Dos Hombres has earned a permanent spot on my bar cart. It is one of the most accessible mezcals on the market - easy to find at retail, available for delivery, and priced at $59.99, which means you can actually keep a bottle around without treating it like a special occasion pour. Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston built the brand with Gregorio Velasco, a third-generation mezcal maker in Oaxaca, and the espadin agave they use gives it a smoke profile that is present but never fights whatever else is in the glass.
The brand recently put out a set of cocktail recipes they are calling maximalist, and after looking at the ingredient lists I get why. These are not your standard mezcal-and-lime situation. They use corn puree, mole bitters, aloe vera liqueur, and carrot juice. If you are hosting guys night and want to serve something that starts a conversation, this is the move.
La Otra Palabra
Corn puree in a cocktail sounds like a stretch until you taste it. The puree adds body and a subtle sweetness that pairs with the pineapple, and then the mole bitters and black pepper pull it into savory territory. This is the one that makes people put their glass down and ask what is in it.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Dos Hombres Mezcal
- 1/2 oz agave nectar
- 1/2 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz corn puree
- 2 dashes black pepper
- 3 dashes mole bitters
- 3/4 oz lime juice
Preparation
Blend a can of sweet corn until smooth for the puree - takes about 30 seconds. Shake everything hard with ice and fine strain into a rocks glass. The straining matters here because the corn puree will leave grit if you skip it.
Nights Burn Bright
This is the lighter option of the three and the one I would make in a batch for a backyard cookout. Watermelon and cucumber do the heavy lifting up front while Chareau aloe vera liqueur adds an herbal layer underneath. The green color alone gets attention, and it drinks fast on a hot night.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Dos Hombres Mezcal
- 1/2 oz aloe vera liqueur (Chareau)
- 1/4 oz agave nectar
- 1 oz fresh watermelon juice
- 3/4 oz cucumber puree
- 3/4 oz lime juice
- Garnish: cucumber slice
Preparation
Shake with ice and fine strain into a rocks glass. If you cannot find Chareau at your local shop, St-Germain with a small splash of aloe juice is a reasonable stand-in. For a batch, scale everything up and keep it in a pitcher in the fridge - add ice when you pour.
Sweet Lips
Aperol and carrot juice with mezcal should not work but it does. The carrot gives the drink body and natural sweetness, the Aperol adds a bitter citrus bite, and the chili salt rim ties the whole thing back to the smoke. I have made versions of this for guys night and it is consistently the one that disappears first. People who say they do not like mezcal change their mind on this one.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Dos Hombres Mezcal
- 1/2 oz Aperol
- 1/2 oz orange juice
- 1/4 oz honey syrup
- 1 oz carrot juice
- 3/4 oz lime juice
- Garnish: chili salt rim
Preparation
Rim the glass with chili salt first. Shake everything else with ice and fine strain into the prepared rocks glass. A baby carrot on the rim is optional but it looks right and gives people something to talk about.
Why These Work for a Guys Night Setup
The ingredient lists look long but most of it is fresh juice and stuff you already have. Corn puree is a blended can of corn. Cucumber puree is a peeled cucumber in a blender. The only specialty buy across all three is the Chareau, and you can work around that.
If you are putting together a bar for a weekend with the guys or a backyard thing this summer, Dos Hombres at $59.99 anchors the setup without breaking the budget. These recipes push mezcal further than the usual smoky margarita formula, and that is the point - the spirit rewards you for experimenting with it. Make all three, line them up, and let people pick. The conversation takes care of itself.
