage and buck the system in kicking the standard sickly sour mix to the curb and make his simple but inspired classic with agave syrup (what grows together, goes together), fresh lime juice, and 100% blue agave tequila. But the ones he chose to include matter and flatter their respective spirits. 

Documenting the Rise of Tequila

And that’s what sets this book apart. It’s kind of like an engaging story told by your favorite bartender—long enough to provide a story arc of how we got from there to here and keep you thoroughly interested, but not so holier-than-thou and drawn out that you feel like a prisoner to the content. Simonson gives you the perspective of having seen it happen—the move from wormy bottles and promoters walking around bars with holsters full of tequila shots to a deep understanding, respect, and celebration of spirits based on a fermentable that takes a minimum of 7 years to mature—and sometimes, even decades. Agave ain’t rye. It grows slooooowly, and harvesting the pina necessitates a sharp-tool fueled, painstaking process that’s done by hand. The basics of this are covered here, explaining clearly what tequila and mezcal are, but leaving those longer history descriptions to other books recommended in the glossary (and, agreed, are all excellent supplemental material for learning more about agave-based spirits—although to his list, I will add Granville Green’s engrossing The Mezcal Rush: Explorations in Agave Country, written after a year spent living in Oaxaca visiting small, artisanal mezcal producers, whose terroir and tiny village designations make comparisons to Burgundy impossible to overlook).

It’s the Mezcal

Mezcal, actually, is the charmer of Simonson’s book—more than half of the recipes are mezcal-based (16 are tequila, and 10 use both agave spirits to great effect). Some are simple to assemble—you probably have the ingredients on hand. Some are more complicated and require a bespoke roster of spirits, liqueurs, and tinctures. For most, he offers a basic espadin-based version for versatility. It’s a good balance of grab-and-go and let’s-get-nerdy. He also provides a very handy chart to help you navigate it all, using favorite classic cocktails—the Negroni, Moscow Mule, Manhattan, Old-Fashioned, Bloody Mary, Whiskey Sour, and others—as touchstones to guide you to recipes in the book that will likely become adjacent favorites. Ingredients, even in the most simple cocktails, are dialed-in—there are only rare occasions when you’re left wondering what to use (which sweet vermouth for the Mezcal Cocktail on page 49? It matters!), and I take opposition at his calling the Paloma dull. But these are some pretty small potatoes. Or pinas, as it were.

What’s wonderful about this little book—whose bright, beautiful, thirst-making photos were taken by the very talented Lizzie Munroe, Art Director and main photographer for PUNCH—is that it has the capacity to both excite the tequila and mezcal maven with its all-star recipe contributions, as much as it will spark joy in the agave newbie, inspiring one to stretch her skills. Because the thing is, who doesn’t love a delicious underdog? Simonson certainly addresses it best: “It’s a Cinderella story unlike any in the drinks world, in which an age-old spirit has finally been recognized for the liquor royalty it always was.”