Bring the Margaritas Home, for Cinco de Mayo

Makes 1

1 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce mezcal
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 dashes orange bitters
Toasted sesame oil, for drizzling
Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper
Lemon wedge
2 brined green olives, such as Castelvetrano

Pour some kosher salt onto a small plate; add a few cranks of black pepper and stir to combine. Rub lemon wedge lightly over rim of a rocks glass. Press rim of glass into salt-and-pepper mixture. Fill glass with coarsely cracked large ice cubes. Thread olives and lemon wedge onto a skewer; set aside.

Combine Cointreau, mezcal, lemon juice, honey, and bitters in a cocktail shaker; season with 3 cranks of black pepper. Fill shaker with ice and shake vigorously until outside of shaker is very cold and frosty, 30 seconds. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into prepared glass. Season with a crank of black pepper and drizzle with sesame oil. Garnish with reserved skewer.

Full-Citrus Marg

Recipe by Alex Delany

Makes 1

¾ ounce Cointreau
2 ounces tequila blanco
1½ ounces fresh ruby red grapefruit Juice
½ ounce lime juice
2 tablespoon grapefruit zest
¼ cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons chile flakes

Grapefruit peel, for garnish
Lime wedge, for garnish

Mix salt, grapefruit zest, and chile flakes in a small bowl until evenly incorporated. Empty onto a small, flat plate. Rub the rim of the glass with a lime wedge and reserve for serving. Dip the rim of the glass into the salt mixture and fill with ice. Set aside.

Add the Cointreau, tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and a pinch of kosher salt to a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice, cover, and shake hard until the outside of the shaker becomes frosty and too cold to grip, about 45 seconds.

Strain the Margarita through a Hawthorne strainer or a slotted spoon into prepared glass. Garnish with a lime wedge and strip of grapefruit peel.

Mora Picosa (Spicy Blackberry)

Recipe by Rick Martinez