Mezcal cocktails for Día de los Muertos

From marigold syrup to mole bitters, get into the spirit of the holiday

By Georgina Torbet Published November 1, 2024

mezcal cocktails dia de los muertos fo sforo ddlm 2 1 — Fósforo Ensamble Mezcal

With Día de los Muertos this weekend, people in Mexico and around the world are preparing for celebrations with friends, including preparing the favorite food and drinks of those who have died to remember them and honor them. It’s also a time for tasty food and drinks for the living too, and a great excuse to work with traditional Mexican spirits like mezcal or tequila.

To get you in the mood, we have a selection of cocktails from Fósforo Ensamble Mezcal, a mezcal designed for mixing. The drinks include nods to the holiday with marigold syrup and to Mexican foods with mole bitters, taking advantage of mezcal’s smoky flavors to create something special.

Recommended Videos

Ofrenda Old Fashioned

Ingredients:

2 oz. Fósforo Ensamble Mezcal
½ oz. Marigold Syrup
2 dashes of Mole Bitters
Garnish with an orange twist

Method:

Combine ice in a mixing glass with ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist.

Bloody Maria

Fósforo Ensamble Mezcal

Ingredients:

2 oz. Fósforo Ensamble Mezcal
4 oz. Tomato Juice
½ tsp. Valentina Hot Sauce
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch smoked paprika
1 pinch sea salt
1 Lime Wedge
Garnish with olives & celery stalks

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and roll back and forth to mix. Strain into a glass filled with ice. Garnish with olives and a celery stalk.

El Diablo de Puebla

Fósforo Ensamble Mezcal

Ingredients:

2 oz. Fósforo Ensamble Mezcal
¾ oz. Lime Juice
¾ oz. Crème de Cassis
Top with Ginger Beer
Garnish with Lime Wedge

method:

Shake mezcal, lime juice, and crème de cassis with ice. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice, and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Georgina Torbet

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Georgina Torbet is a cocktail enthusiast based in Berlin, with an ever-growing gin collection and a love for trying out new…

Food & Drink

The daiquiri deserves better — and here’s why I still believe in it

Put down the paper umbrella and walk away.

Refreshing rum daiquiri

The daiquiri has a PR problem — and frankly, it’s one it brought on itself. These days, the word conjures up an image of something slushy and neon, a sugar-bomb churned out of a machine at a cruise ship bar. It’s a drink that arrives in a plastic souvenir cup, wearing a paper umbrella like a bad hat, topped with canned whipped cream and maybe a wedge of fruit that’s seen better days. It’s the drink you order when you’ve decided you don’t care what’s actually in your glass, as long as it’s cold, pink, and packs enough booze to make you forget you’re sunburned.

But here’s the thing: the daiquiri wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, it was one of the most elegant cocktails on the planet — a perfect little triangle of rum, lime, and sugar. No blender, no syrup, no electric blue mystery goo. Just balance. Just restraint. Just, well… dignity.

Food & Drink

Meet the Cuban rum punch perfect for your end-of-summer nights

A radiant drink for Hispanic Heritage Month

Rooftop at Exchange Place.

There are a lot of great NYC bars out there. But there's one drink in particular catching our eye right now, made expertly at the Rooftop at Exchange Place. The drink is as good as the bar's spectacular views, which include panoramas of the Hudson River and the New York City skyline.

This drink works on so many levels. It's a timely one, mixing up things like peach that we tend to associate with late summer. It's also a great means of celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, which commences mid-September. It's also just plain refreshing, an ideal cocktail for these last hot gasps of summer.

Food & Drink

How to make a Grilled Peach Margarita, the drink of late summer

A good mixed drink that involves some quality time behind the grill

Grilled Peach Margarita.

Summer is still in the air, just look at those temperatures. That spells a little more in the way of pool parties, stargazing, and refreshing cocktail recipes.

We've been in a mezcal mood lately, maybe it's because we've been revisiting our agave spirits guide. Maybe it's because we just don't want summer to end. Sure, fall spells great culinary opportunities and prime weather but we're loving things at the moment.