Tamarind Mezcal Margarita

While dining at Pujol—one of Mexico City’s most celebrated restaurants—I was asked for my cocktail order. I gave the bartender full creative freedom with just one request: it had to include mezcal. The result? A tamarind margarita—bold, smoky, tangy, and unforgettable. It was just one of many mezcal-forward creations that made my trip an ongoing revelation in the world of agave spirits.

If you’ve read my post about La Banderita (“The Little Flag”), you already know mezcal captivated me from the start. Its unmistakable smokiness and earthy complexity set it apart from its more familiar cousin, tequila. I made it my mission to taste mezcal in as many forms as I could during my stay—and tamarind was one of the most intriguing pairings I discovered.

Tamarind: A Flavor Worth Discovering

Tamarind was unfamiliar to me at first. Native to North Africa but widely cultivated in tropical regions—including Mexico—it produces pods filled with sticky, tangy pulp. The flavor is tough to pin down: imagine lemon, apricot, and date all rolled into one. In Mexico, tamarind is beloved in everything from candies and aguas frescas to sauces and sorbets.

Turning Tamarind into a Cocktail

Back home, my first challenge was sourcing tamarind in a usable form. I found whole pods at a local Mexican market, but turning them into cocktail-ready puree felt like more effort than reward. Luckily, I tracked down tamarind concentrate online—though not without a misstep. Mistaking concentrate for puree, my first attempt was a flavor bomb gone wrong. Tamarind is potent stuff. Eventually, I found the sweet spot: diluting two parts water to one part concentrate created a beautifully balanced base that captured the essence of the original drink.

Here’s my take on the tamarind margarita, inspired by that smoky, citrusy surprise at Pujol. Give it a try—and maybe a toast to mezcal while you’re at it. Print