Spicy Mezcal Margarita

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 lime wedge
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1.5 teaspoons white sugar
• 0.5 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 0.25 cup mezcal
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Steps

1. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar with salt on a small shallow plate. Moisten rims of two 8-inch glasses with a wedge of lime, dip the moistened glass rims into sugar mixture. Fill the glasses with ice, if desired.
2. Place jalapeño and 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar in a cocktail shaker and mash with a cocktail muddler until sugar dissolved and jalapeño juiced. Pour in orange juice, mezcal, and lime juice; fill with ice. Cover and shake until the outside of the shaker has frosted, about 30 seconds. Strain into the prepared glasses.