There’s a version of the Bloody Maria that plays it safe — blanco tequila, a little citrus, done. And then there’s the Smoky Maria, which decided safe was boring. Half the base is still tequila, but the other half is mezcal, and the whole thing gets finished under a few seconds of real smoke before it hits the table.
The instinct to smoke a cocktail can go wrong fast — do it for the trick and the drink tastes like an ashtray. Do it right, and the smoke is a top note that fades into the chile-lime rim and the charred lime wheel underneath it, not a wall you have to drink through. That’s the whole design goal here: theater that doesn’t get in the way of the drink actually being good.
Get the full The Smoky Maria recipe →
This is the Bloody Maria for people who already think the regular version is a little tame. It rewards a heavier hand with the mezcal and a real char on that lime wheel — don’t be gentle with either.
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