Added May 10, 2026

Smoked Honey Paloma

A Paloma reworked around mezcal and a lapsang-honey syrup — the smoke leans into the grapefruit instead of fighting it.

AI-assisted recipe · verify proportions before serving

Glass: Chilled highball
Method: Shake
Ice: Large Cubes
Garnish: Grapefruit twist, flaky salt rim (half)
Serves: 1

Servings 1

Ingredients

2 oz Mezcal — Joven works; a richer espadín brings out more of the honey
0.75 oz Fresh grapefruit juice
0.5 oz Fresh lime juice
0.5 oz Lapsang honey syrup — 1:1 hot water + honey, steeped 5 min with a teaspoon of lapsang souchong, strained
2 dashes Saline solution — 20% salt:water by weight
Top Grapefruit soda — Jarritos or Q Grapefruit

Story

I asked the model for “a Paloma I’d serve in November, not July.” It went straight to mezcal and kept circling around smoke + something sweet. The first pass had agave, but lapsang-infused honey landed harder — the tea’s smoke shakes hands with the mezcal instead of doubling down on it.

The half-salt rim was the model’s idea and I’d argue it’s the move: you get a salty sip and a clean sip from the same glass.

Method

Half-rim the highball with flaky salt and chill with ice.
Shake mezcal, grapefruit, lime, lapsang honey syrup, and saline with ice for ~10 seconds.
Strain into the prepared glass over a large cube.
Top with grapefruit soda, stir gently once.
Express a grapefruit twist over the top and drop it in.

Notes

The lapsang syrup keeps for two weeks refrigerated and is unreasonably good drizzled on yogurt.
If you want it drier, drop the syrup to 0.25 oz and lean on the soda for sweetness.