2 Cocktail Pairings That Are Actually Worthy Of Your Smoked Brisket

A rich cut of red meat like Brisket is worthy of a tasty cocktail pairing. We've consulted Camille Parson Goldstein, co-founder of Muddling Memories for her top choices. She named a couple of classic drinks with smoky spirits and either tangy or spicy mixers to complement the complexity of brisket. "Two options here: Either double down on the smoke and go for a bright refreshing mezcal margarita, or opt for a whiskey ginger highball that is crisp clean and cuts the heaviness of the smoked meat."

Also known as a Mezcalita, a mezcal margarita substitutes a spicier, harsher tequila blanco with a notably smoky mezcal. Of the different mezcal varieties, we recommend El Rey Zapoteco Tobala as the best option for using in a cocktail thanks to its sweet, smoky, and citrusy palate and silky, long finish. A ginger whiskey highball is an even simpler concoction of a smoky whiskey topped with a bubbly ginger mixer. For a lighter and sweeter highball, you can use Canada Dry ginger ale, while a ginger beer like this highly rated Q brand offers a much spicier mixer. Both whiskey and mezcal have notes that enhance brisket's smoky umami, while the different mixers offer a refreshing balance.

Just as classic margaritas come in many fruity flavors, so too do mezcal margaritas. It's as easy as supplementing the classic recipe with fresh fruit or juice. For example, our recipe for frozen watermelon margarita adds frozen cubed watermelon instead of ice to the mezcal, cointreau, and lime juice formula. The frozen watermelon will make for a sweet and utterly refreshing textural upgrade to cool your palate as you enjoy a plate of heavy and rich smoked brisket. For a more sophisticated complexity, try our recipe for spicy grapefruit mezcal margarita with bitter and citrusy grapefruit juice and spicy jalapeno. Pair it with our recipe for smoked brisket that has its own sweet, spicy, and tangy notes from dark brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic and Aleppo pepper flakes.

If you're going to use ginger ale for your whiskey ginger highball, the best whiskey to pair with it is a spicy rye whiskey. The smokiest flavors come from drying malted barley over peat fires, which is a popular method for Scotch whiskeys. A Scotch would pair well with the spicier ginger beer. You could add a dash or two of Angostura bitters to balance the sweetness in the barbecue sauce you might pair with smoked brisket.